Don’t miss out on our 2024 GRAND RAFFLE, which includes MANY great prizes — Mining Equipment, Alaska Trip, Gold & Silver, a Mining Claim & MORE!
FALLFEST 2023
SAVE THE DATE!
for Fallfest 2023
October 5-8, 2023
Register Now!
Time to register!
We always fill up quickly so don’t procrastinate and get left out! Registration closes as soon as it fills up, no later than Oct. 2nd.
FALLFEST Mining education and BBQ time is here! More educational than ever! Did we mention fun?
Thursday Oct. 5th through Sunday Oct 8th, 2023
Four jam-packed days of Fall Mining and Learning how to do it responsibly and environmentally friendly. There will be a variety of prospecting and mining classes, including a drilling & blasting class!
Coming from Oklahoma! The Pros and Cons: Mike Pung (Mr. Gold Cube!) and Cash Best will be here sharing their expertise with fine gold recovery and detectors – Bring your questions and even your own concentrates- Try to stump the experts! Mike and Cash are now a Minelab Dealer.
We will have the delicious BBQ Potluck and Raffle Saturday evening along with fiddle music by world famous Fiddlin’ Farley. We’ve got some big prizes in the raffle including Spin-It-Off Tool, GEO Sluice, ROYAL Manufacturing Sluice, a Mad Mining Drywasher, and of course, or should we say COARSE gold Nuggets, high dollar AKAU Gold Bag, silver bullion and more!
Come share in the fun, fellowship, and mining knowledge! Sign up soon before registration fills up. We close registration early to purchase and cook the right amount of BBQ.
Once again, we have hard rock teaching/ demonstration presented by a hard rock miner with decades of experience. We will have 2 licensed blasters sharing their knowledge with you, including dummy samples and a LIVE DEMONSTRATION. Come and learn how to get started hard rock mining or take your Hardrock game to the next level!
We will be hosting an Historical Rand Mining District and Owl Museum tour by Historian Dan Stanton – No fee to participate, but you are encouraged to donate to the Owl Museum in Red Mountain when the tour stops there.
The Panning Contest was so much fun we are organizing another one. Will last year’s champion retain the title of “Fastest Panner in the West”? You know who you are…?
Also back is Marcia Betz with at least one special ladies craft event, maybe more! It was super popular last year! The ladies made some cool items, several of which they donated to the raffle!
Saturday Adult detector hunt still only $20 Details at check-in along with published schedule of events. Lots of 100+ year old coins will be in this hunt along with real gold nuggets!
FREE Kids hunt is back! The kids really enjoy honing their metal detecting skills in the area prepared just for them. The smiles on their faces showed that they sure liked what they found!
We plan to have a group campfire every night down in the lower meeting area. We’ll have entertainment Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. PLP will be updating you on our activities at the campfire gatherings. Please bring firewood to donate if you are able. Campfire mining talk with fiddle music, juggling and maybe a tall tale or two is always a good time!
Back again is retired from Disney’s Frontier Town, famous Fiddlin’ Farley and Brad Allen the World Class Juggler performing at the campfire in the evenings. Remember the knives and fire juggling? The bowling pins that light up in wild patterns and colors? Well come back and see the latest and coolest!
Thanks again to the Leppers, the Betz, Susie, Roger Sims, Kim and many, many others who have volunteered to help make this a successful event. We couldn’t do it without you! We really appreciate you!
All attendees will get a new PLP membership, or for existing members we’ll extend your membership another year. Each paid attendee receives a dozen 2024 GRAND RAFFLE tickets, tickets to the Saturday night raffle, common dig, all the classes and Sat. night BBQ/ potluck! We are gathering at a great mining claim and sharing the gold (keep all you find!), food, fellowship, drywasher common dig, detector hunts, huge raffle (gold nuggets, mining equipment, silver and more!), plus we will be sharing more updates about the success PLP members have had with suction dredge reclamation.
Cost is only $70 per person, Families $70 plus $20 per person after the first one, kids under 12 are always FREE! Bring your kids and your kid’s friends, so they can learn to pan, drywash, PLUS the kids even have their own free metal detecting area!
