| NEXT MEETING THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4, 1999 MEETING MINUTES FOR JANUARY: Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM: Minutes read and accepted: Treasures report read and accepted: Equipment report given; Gee Creek report given, only ran one day; Sportsman show director is Dawn Fredricks. The Sportsman show will be February 10th to the 14th. ********************************************************************************************************************************** OIM Motion made to donate $1 per member to OIM. Motion seconded, discussion made motion voted on and past.
Old Business: Duane Flackus Clarence Mohr Dawn Fredricks Marshall Tarrents Dick Miller Ron BuchholtzMotion made and seconded to accept the nominations. Vote was taken and the new board members are: Duane Flackus Clarence Mohr Marshall TarrentsWith Dawn Fredricks as an alternate.
New Business
CALLING FOR SPORTSMAN SHOW VOLUNTEERS: Tuesday (set-up) - 3 people - time to be announced (probably in the evening)The Sunday evening shift will also tear down. The show passes will be put into will call at the Expo Center (hall E ticket seller window) on the morning of your shift. If possible, it would be helpful to show up 30 minutes to 1 hour early prior to your shift. Parking passes are not provided. Parking will cost $4.00 per day and there are no "in and out" privileges. If anyone has questions they are more than welcome to call Dawn Fredricks at (503)774-3163.
MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING: Dick Miller Ron Buchholz Duane Flackus Clarence Mohr Marshall Tarrents Dawn FredricksSportsman Show: The Sportsman Show dates are February 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. Set-up will be Tues., February 9th. Members are asked that if they have any time available to help the club educate the public on what we do and how we do it, to please sign up. Your help is greatly appreciated either setting up, tearing down or helping out panning during the show. Remember that every volunteer, board approved hour, given towards this show applies toward your end of year award. A BIG THANK-YOU to Mr. and Mrs. Ira Cookand Mr. and Mrs. Al Worley in handling the Gee Creek Coffee Stop. Due to our unfortunate weather at that time, and some missed phone calls on the 2nd day cancellation, all of you who did make it deserve a BIG HAND OF THANKS. With the suggestions received by the board members from the membership, 1999's coffee stop should go a little better. We can also hope for better weather the next time. If you know of a celebration that your town or area is having and would like to have panning demos like we do at the Sportsman Show, please contact a board member with the name and number of a contact person and we will see what the members of the club would like to do. Our President, (Hayden Piper), brought up the suggestion of having our summer months club meetings at our summer outings. Let him or a board member know what you think of this. Make sure you get your NAME TAG at the next meeting. It will help you to get a ballot to vote plus put your name in a drawing for FIVE FREE raffle tickets. We have a few more tickets to sell on the Gold Buddy and hopefully it will go at the February meeting. If you haven't purchased yours yet, get them at the meeting or if you feel the LUCKY ticket hasn't been purchased, spend a few dollars on a few more tickets. GOOD LUCK to all the lucky prospectors who purchased tickets.
THEE OLE' PROSPECTORS TRADING POST: Sluice box 101/2" X 50" $50.00Elsie can be reached at (503) 777-5961
FUN ACTIVITY OF THE MONTH:
SPECIAL RAFFLE TICKETS:
NAME TAGS:
PAPY SPEAKS OUT:
Jake replied, " holy cow! That is a big nugget." or Gold is where you find it (if you find it.) Did you find what is wrong with these two sentences. Great if you did, a number of people would miss them. Iif you used these sentences this way, There would always be someone on the opposite side that would use them against you to show how ignorant you are, even if you may know more about the subject than they do. The problems with the two previous examples is the period. It should go after the quotes, or parenthesis, like this:
Jake replied, "holy cow! That is a big nugget". Or Gold is where you find it (if you find it). Another problem also persists. We tend to write like we talk. This is particularly so for Oregonians, and Washingtonians, (So my college professor told me). It is just fine if we are writing a story and trying to give color, or flavor. This is a big mistake when writing political type articles. Proper grammar is essential to give a sense of intellect and give the reader the sense that the author really knows what he is saying, and probably an expert on the subject. Just one more thing before I close on this subject. The word (but) is used way to frequent in out writings. There are sometimes where it can be appropriately used, (but) not very often. Many times it is used to make multiple sentences into one rambling sentence. If you are using it often, step back and take a look at the sentence. Can you make it into two, or more sentences with a little restructuring. Rambling sentences should be avoided at all cost. I hope I have not bored you with this grammar lesson, but I felt it was important in these times of political unrest toward us. (Did you notice that I used (but) where it did not need to be used. I could easily have made it two sentences). May your pan be filled with gold. Papy Ore/Washer
