Oregon gold mining stand off with BLM….Next bundy ranch

The next Bundy Ranch incident is developing in Josephine County, Oregon. The BLM has served notice to gold miners that they have until April 25, 2015 to stop gold mining….Oath Keepers are on site…Militia on the way. BLM DID NOT seek ‘Coordination Authorization’ with the local community….Sheriff Dave Daniel is NOT considered to be a Consitutional Sheriff.

BREAKING: OREGON GOLD MINING STAND OFF WITH BLM….NEXT BUNDY RANCH

Seems we have the making of the next Bundy Ranch incident coming on.....

The Shasta Lantern
Potential situation building in Southern Oregon/Central Jefferson. BLM has issued a cease and desist order to a group of miners in Josephine County 10 miles West of Grants Pass in the Galice Mining District. BLM has given the miners until April 25th to cease and desist all mining operations, remove all buildings and mining equipment. This order by BLM is not accompanied by a legal court order and has been issued on BLM supposed authority alone. Many of these claims have existed in perpituity since the 1870’s. The miners have issued a statement declaring they will resist what they believe to be an illegal order. The State of Jefferson will respond and arrive to support the miners if required. Stay tuned for updates as further information becomes available.

So the miners have issued their own statements saying they are going to resist.

~ Executive Committee; Galice Mining District
There have been many questions about rumors of a battle brewing between the Bureau of Land Management and several miners within the Galice Mining District. While we cannot yet divulge any fine details (and ultimately must keep legal tactics completely private), at this time, we can confirm the following:

1. BLM recently (3/18/15) issued two Stop Orders on a mine, citing authority under their 3809 regulations, despite the fact that this is one of the oldest active claims in the country. The location date of this mine is so old that one of the location notices (the legal title to the mine) was actually first recorded in the original Galice Mining District Recorder’s book in 1876 and then later transcribed into the Josephine County Clerk’s records once the county assumed recording duties. Under the 1955 Surface Resources Act, claims of this age have exclusive surface rights unless the Department of Interior utilized a mechanism outlined in that Act to severe those surface rights. Demands to BLM to produce evidence of their surface authority in accordance to the 1955 Act have thus far garnered only “because we say so” answers and numerous stonewalling tactics. The Stop Orders came after several months of back and forth maneuvering from both sides, and are clearly retaliatory in nature.

2. BLM are in active violation, on multiple counts, of federal Freedom of Information Act statutes. (By contrast, certain mine records in the possession of the State of Oregon have been provided in a prompt and professional fashion when requested). Similar documents secured by another miner have appeared to have been “heavily parsed” of key file documents, raising suspicion that BLM is either actively suppressing the release of documents that could be very damning or has been actively destroying documents which they are obligated under Federal Law to maintain and provide on request. One of the BLM employees suspected of parsing the records in question has apparently left BLM in the last few days.

3. What few documents have been produced by BLM to date (many of which are in no way very legible) have displayed a long history of non-compliance with federal and state laws, as well as their own regulations, as well as instances of suspected forgery, fraud, extortion of real estate and other issues that suggest a well organized conspiracy that divested thousands of miners and others of their property rights, which in turn has allowed the BLM and the USFS to exercise ruthless control over the entire Public Domain of the Far West, including rights of ingress and egress.

4. A BLM mineral tech involved in this case remarked (4/8/15) to the attorney who is handling this case that he is aware that the BLM position is not “open and shut” and is proceeding on shaky ground. Ultimately, BLM’s attack on the mine is a rolling of dice in the hope that they can get their way opposed to anything grounded in reality.

And it would seem that Jefferson is standing behind the miners....

This should be a fairly interesting case to watch. I am anxious to see if it does become the next Bundy Ranch standoff and how many supporters show up at this one.

Not sure what way Oregon leans, but I think it likely that miners that have been on these claims for a long time are ready to protect them, and miners are not known to take kindly to those trying to take their claims.

The mining district has produced in excess of 10 million ounces of gold since its inception, and geologists estimate that only 10% of the gold in the ground has been removed.

Shasta Lantern

So, let's go a little bit conspiracy theorist on this story and bring up ASTER prospecting brought to you by NASA:

ASTER Prospecting

ASTER Prospecting 2

As part of this ambitious effort, geologist Larry Rowan and a team of researchers at the USGS are now developing ways to locate potentially mineralized areas from space. Using the new Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emissions and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard the Terra satellite, they are attempting to find areas likely to contain copper in Iran and western Pakistan. If their tests are successful, then ASTER and future satellites could aid geologists in pinpointing any number of metal ores from aluminum to tin.

So..this has been around since 2002 I believe, and is likely much more capable now. Anyone think that MAYBE the BLM has seen some data to suggest that the "10% of this mine is all that has been found" is more fact based?

a reply to: Vasa Croe

It's good to see that people are standing up to the BLM's supposed authority in this instance. If they did not receive (or even seek out) the "Coordination Authorization", and the BLM is in fact issuing cease and desist orders illegally then the miners have every damn right to resist.

I agree, this will be interesting to watch. I will stay tuned - thank you for sharing this with your ATS friends Vasa Croe. I too am anxious to see how this will unfold

Ah Jefferson, the state that never was.

Still, it's nice to see them standing up for the miners. Go team!

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: Vasa Croe

It's good to see that people are standing up to the BLM's supposed authority in this instance. If they did not receive (or even seek out) the "Coordination Authorization", and the BLM is in fact issuing cease and desist orders illegally then the miners have every damn right to resist.

I agree, this will be interesting to watch. I will stay tuned - thank you for sharing this with your ATS friends Vasa Croe. I too am anxious to see how this will unfold

Yeah....I am keeping my eyes on this one. I have been searching for the actual press release on it, but have been unable to find it as of yet.