SIGN UP here: https://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/fallfest-2023-registration/
We will be gathering on a very large private mining claim in the historic Stringer Mining District just south of Randsburg, CA. The claim is a short distance from Highway 395, just south of Red Mountain. Turn west on Osdick Road and follow the 8.5”x11” PLP logo signs on wood stakes. The claim is RV accessible with an area for RVs to park, and tent camping is allowed almost anywhere except the main area where we will be hosting the potluck dinner, panning area, and group campfire. The blasting area will be far away from camp areas and marked off limits.
The PLP registration table will be near the entrance to the claim which is less than a mile and a half from the highway on paved and good unpaved road. Our volunteers will be wearing bright yellow PLP Volunteer shirts and vests. Flag one of us down if you have any questions.
This historic gold and tungsten mining claim is still yielding gold in the washes, on the flat ground and even in the huge dirt piles. Rumor has it the piles were never processed, just sampled by the government contractor looking for tungsten during World War II. There have been nuggets found by attendees…they never get them all! Bring your metal detector and drywasher and keep all the GOLD you find! It is a dry, high desert claim with ample area for dry camping. Be aware there is wildlife living on the claim, we are visiting their home (in the part of the desert that the claim is in, we’ve seen foxes, coyotes, snakes, lizards, jack rabbits, etc.). Do not dig near their homes. We have clean porta-potties on site, extra drinking water and a group campfire every evening and Saturday is the potluck dinner and raffle. Our Miner’s Church and Fellowship is on Sunday morning at 8:30 am.
For Potluck, please bring your own camp chairs and a folding table if you want to eat on a table, we have a limited number of tables and will be using ours for serving the Saturday potluck/ BBQ dinner and for hosting the big raffle. Please bring your favorite side dish and /or dessert to share! After dinner we’ll once again update you on what PLP has been working on regarding the PROVEN ways you can now exercise your legal right to mine and perform dredge reclamation, not just CA but Oregon too. We will have the new PLP DREDGE Cards on hand that spell out exactly what to do to legally participate in suction dredge reclamation in CA. We will also be handing out our new and very useful PLP Forest Service green cards specifically designed to keep the Forest Service working within their actual jurisdiction and not overstepping onto your legal mining rights.
It can be hot and cold, but usually not too windy this time of year, so be prepared for any weather. Please bring your favorite main course or side dish and dessert to share with the group! PLP will be providing the main course of smoked BBQ and sourdough bread/butter/jam.
You can check in beginning at 9 am Thursday and stay until Sunday afternoon. Be sure and show off the gold you find, we all enjoy seeing that freshly dug up gold! Volunteers get to come in a day early and stay a day after Fallfest ends.
We want this to be fun and educational for experienced prospectors and newbies too. Once again, experts will be on hand to share tips and tricks to improve your prospecting and mining skills.
If you are new and need help learning how to set up and run your equipment, we’ve got you covered. Need gear? The mining community is always willing to share. We will have some loaner equipment available, and there will be experienced folks willing to help you, but the best option is to join the common dig (learn how a drywasher works and pan concentrates). Reach out to one of our volunteers on site. There will also be a panning station set up to use anytime.
Another HUGE shout out and thank you to all those who volunteered last year! You guys made it a successful outing! We are ever grateful! If you would like to volunteer to help us with chores, please email or call us, we could use your help- we appreciate you! Many hands make for a fun outing for everyone.
A big THANK YOU to the Mining Journal for publishing the ‘PLP UPDATE’ article every month and our Grand Raffle ad. They will have complimentary magazines available at Fallfest. A huge thank you to the Mining Journal! www.icmj.com
We are looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends at our big gathering. Remember, we are still committed to “Exercising our granted Rights while we Make Mining, Reclamation and Multiple Use on Public Land Great Again!”
Your PLP Board of Directors look forward to seeing you all out there!
Registration closes as soon as it fills up, no later than Oct. 2nd
Register Now!
