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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=articleheadline1><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext">Groups File Petition to
Limit Gold Mining to Save Struggling Fisheries</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><BR></SPAN></FONT></B><SPAN
class=sidesubhead1><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext">In Wake of Fisheries Closures, Tribe,
Fishermen, and Conservationists Urge <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> Fish and Game to protect critical
habitats from Suction Dredge Mining <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=sidesubhead1><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext">Yubanet.com</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN class=articlebyline1><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: windowtext">By:
Karuk Tribe<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Sacramento, CA Jan. 7,
2009 - The Karuk Tribe, California Trout, and Friends of the North Fork have
formally petitioned California Fish and Game to restrict the controversial gold
mining technique known as suction dredge mining. The groups' call to limit the
recreational mining technique comes as <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> faces the worst fisheries collapse
in history.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The petition was immediately supported by
the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe, the Sierra Fund, and
PCFFA.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Last April, the state and federal
government took unprecedented emergency actions to completely close <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s coast to
recreational and commercial salmon fishing, something that is causing severe
economic harm to businesses and communities," said Glen Spain, Northwest
Regional Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.
"That is why it is critical for California Fish and Game to act now to limit
recreational suction dredge mining operations and protect threatened and
endangered species like coho salmon."</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN
class=articletext1><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The groups want Department of Fish and
Game Director Don Koch to use his authority to implement immediate emergency
restrictions on where and when suction dredging can take place - the same
authority used to restrict recreational and commercial fishing when fish runs
are low.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Suction dredges are powered by gas or
diesel engines that are mounted on floating pontoons in the river. Attached to
the engine is a powerful vacuum hose which the dredger uses to suction up the
gravel and sand (sediment) from the bottom of the river. The material passes
through a sluice box where heavier gold particles can settle into a series of
riffles. The rest of the gravel and potentially toxic sediment is simply dumped
back into the river. Depending on size, location and density of these machines
they can turn a clear running mountain stream into a murky watercourse unfit for
swimming. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Dredging disturbs spawning gravels and
kills salmon eggs and immature lamprey that reside in the gravel for up to seven
years before maturing. In a system like the Klamath where salmon can be stressed
due to poor water quality, having a dredge running in the middle of the stream
affects the fishes ability to reach their spawning grounds," according to Toz
Soto, lead fisheries biologist for the Karuk
Tribe.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In addition, dredging reintroduces toxic
mercury into the environment. According to Izzy Martin, Director of the Sierra
Fund, "There is a lot of mercury settled on the bottom of these rivers as the
result of gold mining operations in the 1800's. Dredging reintroduces mercury to
the stream creating a toxic hazard for fish and
people."</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Exposure to mercury can lead to mental
retardation and birth defects.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN
class=articletext1><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">These groups have been working for years
to limit suction dredging in order to protect the most important habitats for
spawning coho, green sturgeon, and lamprey. Currently the Department of Fish and
Game is revising (DFG) its regulations in compliance with a 2006 court order but
the funding to perform the necessary CEQA hearings may disappear from the budget
in the wake of the current budget impasse. At any rate the rule making could
take years and groups say that the protective measures are needed
immediately.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Fish and Game oversees suction dredge
permits at a significant financial loss as mining fees fail to cover expenses.
According to petitioners, this amounts to spending $1.25 million per year to
subsidize the destruction of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> fisheries by gold mining hobbyists.
Many of these hobby miners are from out of state as <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s mining laws
are less restrictive than those of neighboring
states.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"It's absurd that in the midst of the
state's worst financial crisis that we are subsidizing the destruction of our
fisheries for the sake of recreational dredge mining. Tax payer dollars are
being used to kill fish and the jobs they provide," added <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN
class=articletext1><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>, fishermen buy 2.4 million fishing
licenses each year. The sportfishing industry supports a total of 43,000 jobs
amounting to $1.3 billion in wages and salaries annually. Fishing equipment
sales total over $2.4 billion per year. By comparison, DFG only issues 3,000
permits for suction dredging each year. "The 2.4 million Californians that buy
fishing licenses every year expect the Governor to protect both our natural
resources as well as our rural economies," said <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">For the Karuk Tribe the threat is even
greater. "Suction dredge mining is nothing more than recreational genocide. The
first gold rush killed more than half our people in 10 years. This modern gold
rush continues to kill our fish and our culture," says Leaf Hillman of the Karuk
Tribe. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN class=articletext1><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"While we cannot harvest enough salmon
for our ceremonies or to meet our families' food needs, miners are allowed to
rip and tear our river bottoms to shreds. We need California Fish and Game to
take a stand with Native People and the 2.4 million anglers in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> - not 3,000
recreational gold miners," added Hillman.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR><BR><SPAN
class=articletext1><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Fish and Game Don Koch will have to
consider the groups' petition to limit mining and make a ruling before the end
of the month.#<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
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