THE VIRTUAL MOTHERLODE OF GOLD MINING AND PROSPECTING RESOURCES

 

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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