September Newsletter/ FALLFEST Preview
Miner’s FALLFEST is coming! October 8-10 2021
All attendees will get a new PLP membership, or we’ll extend your membership a year for existing members. Each paid attendee receives a dozen 2022 GRAND RAFFLE tickets and free access to the metal detector hunts, common dig and Sat. night BBQ/ potluck! We are gathering at a great mining claim and sharing the gold (keep all you find!), food, fellowship, commercial drywasher common dig, detector hunts, huge raffle (gold nuggets, mining equipment and more!), plus we will be sharing more updates about the success PLP members have had with suction dredge reclamation. Cost is $60 per person, or $60 plus $15 per person for families, kids under 12 are FREE!
SIGN UP here: https://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/fallfest-2021/
We will be gathering on a very large private mining claim in the historic Stringer Mining District just south of Randsburg, CA. The claim is a short distance from Highway 395, south of Red Mountain. The claim is RV accessible with an area for RVs to park, and tent camping is allowed most anywhere except the main area where we will be hosting the potluck dinner, panning area and group campfire.
We have PLP logo signs on wooden stakes to help guide you to the claim from Highway 395. The PLP registration table will be near the entrance to the claim which is less than a mile and a half from the highway on paved and good unpaved road. Our volunteers will be wearing bright yellow PLP Volunteer shirts and vests. Flag one of us down if you have any questions.
This historic gold and tungsten mining claim is still yielding gold in the washes, on the flat ground and even in the huge dirt piles. Rumor has it the piles were never run, just sampled by the government contractor looking for tungsten around the time of World War II. There have been nuggets found by attendees, and they never get them all! Bring your metal detector and drywasher and keep all the GOLD you find! It is a dry, high desert claim with ample area for dry camping. Be aware there is wildlife living on the claim, we are visiting their home (in the part of the desert that the claim is in, we’ve seen foxes, coyotes, snakes, lizards, jack rabbits, etc.). Do not dig near their homes. We have clean porta-potties on site, extra drinking water and a group campfire (conditions permitting), Friday night and Saturday evening after the potluck dinner, and Miner’s Church and Fellowship on Sunday morning. Please bring your own camp chairs and a folding table if you want to eat on a table, we are short on tables and will be using ours for serving the Saturday potluck/ BBQ dinner and for hosting the raffle. Bring your favorite side dish and or dessert share! After dinner we’ll be sharing what PLP has been working on regarding the PROVEN ways you can now exercise your legal right to mine and perform dredge reclamation. We will have the new PLP DREDGE Cards on hand that spell out exactly what to do to legally participate in suction dredge reclamation in CA. We will also be handing out our new and very useful PLP Forest Service cards specifically designed to keep the Forest Service working within their actual jurisdiction and not overstepping onto your legal mining rights.
It can be hot and cold, but usually not too windy this time of year, so be prepared for any weather. Please bring your favorite main course or side dish and desert to share with the group! PLP will be providing the main course of yummy BBQ. Home-made sourdough bread made by one of our volunteers was so awesome we are providing it once again.
You can check in beginning 11 am on Friday and stay until Sunday. Be sure and show off the gold you find, we all enjoy seeing that freshly dug up gold!
We want this to be fun and educational for experienced prospectors and newbies too. Once again, experts will be on hand to share tips and tricks to improve your gold recovery skills.
NEW! Adult detector hunt! Details at check-in along with published schedule of events.
Back by popular demand: The kids really enjoy the honing their metal detecting skills in the area prepared just for them. The smiles on their faces showed that they sure liked what they found!
If you are new and need help learning how to set up and run your equipment; we’ve got you covered. Need gear? The mining community is always willing to share. We will have some loaner equipment available, and there will be experienced folks willing to help you, but the best option is to join the common dig (learn how a drywasher works and pan the concentrates). Reach out to one of our volunteers on site. There will also be a panning station near the campfire/ potluck area.
Back by popular demand: Professional XRF analyzer which can provide instant assay results for your mineral specimens and gold nuggets. Find out the purity of your placer gold on the spot! What minerals are in that odd piece of ore you found? Bring it and find out! See cover article in the May 2021 Mining Journal to learn more about the XRF.
A HUGE thank you to all those who volunteered at Springfest! You guys made it a successful outing! We are ever grateful! If you would like to volunteer to help us with chores, please email or call us, we could use your help- we appreciate you! Many hands make for a fun outing for everyone.
