June 13, 2009

Martin H. Milas, President
Prospectors’ Club Of Southern California
(Established 1966)
2222 Foothill Blvd., Ste. E-222
La Canada, CA 91011


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

June 13, 2009

Re: Veto SB670


Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

     The purpose of this letter is to urge,
on behalf of the hundreds and thousands of
members, family and friends of the
Prospector’s Club of Southern California, that
you veto SB 670. Why?

1.     Your own Director of the Department of
Fish and Game, Donald Koch, made an official
determination that NO EMERGENCY EXISTS in
regard to whether small scale suction dredge
permits should be discontinued even
temporarily. Additionally, Mr. Koch
determined that there is no evidence to
support a finding of environmental emergency
(that suction dredging is deleterious to
fish). See his letter of January 26, 2009.

2.     The issuance of suction dredge permits
generates badly needed income to the state.
There is no added cost to issuing these
permits as the same clerk who issues fishing
licenses also issues dredge permits -- a
process that takes just a few minutes.

3.     Hard hit rural economies depend on income
derived from operators of suction dredges who
spend substantial sums locally on dining, RV
camping, groceries, tools and prospecting
supplies.

4.     Suction dredging often is an important
family activity for those who identify with
their rural cultural heritage and who wish to
exercise their freedoms in lawful ways.

5.     There is no historic connection between
dredging and fish populations. Even at the
height of unregulated hydraulic mining in the
mid-19th century when up to 20 feet per year
of silt was washed into California rivers, the
salmon and trout populations flourished.
Something else is causing fish to die.
Speculation alone is insufficient to curtail
the freedoms and liberties Californians
cherish so well.

6.     There is evidence that dredging is
beneficial to salmon and other water life. It
creates deep, cool refuges during the hotter
and hotter summer months. It removes toxic
heavy metals such as mercury, lead, copper and
cadmium. It oxygenates the water and cleanses
the gravels of silty deposits that harbor
fungi and parasites. Salmon fight each other
for nesting spots on dredge tailings.

7.     An environmental impact study was funded
last year to address suction dredging. Since
small scale dredging has been an ongoing
activity for over a half century, then
suddenly curtailing it would constitute a
potentially harmful change in the existing
environment.

8.     Small scale natural gold jewelers and
artisans depend upon a supply of California
natural gold nuggets that come from small
scale dredges operated in California rivers
pursuant to federal mining claims.

        In conclusion, a vulnerable and
insular minority of small scale suction
dredgers are asking you to exercise your veto
power to protect us from the tyranny of the
majority who, through sheer political power in
the absence of any evidence or any emergency,
threaten to deprive us of our freedom to
safely and lawfully extract natural gold from
California’s historic gold producing rivers
the way it has been authorized for over a half
century.

        Thank you very much for considering
this unanimous request of the Prospectors’
Club Of Southern California.



Sincerely yours,



Martin H. Milas, President

Please help our hobby by contacting your state senators and representatives and telling them of your opposition to SB-670, which will seriously curtail suction dredging in California!

EMAIL

mhmilas@yahoo.com