PICK & SHOVEL GAZETTE — PAGE 5 OP-ED — APRIL/MAY —
2013
An open letter to all mining claim
holders and other outdoor enthusiasts
that enjoy the Virginia Dale/Gold Park Districts in Southern California:
Stand up and fight for your rights. Stop this land grab!
An Open Letter To MinersGreetings Fellow Miners,
First of all I would like to introduce
ourselves. We are the Friends of the
Dale/Gold Park Mining Districts. We are
a group of concerned folks that are working
together to keep our rights to use public
lands and keep them public. I will explain
more about us later on in this letter.
This letter is being sent to you because
you or your company has been
identified, through records at the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) as a
claim holder in either the Virginia Dale
or Gold Park Mining Districts. The purpose
of this letter is to inform you a plan
that has been formulated by the National
Park Conservation Association (NPCA),
the Morongo Basin Conservation Association
(MBCA) and Tourist Bureau
of Twentynine Palms to annex 105,000
acres of public lands which includes the
Dale/Gold Park Mining Districts, into
Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP).
The area of concern is bordered on
three sides by JTNP and was originally
part of the Joshua Tree National Monument
when established in 1936. However,
the area was excluded by Presidential
Decree by then President Harry S. Truman
in 1950 due to historical mining interests
within the Virginia Dale and Gold
Park Mining Districts. The environmentalists
have been attempting to have it returned
ever since.
The annexation scheme was floated
publicly when it was learned that a permit
was let by the BLM back in 2011 for
wind turbine testing south of Twentynine
Palms. The permit was for 20,000
acres of testing for a period of three years
within the Gold Park Mining District and
on top of Twentynine Palms Mountain.
Upon learning of the permit, the Morongo
Basin Conservation Association
(MBCA) and Tourist Bureau contacted
the NPCA for help to stop the testing. Instead
of constructing plans to fight wind
turbine testing, they realized what they
had here was the perfect opportunity (in
their opinion) to have the Virginia Dale/
Gold Park Mining Districts returned to
Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP).
Under the thin disguise of protecting
the area from wind turbine development,
the Virginia Dale/Gold Park Mining Districts
were renamed the “Saddle” to hide
the fact from the public that this is historical
and current mining land. Plans were
started to encompass the entire 105,000
acres between the western and eastern
borders of Joshua Tree National Park, removing
it from multiple use.
The testing permit was submitted by
Padoma Wind Power, LLC out of La Jolla,
California. This permit has since been
withdrawn by Padoma. Currently, there
are no plans by any wind turbine company
to test or build wind turbine projects
in the area. However, this has not stopped
the National Park Conservation Association
(NPCA), Morongo Basin Conservation
Association (MBCA) or the Tourist
Bureau from scheming to annex the Virginia
Dale/Gold Park Mining Districts
into JTNP.
In September of 2012, the annexation
plans were announced as headline with
the local newspaper, The Desert Trail.
Later in the month the NPCA, MBCA,
Tourist Bureau together with a representative
of JNPA went before the Twentynine
Palms City Council. They presented
a Power Point program describing how
the annexation of the so-called “Saddle”
area would benefit everyone in the basin
by bringing $40 million in revenue with
the construction of a hundred site campground
inside the would-be annexed
district. It supposedly would protect the
animal corridors and keep the wind turbines
out of the scenic views of Twentynine
Palms. They also went on to declare
the miners, off-roaders, campers, hunters
who currently own mining claims and
use the area now, would be “respected.”
Thye vowed they would be able to continue
to recreate and use the area as they
do now with the proper legislation built
into the plan.
On Sept. 25, 2012, members of the
First Class Miners, Inc. and other concerned
citizens went before the City
Council rebuffing all the points of the
argument for annexation. Many folks
also sent letters to the City Council for
consideration on the subject. Opponents
to the land grab, not only pointed out that
the concept of building a campground
with paved road access at a time when the
National Park System has been suffering
from budget cutbacks was far-fetched, to
say the least. It was also pointed out that
the Padoma testing plan had been withdrawn.
And, most importantly, history
has shown the National Park System has
never respected anyone when it comes to
their doctrine and never will. No matter
what the public is told.
On Oct. 18, a meeting was held with
the First Class Miners and representatives
of the NPCA, MBCA and Tourist Bureau
at the JTNP headquarters in Twentynine
Palms. We politely listened to their plan
and how this annexation was supposed
to be good for everyone in the Basin.
However, our focus hinged on one point:
that the National Park System would “respect”
the miners, mining claims, campers,
hunters, and other groups within the
Virginia Dale/Gold Park Districts. Time
and again we brought up Part 9, Subpart
A of the 36 Code of Federal Regulation
concerning Minerals Management within
the National Park System.
The question was asked by Jim
Wharff and the miners, “How do you
plan to change these highly restrictive
regulations?”
No answer was given.
The sorry history of the Mojave Preserve
was discussed and how the miners,
ranchers, off-roaders, campers and others
were told that they would be “respected”
and at present there is only one ranch left,
no mining is allowed and the roads were
and are still being closed.
Their response was: “Yes mistakes
were made back then, but that is why we
are here now, to listen to the public.”
The meeting ended after an hour and
a half. The First Class Miners went away
without the answers they were seeking.
The NPCA, MBCA and Tourist Bureau
went away realizing (likely surprised,
too!) we are much more informed than
they thought we were, we are not going
to buy their pie-in-the-sky plans, nor are
we going to roll over.
It seems the NPCA and the MBCA
were quite unprepared for the public outcry
against their annexation plan. Public
opinion is running against the annexation
plan. They seem to have dropped the plan
from public view at this time, but are
likely considering end runs to get their
plan actualized through back room legislative
means. This has become a common
strategy for the “environmentalists”
when normal channels run into dead ends
because of the public’s opposition.
Friends of the Virginia Dale / Gold
Park Mining Districts are a group of concerned
citizens, working together to keep
our rights to mine, camp, shoot, geocache,
off-road and other uses that will
be prohibited forever if the annexation
plan is successfully implemented. We
are working to educate the public about
what will happen if the annexation plan
becomes reality. We also collaborate with
the Western Mining Alliance and Public
Lands for the People to multiply our efforts
in reaching this goal. We have made
progress to this end, but we need every
claim holder in these districts to make
their voices heard as well if we are going
to be able to keep our mining claims
active.
We need you! Even if you don’t own
claims in the area, we all need to draw a
line in the paydirt and get in the fight to
save our freedoms. If you are willing to
step up and join us in this effort, please
send us an email with your contact information,
and we will send you detailed
background information so you can use
it to inform public officials and others of
the situation. We are not asking for money,
but if it becomes necessary to file one
or more lawsuits to save Virginia Dale/
Gold Park for future public use, then we
will raise funds at that time.
Apathy or Action?
When they came to close roads, I said
nothing because I didn’t drive out there.
When they closed waters to dredging,
I said nothing because I didn’t dredge.
When they closed waters to fishing, I
said nothing because I didn’t fish.
When they schemed to close the Virginia
Dale/Gold Park Districts, I didn’t
fight because I thought someone else
would.
When they took away our freedom
of speech and other Constitutional rights,
there was no one left who cared enough
to fight ...
Will this be reality? It nearly already
is. Let’s all pull together and turn this
around ... for freedom!
Jim Wharff / Ron Kliewer
Friends of Virginia Dale / Gold Park
Mining Districts
iominingco@roadrunner.com
www.goldrushu.com
Ron Kliewer is a longtime Lost Dutchman’s
Mining Association member and a proponent
of preserving mining heritage on his website:
www.goldrushu.com. He welcomes comments
and can be reached at kliewer1@verizon.net
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