A big SHOUT OUT to the Mining Journal for publishing the ‘PLP UPDATE’ article every month. They are planning to be at Fallfest and will have complimentary magazines available. A huge thank you to the Mining Journal! www.icmj.com
We are looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends at our big gathering. Remember, we are still committed to “Exercising our granted Rights while we Make Mining, Reclamation and Multiple Use Public Land Great Again!”
Your PLP Board of Directors look forward to seeing you all out there!
Sign up here: https://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/fallfest-2021/
2021 Grand Raffle Winners!
2021 GRAND RAFFLE WINNERS!
Oregon Dredge Trip #1 Frances McNaul
Oregon Dredge Trip #2 Cheyanne Chapter GPAA
Oregon Dredge Trip #3 Doug Hammond
Fisher Gold Bug 2 Detector: Robert Thurber
20 acre Mining Claim: Brian Zins
Sluicebox #1 Jim Henesh
Sluicebox #2 Thomas Folks
Crevice Kit #1 George Haymans
Crevice Kit #2 Frank Rutkowski
Thompson Drywasher: Jesse Little
Fast Furnace: Ray Christofferson
Laminar Flow Drywasher: Dave Nunes
One Day Mining Trip: Kathy Edberg
Claim Location Service: Ray Christofferson
5 dwt (1/4 Oz) gold nugget: Tony LaValle
4 stack gold cube deluxe: Ernest Nelson
Minelab Equinox Detector: Doug Hammond
Thanks to all who participated this year! Stand by for 2022 prize listing!
Want to help? Donate prizes and make the raffle even better than ever! Contact us at info@publiclandsforthepeople.org
Don’t forget the exciting PLP updates every month in the Mining Journal www.icmj.com
Small Miner Amendment Call to Action
The SMALL MINER AMENDMENT update and Call to Action
We are overwhelmed with the support PLP has been receiving from around the country for the Small Miner Amendment. With over 2,000 endorsements and counting, this will help to make a greater impact because legislators will see the breadth of support from around the country for the Small Miner Amendment. In just a few weeks our Northern California Director, Clark Pearson and Scott Harn of the ICMJ (Mining Journal), will again be meeting in Washington D.C. with high level officials in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Interior (DOI), along with many legislators and their aides. We are working hard to get this critical mining legislation passed, providing regulatory relief for the small-scale mining community across the nation. Help us to help you: send us your endorsements of the Small Miner Amendment. You can read the complete language here: http://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/small-miner-amendments-to-s145/
It seems there may be some confusion as to what PLP’s proposed legislation is. It is NOT what MMAC has/ had in mind regarding Mining Districts. It is not the same bill at all. It is somewhat like doing arthroscopic surgery to cancerous laws, by using legislation to go in and make tiny incisions (corrections), in multiple places (various laws), to help the sick patient (the miners), heal up and restore full use of their mining rights.
PLP’s legal researcher Clark Pearson wrote the “Small Miner Amendments to S. 145. RECOGNITION OF THE LIMIT OF THE RIGHT OF SELF-INITIATION UNDER THE 1872 MINING ACT AND THE PERMISSIVE (PERMIT) SYSTEM FOR PURPOSES OF REGULATORY CERTAINTY”
As you read through the bill, you will see just how well the small-scale suction dredgers will benefit! Especially in Sec. 104.
