Citations issued by the Indiana DNR for collecting minerals??? Take a look at what is actually removed, 30 pounds of toxic lead, cadmium and other metal junk.... and a few flakes of gold. .Does the DNR believe that this toxic metal should remain in our waterways?
Short Answer: NO, the DNR wants to resolve this issue in a sensible way. They seem willing to work with myself and others to come up with a non-restrictive rule to allow recreational gold dredging to continue in Indiana without more criminal citations.
Short Answer: NO, the DNR wants to resolve this issue in a sensible way. They seem willing to work with myself and others to come up with a non-
Aug 3rd UPDATE!
I, along with several others, attended the Indiana Natural Resources Committee’s May 21st meeting. Several people spoke to the committee on behalf of recreational prospectors regarding the separation of our activities from the new “creek rock removal” rules. I am very pleased to announce that we will no longer be included in the new aggregate removal rules. After hearing some of the prospector’s testimony, the committee decided to separate our recreational activities from the new rules and send it back to the Rules Committee for a complete review and reconsideration. The NRC is not out to get us, as some have claimed. They want to work with members of the Indiana prospecting community, to write a new set of rules that promote “recreational activities” such as ours. Several of the committee members will be attending an upcoming recreational prospector outing in order to learn more about suction dredging, so that they will have a better understanding of what this activity actually entails. They will take the knowledge that they gain from the outing back to the rules committee and along with our direct involvement, will be able to write new rules that protect the environment, without unnecessarily restricting recreational prospecting.
June 12th: We met with several officials at the DNR office in Indy to discuss where we go from here. I can honestly say that the meeting went very well, I believe that Ron McAhron (Dep. Director Bureau of Resource Regulation) is a very sincere and “up front” man. Due to the sensitive nature of this issue, I will not be posting any details of our discussion on the net. I can say that we will be doing a “field study” with Ron and several other DNR officers in the very near future at an undisclosed location. We will be running 3” and 5” recreational dredges during the field study. If all goes well during the study, we may be able to work out an interim exclusion, in order to prevent unnecessary citations until the permanent solution can be drawn up
Alert: The Tippecanoe River contains several Federally protected, endangered mussel species, please DO NOT operate a suction dredge in this river!
June 23rd - We met with several division heads of the DNR, as well as other concerned parties, to demo a three & five inch dredge on an Indiana creek. Mike ran his dredge first and then I showed them mine in operation. We answered a lot of questions and tried to address all of their recreational prospecting related concerns. Based on our conversations, I hope in the near future we can work hand in hand with the DNR to better educate Indiana prospectors about our threatened and endangered species. I believe that all recreational prospectors want to be good stewards of our waterways and help protect and preserve the environment for future generations. We expect to hear something informally within the next week or so, they will likely have a new exclusionary rule worked out in time for the August meeting of the Rules Committee. I think things are on track and I would like to publicly thank all who were present for taking time out of their busy schedules to consider this issue with us. Governor Mitch Daniels has done an excellent job of choosing intelligent, fair minded individuals to head the DNR & the Rules Committee! See photo’s below.
Aug 3rd - Everything is on track and I expect to have some very good news by the middle of this month.
You can email me at: admin@midwestprospector.com
I, along with several others, attended the Indiana Natural Resources Committee’s May 21st meeting. Several people spoke to the committee on behalf of recreational prospectors regarding the separation of our activities from the new “creek rock removal” rules. I am very pleased to announce that we will no longer be included in the new aggregate removal rules. After hearing some of the prospector’s testimony, the committee decided to separate our recreational activities from the new rules and send it back to the Rules Committee for a complete review and reconsideration. The NRC is not out to get us, as some have claimed. They want to work with members of the Indiana prospecting community, to write a new set of rules that promote “recreational activities” such as ours. Several of the committee members will be attending an upcoming recreational prospector outing in order to learn more about suction dredging, so that they will have a better understanding of what this activity actually entails. They will take the knowledge that they gain from the outing back to the rules committee and along with our direct involvement, will be able to write new rules that protect the environment, without unnecessarily restricting recreational prospecting.
June 12th: We met with several officials at the DNR office in Indy to discuss where we go from here. I can honestly say that the meeting went very well, I believe that Ron McAhron (Dep. Director Bureau of Resource Regulation) is a very sincere and “up front” man. Due to the sensitive nature of this issue, I will not be posting any details of our discussion on the net. I can say that we will be doing a “field study” with Ron and several other DNR officers in the very near future at an undisclosed location. We will be running 3” and 5” recreational dredges during the field study. If all goes well during the study, we may be able to work out an interim exclusion, in order to prevent unnecessary citations until the permanent solution can be drawn up
Alert: The Tippecanoe River contains several Federally protected, endangered mussel species, please DO NOT operate a suction dredge in this river!
June 23rd -
Aug 3rd -
You can email me at: admin@midwestprospector.com
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Link to toxic lead and metal junk removed from Indiana Rivers with a recreational gold dredge - video CLICK HERE
