Forest Service Demolishes Access to Private Property
by Shari Dovale
A planned outing to claims along Bedrock Gulch and Eagle Creek by the Northwest Gold Prospectors Association (NWGPA) turned ugly last weekend. Their trails had been maliciously blocked by hundreds of downed trees and cement barricades.
The NWGPA is a club with over 200 members. The members pull their resources and buy legal claims to share throughout the year. Their first outing of the year was planned for last weekend. They intended to tour their claims, showing new members where they can access, and the rules to abide by.
However, they found that the Forest Service had blocked access to at least four of their claims through the intentional destruction of the roads. Slash, downed trees, and even hauling in 3-foot by up to 12-foot concrete traffic barriers, piled to the point that even the deer and elk cannot cross through.
Trees were also downed and hauled next to the river, and it seems that the work may have even gone into the water.
Remember that the EPA is coming down hard on anyone that they determine has affected the waters of the United States, through the Clean Water Act. Joe Robertson was found guilty of these violations for putting a pond on his property, affecting only one-tenth of an acre, sixty miles from any navigable water.
However, as you can see from the pictures, the Forest Service has intentionally plundered the area next to Eagle Creek, which leads to the Coeur d’Alene River. How is it that they are allowed to get away with this? Will the EPA even blink when it comes to the government’s intentional violations?
While checking their claims near Bedrock Gulch, members of the Club found what was professed to be a “fire break”. Now, I am not an expert, but maybe someone can look at these pictures and explain to me how this is normal procedure to stop a fire. Massive slash and trees, enough to block all wildlife from crossing the road, seems to be more in line with starting a fire than stopping one.
Another question is how many thousand$ of dollar$ did the Forest Service spend to accomplish this devastation? This appears to be a complete misuse of public funds.
The Prospectors in the NWGPA own more than a dozen claims. So far, they have verified that four of the claims have had this harsh destruction to block their access. They have planned another outing this weekend, and hope to have access for their members and guests to some of their claims.
Redoubt News will be bringing you updates as we follow this story.
USFS abuses ranging from land theft from 1897 land grants (the Weeks Act establishing the USFS came much later, 1911) where creeks named on the deed itself have been taken by the USFS, to health damage from smoke due to prescribed burns conducted in areas where there are thermal inversions, and refusal to enforce roadless areas in order to accommodate the aggressive trespassing of bear hunters have served to make the USFS the enemy of private property neighbors.
Fire breaks are used, but they become ineffective if you leave all of the dead wood in the break
AS A WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOR OVER SEVEN YEARS THE PHOTOS SHOW NO FIRE BREAK. BY DEFINITION BY THE USFS A TRUE FIREBREAK IS VOID OF EVERYTHING EXCEPT DIRT OR ROCK. I FEAR ALL THEY HAVE DONE WAS CAUSE A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.
Germany had similar roads and trails in the 1030s. They allowed the people to visit and enjoy the mountains and streams – as we do here. Under Hitler, many, if not most of these roads were similarly closed thus keeping the people cooped up in the cities. It made it easier to control them when they were all ina herd.
Oooops! “1030s” should be “1930s.” Sorry!
Uh….no.
This is a great example of deflection and special interest government spending. The Forest Service has nearly a 1/2 million mile of roads to maintain – Some estimates say it would cost an ADDITIONAL $300 million per year of taxpayer money to actually maintain them to standard. Groups like Taxpayers for Common Sense investigate how the Forest Service uses our money on roads when they don’t even have enough to fight fire and work hard to get this information out. When the Forest Service finally decommissions roads instead of endlessy repairing roads that were never intended to be permanent, guys like these shout “squirrel” and tell us that we need to continue to subsidize their hobby with our tax dollars!
I find it interesting that they can accomplish all this destruction without anyone knowing. Find out if they were locals and if so track them down and deal with them personally.
Yet more reasons to get ALL public lands returned to the control of their respective States post haste. Contact your legislators and encourage them to make this a priority. The Feds have no legal authority to control public lands within the borders of any State other than what is specifically stated & spelled out in the Constitution: Article 1 – Section 8 – Clause 16
Planned USFS projects are usually scheduled a year or more in advance, and detailed in their “Schedule Of Proposed Action”, or SOPA. The ones here for example: http://www.fs.fed.us/sopa/components/reports/sopa-110117-2016-04.html Anyone know what the project name is that closed/demolished these roads?
The road was actually closed in 1996 after portions of it were washed out by flooding. People had started to illegally bypass the closure by driving through the creek and were even attempting their own repairs to make it driveable again. The mining claims on Eagle Creek are still accessible from another FS road, but its a longer drive. Unfortunately for the club, their interests aren’t necesarily the same as other forest users like anglers, who value restoration of the creeks to reduce erosion and siltation or anti-tax/small gov’t groups that are frustrated by the USFS’s spending on the maintenance of roads for limited use by hobbyists.