It amends certain US Codes. Here are the current US Codes mentioned so you can more easily refer to and understand the amendments proposed to them (Thanks to Jann Higdem for setting up these links!):
SECTION 101: Improving regulatory accountability
28 USC §2412(d)(1)(A) -Costs and fees
Section 102: Removing overlapping and duplicative authorities
16 USC § 478 – Egress or ingress of actual settlers; prospecting
16 USC § 551 – Protection of national forests; rules and regulations
16 USC § 1604 – National Forest System land and resource management plans
30 USC § 612 – Unpatented mining claims
Section 103: Uniform federal regulation
43 USC § 1702 – Definitions
43 USC § 1748c – Bureau of Land Management Foundation
42 USC § 4332 – Cooperation of agencies; reports; availability of information; recommendations; international and national coordination of efforts
16 USC § 1536(a)(2) – Interagency cooperation
Section 104: Mine operation exemptions from the Clean Water Act
33 USC § 1362(12) – Definitions: “discharge of a pollutant” and the term “discharge of pollutants”
33 USC §§ 1341, 1342 or 1344
Section 105: SMALL MINER EXEMPTION
30 USC § 803 – Mines subject to coverage
5 USC § 554 – Adjudications (MSHA)
Section 106: Review and revise existing federal regulations
36 CFR Part 9 MINERALS MANAGEMENT (DOI & NPS)
43 CFR Part 4 Dept. Hearings & Appeals; and (DOI)
Part 3800 – Mining Claims Under the General Mining Laws (DOI)
36 CFR Part 228 – Subpart A, Locatable Minerals (USDA)
30 CFR Parts 1-199 – Mineral Resources (MSHA)
Section 107: FEDERAL CONSENT ON PUBLIC LANDS None
Section 108: DISCRETION OF THE OWNER OR MINERAL OPERATOR
30 USC § 43 – Conditions of Sale by Local Legislature
Section 109: MINERAL WITHDRAWN LANDS
43 USC § 1712(e)(3) – Land Use Plans
43 USC § 1714 – Withdrawals of Lands
You can read more about the Small Miner Amendment and also the need to write letters about MSHA issues right away at: https://www.icmj.com/magazine/article/plp-and-mmac-update-3815/
Regarding letters of support for the “Small Miner Amendments to S 145,” please address them to your member of the US Senate or US House of Representatives. The Mining Journal is collecting the letters to take to D.C.
Completed letters can be sent to the Mining Journal by email to editor@icmj.com; by fax at (831) 479-4385; or by mail to:
ICMJ
Attn: Scott Harn
PO Box 2260
Aptos, CA 95001
As a personal means to show support for PLP’s efforts, everyone should strongly consider becoming a member. The cost is a mere $35/yr . Keep in mind that PLP is not a prospecting or social club. We are an organization that focuses primarily on “mining rights” and protecting them without compromise! The majority of donations to PLP are from individuals making small donations. Every dollar goes into the fight! We are an all volunteer board, and your donation/ membership, raffle ticket purchase keeps us engaged in the battle.
Order your 2018 Grand Raffle tickets here: http://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/ Another prize is being added this month!
Also consider subscribing to the Mining Journal to keep abreast of the very latest mining and prospecting news and insights. https://www.icmj.com/subscribe/
Let’s all work together to make an impact. Together we’ve taken some lands back for public multiple use as in the Eagle Mountains and other areas, now let’s work together making history with these current activities to keep them!
Why? Because it matters greatly to the next generation what we do now. We are the Patriots of our generation. It’s about Mining Rights, it’s about Freedom!
Ron Kliewer
President
Letter to Trump re: Rinehart
December 18, 2017
President Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Re: Rinehart v. California, No. 16-970 (U.S. Supreme Court)
PLP exists to “Represent and assist outdoor user groups and individuals interested in keeping public and private lands open to prospecting, mining and outdoor recreation through education, scientific data and legal means.”
Dear President Trump,
If you have not heard of Public Lands for the People (PLP), we are one of the oldest mining and land rights advocacy organizations in the nation, having fought hard for miner’s rights since 1990. We are reaching out to you, inviting you to unite with us in the struggle to preserve the rights granted to us under the 1872 Mining Law.
Along with supporting Brandon Rinehart in the California state court, PLP has fought other battles in the courts for many years, winning some very key cases for miners in the United States while preserving the spirit of our Federal Mining Law and our National Minerals Policy, codified in 1970, which states: “The Congress declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government in the national interest to foster and encourage private enterprise in (1) the development of economically sound and stable domestic mining, minerals, metal and mineral reclamation industries, (2) the orderly and economic development of domestic mineral resources, reserves, and reclamation of metals and minerals to help assure satisfaction of industrial, security and environmental needs…”
I write to you today in order to make you aware of some rather disturbing recent actions of your Solicitor General in his office’s Amicus paper favoring California’s anti-mining position on mining and specifically regarding Rinehart v. California, No. 16-970 (U.S. Supreme Court). It is also to address specifics not addressed in a letter sent to you from the defendant’s attorney, James Buchal, on December 8, 2017.
