Here is The Gold Rush Diary Of George Bonniwell, a very interesting real account of the day to day travels on the road to California in 1850. This diary depicts the meaning of tough as nails, and true endurance, what those people went through to get to Calif was gruling to say the least.

Enjoy these 5 pages of diary on the road to California.

by Richard Gordon and Peter VanDoren

Richard Gordon is professor emeritus of mineral economics, the Pennsylvania State University,
and Peter VanDoren is assistant director of environmental studies at the Cato Institute.

Metal mining on federal lands is governed by an 1872 law. Critics argue that the law "gives away" valuable assets at prices well below market value, often for uses other than mining, and does not allow the government to conserve mineral resources through public ownership.

Estimates of the "giveaway" are vastly overstated because of the failure to use conventional financial methodology; any "giveaway" occurred long ago and is not ongoing. The "fraudulent" use of land for nonmining purposes is simply the result of unwise restrictions on land uses that are more profitable than mining. The need to conserve exhaustible resources is a red herring. No exhaustible resource industry has vanished because of the exhaustion of supply, but many renewable resources have vanished for that reason.

The U.S. government owns land because many Americans believe that land markets and extractive activities, like mining, do not operate well unless they are publicly owned and subject to scrutiny very different from that received by supermarkets. We would never accept public ownership as a solution to whatever market failures existed in food markets. We also should not accept public ownership in land markets.

Future mining claims should be allocated at auction without royalties, but existing claims should remain unaltered. A second-best alternative would be to allow anyone to bid against mining companies under the current mining law regime. If both of those options remain closed because of political considerations, then the 1872 Mining Law should be left alone.

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There is an old adage that says, “If you shout something loud enough, long enough, and often enough……it becomes believable enough, by enough people….to pass as fact.”

Thus is the hope of environmentalists who claim that small scale dredging is harmful to fish. Environmentalists and other special-interest groups have recently been engaged in an all-out assault against small scale dredgers, alleging that this mining activity is harming fish. Well, actually, what they are saying is that this activity “may” harm fish, and on that basis alone, they are seeking to shut down the small scale dredging industry. Their allegations are rife with supposition such as “may”, “could”, “might”, “can”, etc. Now, there’s a good reason for this.

Generally, when someone is alleged to be causing environmental harm, there are two things. First of all, there is scientific evidence that environmental harm is being caused in the first place….a corpse if you will….a dead herd of buffalo, dead birds laying on the ground, defective eggs, mutant lizards, or in this case, dead or injured fish. Secondly, there is sound scientific proof that a particular activity or situation is causing this harm. Ironically, in the issue of small scale dredging, neither of these two factors is present. Neither environmentalists nor biologists who have monitored small scale dredging for decades have provided any scientific proof whatsoever that a small scale dredger has ever harmed a single fish! Let me repeat that.

Not… one… single… fish!

For instance, consider AGRICULTURE for a moment.

Reality is, agriculture in America has deforested more land than even the American logging industry. It has destroyed more habitant for animal species than any other industry in the world. Agriculture has caused more species extinction, than any other industry world wide.

Agriculture has caused more soil erosion, created more turbidly in America’s waterways, and introduced more degrading, or toxic pollutants of all sorts into the American environment, than any other American industry. Agriculture is the primary cause of more environmental degradation to the surface of whole planet, than any other industry, on the planet.

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Public land under the ownership of the United States.
“The power over the disposition of such land and the minerals contained therein is in Congress and not in the states“.
(McLemore v. Express Oil Co. (1910) 158 Cal. 559, 562; Moore v. Smaw (1861) 17 Cal. 199, 218-219.)

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PUBLISHED BY THE WASHINGTON ALLIANCE OF MINERS AND PROSPECTORS
with additions by Steve Herschbach of Alaska Mining & Diving Supply.

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Could the following article explain why SB 670 was passed without proper evaluation of existing Federal Laws and peer accepted Science.?

Records show dozens of Calif. lawmakers fail to report freebies from lobbyists

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California lawmaker and his wife were treated by the insurance industry to a two-night stay, with spa treatments, at an exclusive Pebble Beach resort.

Another received free passes to Sea World San Diego, along with Disneyland tickets. Yet another got a coveted ticket to the 2008 Holiday Bowl college football game

In each case, the lawmaker not only accepted the perks and freebies but also apparently failed to report them as required by state law, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the California Public Records Act.

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Amador County supervisors had words of encouragement on Tuesday for aficionados of the gold-mining practice known as suction dredging.

Suction-dredge mining, long regulated under seasonal and geographic criteria only, has been under a legislated moratorium since August, pending environmental review. The move came over concerns about the state's permitting process, particularly regarding the harm suction dredging may do to fish-spawning grounds. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came under pressure from mining interests to veto Senate Bill 670 that installed the moratorium. The Department of Fish and Game expects the review will be finished by late summer 2011, but opponents of the legislation are still mounting pressure to suspend it. Economic arguments on behalf of subsistence miners, mining-tourism operations and manufacturers of mining equipment have figured largely into the push.

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This response letter was written by Tom Kitchar of Waldo Mining Districk, to the Attorney Generals Office for the state of Oregon. He explains in detail the US Mining Law and how it applies in situations where State laws try to prohibit Mining on Federal Lands.

This letter is a great example of how State lawmakers are misunderstanding and misinterpreting US Mining Law. In this letter Tom sets the record strait of how the Mining law need to be understood.

This letter was taken from the Public Lands for the People website.

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PLP FILED A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST SB 670 THE CA. DFG MORATORIUM ON SUCTION DREDGING AT 12 NOON ON JAN, 21, 2010. THE CASE WILL BE HEARD BEFORE JUDGE MORRISON C. ENGLAND IN COURT ROOM 7 OF THE FEDERAL EASTERN DISTRICT COURT ON FEB. 25, 2010 IN SACRAMENTO.

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