Thanks MP, not enough info to confirm your statement and I’m not inclined to investigate it, but I thought as much so I believe it. The way the roads and creek bed were blocked looks similar to what the USFS does around here when they want to stop vehicles/ORVs from using already closed trails. I share 3 property lines with Nat Forest managed by the USFS and while I certainly don’t always agree with their decisions I’ve dealt directly with them twice on projects that I didn’t like. In the first all it took was a phone call to get a small project they planned cancelled, in the second it took a petition to get a compromise that I can live with. Maybe someone else less lazy than me can track down the project that closed the road and what the miners did to try to stop it; any petitions, letters written, or meeting attendees should all be in the public record.
Many roads and trails where not legally designated during the “travel management” process. Most tuned out, thinking travel management, only impacted ohv recreation. Wrong.
Many think “restoration” is good, as in fixing something. ThE pictures show what “restoration” is defined as, to the USFS, Obliterate.
These projects require a EIS, Environmental Impact Statement. Future projects can be found on the USFS sopa. One can request to be added to the SOPA for the National Forest you frequent and be notified of these projects in time to comment.
The fact your group has a mining claim, should have required notification during, each step of the NEPA process. Why you where blindsided by this project, is troubling?
The North West Gold Prospectors Association. Hmm… never heard of you guys. But from an outsider’s perspective I’d say that the Federal Government’s action here may… just may… indicate that they may have knowledge of a more sophisticated and scientific type than that available to a bunch of hobbyists with shovels and pans. It could be in somebody’s interest to encourage the little guys to abandon their claims so that mining rights can be sold to favored insiders. Not saying this is true but it is something worth checking into.
I believe that our lands have been put up for colatoral against the huge Chinese loans. Our Government and the UN know we can not repay these loans so they’re blocking mining access.
Did they really destroy private property? Or is that a type-o that should have read “public”?
“The US Forest Service welcomes all visitor to their lands of many abuses”
Donald Trump has stated in his campaign speeches, recently, that as President he will “Support the Miners”. I’m sure that he was referred to the coal miners, in response to Hillary’s statements about shutting down mining, but, maybe Trump will be able to turn the tide of abuse by EPA and NSF. Maybe he will reverse some of the ridiculous land grabs by Obama through executive order. Maybe, maybe, maybe… Vote Trump!
So help me understand. For decades federal agencies under the Agriculture Department like Cooperative Extension and the conservation departments have been recommending that farmers and landowners create ponds plus provide them with all the information to do it and in some cases even stock them. Yet another federal agency now prosecutes those who put in ponds. This is just wrong, immoral and unethical.
Be sure to vote Obama’s chaotic act alike in as president for more of the same.
This is par for the course on all open fs roads around here. Millions in tax dollars are wasted on beautiful and scenic roads that arent just being closed,they are destroyed beyond even climbing through!!! Not even a bear that’s being chased will use it and we all pay for this to be done,we all are loosing!
A similar situation went down in Boulder County Colorado years ago with mass destruction of forest to close long existing mining roads.
Will, will, looks to me like the Socialist Government under El Dumbo and their appointed lackeys are at it again. Destroying public property and in turn blocking people access to their own property. US Cmbt Vet: Vietnam (’68-’69), 1st Cav Div (AM) Helicopter door gunner.
Our fine government at work…again
Until the people fight this tyranny the abuse by these agencies will only get worse. Is time to hold the individuals making the decisions to close these roads accountable for their actions. There is something called Direct and Constructive Notice to sue those individuals abusing our rights under color of law.
Also, any roads that existed before 1977 (that includes logging roads) are public right of ways under RS 2477. The local County needs to enforce RS 2477.
People did fight it here in oregon and they murdered them. This is exactly what they were fighting against and everyone still laughing thinking they dont do this!
The USFS sees those roads differently than we do. Thanks to Clinton and his trails b.s. they are closing 30 miles a year off to us here.
Agenda 21 /2030 being implemented – YET AGAIN. They want us ALL out of the back country – off the land.
We are witnessing this at an alarming rate among the Federal agencies who were hired by the people, for the people and to MANAGE the people’s lands for them. They were not created to instill a totalitarian agenda against the people who own the lands.
We must unite against this before it is too late. American Mining Rights Association (AMRA)
This is when the PEOPLE need to arm up (But be peaceful, just a show of intent and force), and bring heavy equipment and clear this crap themselves and not allow the Government to bully them. This is Bullshit, Im guessing you guys could contact “Oath Keepers” and tell them of the massive violations of your constitutional rights and have them come help protect you from the government while you clear this road and other areas. Im sure they would love a reason to confront tyranny !