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April 2025
Reclamation Suction Dredger Wins in Siskiyou County, California Court
Hello Friends!
Public Lands for the People (PLP) is pleased to report that PLP member and reclamation suction dredger Tucker Clements has won his case against the CA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife in the form of a court signed dismissal dated April 17th, 2025.
To see it click here: Tucker-Clements-Dredge-Case-2025.pdf
Tucker’s case started in the middle of Summer 2024, when Tucker was performing suction dredge reclamation on the Salmon River in Northern California. As a member of PLP, Tucker was following the PLP guide card instructing him and his partner how to clean the waterway without the need for any state of California permit. After dredging for over a month Tucker had a confrontation with a local uninformed environmental terrorist that called out a Fish & Wildlife warden. While Tucker discussed matters with the warden on the river, the activist at the same time unlawfully exacted physical damage to Tucker’s vehicle by busting out all his windows – then later tried to run Tucker off the highway and telling him to leave the area. After the dust settled the activist had a police record (issued for an investigation on his violence) and Tucker had a ticket from the warden for dredging within 300’ of a California waterway in violation of alleged CA Fish & Game section 5653(d).
We note here that the Department of Fish & Wildlife has previously obtained many convictions over the last decade on this very 5653(d) charge against suction dredge miners until now.
Tucker contacted PLP and explained the situation. PLP’s legal researcher explained that he will need to file a motion to dismiss after his arraignment using 2 of the documents referenced in the PLP guide card. At the arraignment, Tucker asked the court when he could file for dismissal of the charges. Then using the documents from the PLP guide card Tucker submitted this evidence of his compliance to the court and the District Attorney (DA). The DA, realizing Tucker had in fact complied with the law, motioned the court to sign the dismissal of the case. PLP has learned the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife was still pushing on the DA to prosecute even after the DA previously told the Dept. that in light of the Sierra County Superior court case in 2019 in the People of California v. Osterbrink (another PLP court win), that the department does not have a case against these dredgers. The DA looked at the law and found that the defendant was innocent and so did the Superior court judge. Due to this new precedent set by Tucker Clements case, PLP believes the CA Department of Fish & Wildlife no longer has standing to cite PLP members following our dredge guide card instructions for alleged violations of any sections of 5653.
PLP urges its members to contact the county DA’s office where they are dredging at the first sign that a warden threatens citation. The county DA has the power to tell wardens to stand down based on case law if the Sacramento office of Fish & Wildlife does not.
Looking forward, Tucker has asked the warden for the return of his dredge motor. If it is returned promptly and undamaged, then Tucker will forgo a small claims damage lawsuit against the warden. Tucker and his partner believe, and PLP agrees, that a small claims civil suit against the warder may be in order. The reason? Number 1: It is our belief that wardens need to be trained on the exemptions within the Fish & Wildlife dredging regulations. Number 2: The wardens should read the paperwork of the reclamation dredger and his log sheet. And number 3: the wardens should be more respectful of those earning a living and not be so quick to dismiss legal paperwork proving the person’s compliance with the law.
PLP is very appreciative of Tucker’s professionalism, and while this case further proves the success of PLP’s guide cards, it is not a reason to cut corners and just suction dredge mine and not do the reclamation. Mining alone without cleaning the waterway is a good way to have the state pass another law kicking us out of the water. So do your part, do it right and keep reclamation dredging RESPONSIBLY!
Legislative Push Update in D.C.
PLP legal researchers, Jann Higdem and Clark Pearson spent the first week of April in Washington D.C. and held 65 separate meetings! They met with Associate Deputy Secretary Karen Bud-Falen of the Dept of Interior, White House staff member Karalee Geis, Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee (Mike Lee, R-UT, Chairman) Sam Crofts (policy director), Ken Klukowski (deputy general counsel), David Gardner (Public Lands professional staff), Rob MacGregor (Mining Subcommittee staff director), Representative Pete Stauber (Chairman of the Mining Subcommittee), Shawn Rusterholz (Public Lands legislative staffer) and Rory Burke (Chief of Staff for Rep. Lauren Boebert). Pearson and Higdem distributed and solicited for sponsorship nearly all the majority members of the House and Senate Natural Resources Committee members, and nearly all the majority members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. Jann Higdem focused on Congressman Fulcher’s office as the lead editor and format legislative director and working with National Defense Authorization Act legislative format writers within Senator Crapo’s office. Senator Risch’s (R-ID) staffer says that the Senator will most likely get on board with the added approval of the American Exploration and Mining Association’s (AEMA) endorsement of our proposed legislation. Senator Lee’s office, as they have in the past, encouraged our proposed bill to be approved out of the resources committee for final formatting into the Armed Services committee for passage into law. Higdem is following up with AEMA before getting back to her, Senator Risch, Crapo and Congressman Fulcher’s legislative staffers.
Pearson’s meeting with Associate Deputy Secretary Karen Bud-Falen of the Dept of the Interior pressed the need to cut the strings of prohibitive state regulations impeding miners, allowing miners to use existing roads without a Plan of Operation (PO) to access their claims, and strip the PO requirements of ACEC designations because Federal law does not require those regulatory actions.
Other items discussed: The legality of Bidens’s use of the auto pen for Monuments like Chuckwalla, reopening access to critical minerals and various points of PLP’s list of solutions within our proposed critical minerals legislation.
PLP has raised over $8,000 towards our $10,000 goal to fund our trips to D.C., PLP greatly appreciates your support!
PLP has moved the 2025 Fallfest to a new location at LDMA in Duisenberg, California and will be held Oct. 9-12th, 2025.
If you like the work PLP does, please help PLP help you, and join or renew today to know how to effectively and professionally counter the agencies while making Prospecting, Mining and Reclamation Great Again!
Supporting PLP’s Grand Raffle also helps us continue to fight for your rights. A book of 12 tickets is STILL only $10! We have a lot of great high value prizes, including amazing quartz-gold specimens! You can’t win if you don’t enter! Tickets are available to purchase by phone for the 2025 Grand Raffle Drawing. The growing list of the prizes for the 2025 Grand Raffle is published on our PLP Facebook site. You can call our toll-free number (844)-PLP-1990 which is (844) 757-1990 or Mail a Check (to the address below) and specify the number of ticket books you wish to have mailed to you. The drawing date and location is October 11th at the 2025 Duisenberg, California PLP Fallfest event.
Your PLP Board of Directors
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