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: Vasa Croe

It's good to see that people are standing up to the BLM's supposed authority in this instance. If they did not receive (or even seek out) the "Coordination Authorization", and the BLM is in fact issuing cease and desist orders illegally then the miners have every damn right to resist.

I agree, this will be interesting to watch. I will stay tuned - thank you for sharing this with your ATS friends Vasa Croe. I too am anxious to see how this will unfold

I hope we are seeing the beginnings of folks putting a foot down to this out of control federal government gone tyrannical.

About time folja put the brakes on them.

Next we need to put the screws to them until we start seeing mass firings and jail terms for these lawless bureaucrats.

The gov isn't allowed BT law to just do what they want.

Either there us rule of law or there is not, they can decide.

Ok....found the original source of the story and the link on the Galice Miners website:

Galice Miners website

Shasta Lantern

I believe Shasta Lantern were the originators of this story once it hit the Galice Miners site.

And this is a rather shocking quote from them that they claim the BLM stated:

Reportedly late this week, BLM officials accompanied by deputies of Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel issued a Cease and Desist order to the mine and it’s owners. The order has given the miners until April 25th to remove all equipment, buildings and supplies from the mine. It has been reported local BLM officials have threatened to burn the buildings down if they are not removed by the date.

That is pretty crazy....if true that is....that they would threaten to burn down their buildings!

Nothing in the MSM .... Yet.

HOWEVER ... ( and OPINION: )

This story appears to be ... Hauling-n-the-Alternate-Spaces:

Google (1 Month / Sorted by Date):
"OREGON Galice Mining District BLM"
.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Talk about thuggish tactics…they sound more like a mafia than a government department. Wait maybe the problem is our government is all basically run like the mafia…they do go around extorting and racketeering.

I live in N. California, and I really hope the State of Jefferson will be taken seriously. Ive been a wannabe gold miner for years, and this is just not right, and epitomizes why N California needs better representation in our State. We dont have nearly the amount of representation that the more populated areas have. So the cities pass laws for us, and they dont have a clue what the rural areas need.

I wonder what is so special now? If they have been mining there for so long, why all of a sudden is the BLM wanting it stopped? What are they up to?

I hope the miner's get lots of support on this.

And really BLM, burning the buildings down? Pretty drastic, and sure wouldn't be tolerated by joe public.

originally posted by: FarleyWayne
Nothing in the MSM .... Yet.

HOWEVER ... ( and OPINION: )

This story appears to be ... Haulling-n-the-Alternate-Spaces:

Google (1 Month / Sorted by Date):
"OREGON Galice Mining District BLM"
.

Yeah....nothing in the MSM, but it IS on the Galice Mining District website which makes it credible IMO.

Galice Mining District website

a reply to: Vasa Croe

That is interesting. There have been claims in Alaska that cabins and buildings were burned down once the people left for the winter. They supposedly were on lands controlled by the state though. Also, miners in Alaska have had federal agents from several agencies show up trying to run them off their claims, but I haven't heard of them being successful.
It must be a common source that these agencies can suddenly start burning people out. They have used it selectively, but what worries me is that they do it at all. Is this going to be their m.o. for running people out of their homes to secure all the wildlands they claim to want to create and resettle people to urban areas? Not a good development.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Talk about thuggish tactics…they sound more like a mafia than a government department. Wait maybe the problem is our government is all basically run like the mafia…they do go around extorting and racketeering.

Yeah..the story wreaks of land grab for the gold. From the Shasta Lantern article:

The mining district has produced in excess of 10 million ounces of gold since its inception, and geologists estimate that only 10% of the gold in the ground has been removed.

Shasta Lantern

So that's a pretty big reason I could see them wanting to get involved.

originally posted by: spirit_horse

That is interesting. There have been claims in Alaska that cabins and buildings were burned down once the people left for the winter. They supposedly were on lands controlled by the state though. Also, miners in Alaska have had federal agents from several agencies show up trying to run them off their claims, but I haven't heard of them being successful.

It must be a common source that these agencies can suddenly start burning people out. They have used it selectively, but what worries me is that they do it at all. Is this going to be their m.o. for running people out of their homes to secure all the wildlands they claim to want to create and resettle people to urban areas? Not a good development.

I ran across the following story just this morning:

All across the western states, a grass-roots movement has risen to reclaim states’ Constitutionally mandated public lands from federal government control.

Presently, resolutions and bills are in motion is Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and now Alaska.

Alaska Passes Bill
Returning State Land from Federal Control
.

Well what we learned from the first scuffle is...get guns...and refuse to leave...and the BLM will back down. Thats all they gotta do. Too bad the citizens can't organize and start doing this with everything.

So are they free loading at the tax payer dime and not paying taxes?

Since we are comparing this to bundy.


Sources seems to be all pretty sensationalized, but still sounds like more of a legit claim then old man bundy.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
So are they free loading at the tax payer dime and not paying taxes?

Since we are comparing this to bundy.


Sources seems to be all pretty sensationalized, but still sounds like more of a legit claim then old man bundy.

Not sure how they are freeloading...these guys have had these claims for longer than BLM has been around.

If you read farther than the first post, there are links to the actual mining district website with these statement in them....took me some digging, but finally found it.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Another standoff between the people and an out of control Federal Govt agency.

I will be watching this.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I wasn't saying they were, was saying bundy was.

Mafia tactics is right - I'm so sure whatever powers the BLM have also include the right to come burn down rightfully owned and operated mining facilities.

One problem is they've gone on pushing around the little guy for so long that at this point the BLM feels entitled to this land. Thank God people are standing up against them though - I do think this is a reflection of the fact that people are waking up to the Federal overreach and excessive use of force and intimidation. Right on people!