METAL DETECTING AND LAND USE REGULATIONSA special report from the MLRCbyRon Stockman, MLRCReprinted from the Washington Prospectors newsletter August 1998) Recently MLRC has received questions concerning citizen collectors using public lands for their sport. The type of questions being asked indicate there is some diverse information circulating as to the different categories of public lands and what can and cannot be done on these lands. Below MLRC attempts to clear up some of this confusion. The purpose of this release is not to attempt to address every nuance of taw or regulation nor every agency but to dispel the notion that these lands are closed in total to the citizen collector. United States Forest Service (USFS): Often these lands are labeled as "National Forestry" or "National Forestry Service". To avoid problems in terminology those federal lands which are labeled USFS managed lands should be referred to by that title as most states have their own state forestry lands and the two are not the same. USFS lands are by legal definition not "public lands" in the true sense of the meaning. Public or unreserved lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), about which we will discuss later. The USFS came into being in the late 1800's and was placed under the U.S. Department of Agriculture because those lands which were withdrawn from the public domain and designated Forest Reserves or National Forests were for the purposes of supplying the Nation with consistent timber resources & good water. That role of course has expanded in the past decades but from the citizen collector point of view basic uses still remain in place. The USFS draws the largest number of complaints from public land users in many sectors. USFS managed lands fall under the multiple use category of public lands which simply means national forests are open to a variety of uses and are not to be managed as parks of non-use. The sport of metal detecting is one of those uses. There has been some public allegation that USFS managed lands are open to detecting by permit only. While that is true in certain specially designated areas such as archaeological/historical sites the permit qualification does not apply to general USFS lands. Bear in mind, especially in the western states, that gold claims can be located on lands open within national forest boundaries for mineral entry and one of the recognized tools for gold prospecting is the mineral/metal detector. The collecting of mineral specimens is also allowed on these lands. However, it is also important not to swing too far the other way in thinking and now assume all USFS lands are open to the sport. Like every other agency the USFS has specially designated lands which are not open to the citizen collector. MLRC fully understands that some in the citizen collector sport claim they have been told by agency personnel that the entire forest is closed to them. Unfortunately some of these agency employees are prone to not telling the public the truth either for their own job security or simply because they do not like citizen collectors. For many citizens who steadfastly believe these people have not reason to be other than honest this revelation may come as a shock, but it shouldn't. How many of you believe that all persons in government employ, elected or not, are always honest and straightforward? This problem constitutes one of the main reasons groups like MLRC exist.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM):
National Park Service (NPS):
State and Local Parks: Freedom to indulge your sport begins at your local level and that includes federal land districts close to you. As in the intelligent buying of a home, vehicle, or good insurance the key to getting at the truth lies in asking questions. You don't assume the seller is always telling you the truth so don't make that assumption as to public land use. Quite often the person relaying information to you may not know the real answers themselves and are just mistaken but that doesn't help you. Treat the person you are asking questions of in the same manner you desire to be treated. If you feel your questions have not been properly answered, or you just plain have doubts contact MLRC or your organization. Organizations, manufacturers, and distributors, we suggest information on specific public land uses should not be released to the public until it has been a myth that may be harmful to you or the sport. Remember that public lands may be under the control of the Sovereign but the Sovereign is under the control of you, the citizen. Your founding fathers set it up that way and it is up to each of you to see that the special practice of freedom in the USA is carried on. Can you think of a better gift, to give to your children? For more updates from Mother Load Research Center contact Ron Stockman at stockman@jasmine.psyber, com
THE RUSH FOR GOLDbyFrank Lee Beals(reprinted from the August 1998 Washington prospectors newsletter) The Rush For Gold is a thrilling chapter in the history of our county. It is a story of early California, of mining camps, and of western trails. It is a story of the courage and vision of rugged, sturdy men and women. This story was written to give young Americans a better understanding of how these men helped make this great country of ours a land of opportunity. Law of the Mining Camps The winter months passed slowly for the miners. At first they had enjoyed the exciting life in the cities and towns. Within a short time, however, they were anxious to return to the diggings. They were tired of doing nothing, the noisy celebrations, the gray, rainy days. Then too, many needed to get back to work. They had spent most of their hard-earned wealth in wild, reckless living. Many had gambled away their gold and others had been cheated and robbed. The early signs of the coming spring sent the men rushing to the gold fields. Stagecoaches and wagons rattled and bumped along the express lines. Mining camps echoed with the shouts of men, glad to be on the job again. This was the life, they agreed Why, with a little luck a fellow could strike it rich! In the north John and the miners who had spent the winter at his ranch were heading for Bidwell's Bar. They expected to be the first party to reach the bar. They were, therefore, surprised to find the' miners already at work in the icy waters of the Feather River. Most of the men were panning for gold in the usual manner. A few, however, were using a new machine called a "cradle," or "rocker." |
Go to Northwest Mineral Prospectors Newsletter home page
Go to Northwest Mineral Prospectors Club Web page