As you are aware, it will be difficult to “Make America Great Again” without domestic manufacturers that have access to domestic sources of raw metals and minerals mined here in the United States. The problem is this: states such as California and your present Solicitor General support these actions that promote duplicative state regulation that overrides and is in direct conflict with Federal land planning objectives under the guise that state law can be more restrictive than federal law.
Unlike what your present Solicitor believes, this is exactly what the US Supreme Court warned about in California Coastal Comm’n v. Granite Rock., 480 U.S. 572 (1987). Anti-mining states such as California have a rather insidious way of carrying out this anti-American policy. They require a state permit on federally managed land—a permit that is physically impossible to obtain in the case of Rinehart.
Rinehart, in good faith, was carrying out his obligations under federal law and was caught in a scheme some have called “regulation by strangulation” whereby the state or federal agency requires a permit that it will not, or cannot issue in a timely fashion, then proceeded to criminally prosecute Rinehart under state law for not having that permit. A common tenet in law is that “the law does not require impossibilities,” but here in California, the rule of law and the justice it stands for is out the window. The state of California claims harm without environmental proof, which adds to this miscarriage of justice.
I understand that more of the swamp (administrative state) needs draining in order for your Presidential orders to be carried out and we at PLP admire your courage, drive and commitment. So if it is at all within your power as President to ask your Solicitor General to withdraw his Amicus regarding Rinehart v. California, No. 16-970 (U.S. Supreme Court) that acts to reward regulatory abusers such as California, it would be greatly appreciated.
Without your help, California and your current federal Solicitors stand as obstacles to federally encouraged activities and the security of our nation. Until next time, Let’s Keep Taking it Back while we Make Mining and Multiple Use Public Lands Great Again!
Thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Public Lands for the People, the Traditional Mining Districts, and our entire national membership,
Ron Kliewer, President
Public Lands for the People
23501 Burbank Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Phone: (844) PLP-1990
cc: Attorney General Sessions
Secretary Ryan Zinke
APRIL Grand Raffle Announcement
It is still…Happy FLOOD GOLD season!
The heavy rains in the west have left some golden reminders behind, we are getting reports of flood gold being found in the aftermath of the high water. The floods have moved gold from higher up in the watersheds, and has re-deposited it in the newly reformed river gravels and bars. It’s always a great idea to check some tried and true spots where you found gold before after high water because there’s a good chance those places have been replenished.
What better way to get out there and find some new flood gold than to take some PLP Grand Raffle prizes you won to try out? New gear works the best when you’ve won it! And hey, an ounce of gold donated by Roger Plata would be great to practice panning with, right? Imagine a whole ounce of gold in your pan… hey even a half ounce would be super cool to pan with, and that’s also one of the prizes PLP is giving away, along with a bunch of mining equipment, a New ’49ers LIFETIME membership and even a mining claim in the California Mother Lode! You can’t win if you don’t enter, so we’re making it easy for you by giving you a dozen free tickets with your new or renewing single PLP Membership or TWO DOZEN FREE TICKETS with every new or renewing family membership! We normally only offer this deal at the gold shows, so this special offer is good for the month of April. It’s simple to secure your tickets by signing up on line and we will mail tickets to you for the July 11th, 2017 Grand Raffle Drawing. Join and renew here: http://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/join/
If you want to purchase tickets outright you can call our toll free number (844)-PLP-1990 which is (844) 757-1990 or call our Raffle Chairman Timothy Eakin directly at (714) 948-3035. For a full list of the nearly $15,000 in Grand Raffle Prizes go here: http://www.publiclandsforthepeople.org/2017-grand-raffle-is-here/
Have you seen the new car rental commercial featuring a friendly miner helping tourists learn to prospect? Mining is getting great again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRhVvCxC1WA
Supporting the raffle helps us continue to fight for miner’s rights, and until next time, Let’s Keep Taking it Back while we Make Mining and Multiple Use Public Land Great Again!
Ron Kliewer, President
March 2017 Newsletter
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