Support HR 4, House Resolution Opposing the federal Forest Jobs & Recreation Act Action:             Hearing, Comment here Date/Time:       03/26/2013 @ 3PM Hearing Room: 137 Committee:      House Agriculture Sponsor:          Representative Kerry White Here’s a portion of the resolution’s objective: (read the whole resolution by clicking on the HR 4 link above) NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA: That the members of this House of Representatives stand in opposition to the federal Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2011 until: (1) all mineral resources and private inholdings are identified and inventoried; (2) coordination requirements with local governments are included in the language of the federal Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2011; and (3) trigger language is included to ensure mandated timber harvests are completed before permanent designation of wilderness. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and the Montana Congressional Delegation.

Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) have once again introduced legislation (H.R. 1187, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act) that would designate a massive 23 million acre area across five states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming) as wilderness. This means each of these 23 million acres would be made permanently off-limits to motorized and mechanized recreation, including off-highway motorcycles, ATVs, ROVs (side-by-sides), 4x4s, snowmobiles and mountain bikes. It is particularly important to note that the lead sponsor, Rep Maloney, represents Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in New York City, yet has introduced legislation that would have an economic and social impact on millions of Americans who live, work and recreate on or near the lands in question. In a particularly ironic twist, Representative Maloney and the other cosponsors will not accept emails from anyone who does not live in their districts. So, these Members seek to force the most restrictive land management on millions of Americans, but will not listen to their concerns.

This sort of top-down legislation poisons the debate and makes meaningful collaboration at the local level more difficult. Who wants to participate in complicated and time consuming collaborative processes when Members of Congress from thousands of miles away, and who have little understanding of the areas in question, introduce and pursue enactment of sweeping legislation that would make all of that hard work moot?

 

https://secure3.convio.net/arra/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=453

Please make an effort to attend the House Agriculture Sub-committee hearing on House Resolution HR 4. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26 at 3 PM, Room 137.  HR 4 is “A Resoultion of the House of Representatives of the State of Montana Opposing the Federal Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2011.  The FJRA is Senator Jon Tester’s bill. Senator Tester’s bill has failed at committee level in DC and has been stripped out of Omnibus bills in the past.  While the bill attempsts to establish logging and recreation opportunities, it guarantees neither.  It does, however, guarantee more than 600,000 acres of new wilderness.

 

This is your chance to make your opinions and comments heard.
The House Committees are listed in this link:

 

http://leg.mt.gov/content/Committees/Session/2013%20house%20committees%20-%20columns.pdf

Thanks to the Headwaters Chapter of the GPAA for their continued support of the CBU TrailRaiser Banquets!  If you are thinking about gold ppospecting as a hobby, contact the Headwaters GPAA. They are a friendly and fun bunch of men and women. The Headwaters Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) is a Not-For-Profit Organization to introduce Individuals to Prospecting and Mining of Precious Minerals.

Headwaters Chapter GPAA, PO Box 11 Manhattan, Montana 59741;

TELEPHONE (406) 580-4055

 

MEETING TIME AND PLACE 7 pm, 2nd Wednesday of every month at MacKenzie River Pizza Company, 409 West Main Street, Belgrade, Montana in the Meeting Room.

By Brett French

It’s an alphabet soup of acronyms plus charts, graphs and densely worded proposals. It’s 1,800 pages long.

The document released by the Bureau of Land Management’s Miles City Field Office on Friday will help guide management of 2.7 million surface acres and 11 million mineral acres in Eastern Montana, possibly for two decades.

“It’s not for wimps,” said Todd Yeager, Miles City field manager. “They are heavy topics to handle.”

The title of the document – the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement – may seem almost as long as the eight years it took to develop. Within the plan is the BLM’s recommended alternative for how to manage the area, a guiding document for lands in 17 counties that hasn’t been updated for some areas since 1985.

The document is only a draft, the public will have until June to suggest changes before the plan is finalized.

Here’s a partial breakdown on what can be found in the document under the BLM’s suggested alternative:

Grazing

Probably the largest concern for southeastern Montana landowners is the BLM’s decision to allow grazing on all but about 3,000 acres of its land.

The Miles City Field Office already administers 1,776 grazing allotments comprising 2,736,673 public acres and 546,570 public animal unit months. Cattle are the most common livestock (1,728 allotments), followed by sheep (132), horses (101), bison (3) and burros (1).

Yeager said 98 percent of the area’s grazing allotments meet the standards for rangeland health. The other 2 percent are under review.

Sage grouse

The BLM would allow oil-and-gas development with conditions on the estimated 2.5 million acres of its sage grouse habitat.

“We’ve really broken up how we are proposing to manage sage grouse habitat,” Yeager said. “We’re looking at delineating habitats into three different classifications and surface disturbance would be managed differently in each area.”

The BLM noted that “expanding energy development in western North America poses a major new challenge for sage-grouse conservation,” including “habitat loss, fragmentation, and deterioration resulting from factors including the spread of invasive species, infrastructure development … wildfire, conversion of sagebrush habitats to nonnative species or agriculture, and conifer invasion.”

Three areas would be established specifically as sage grouse priority areas: North Garfield (171,000 acres), North Rosebud (173,000 acres) and Carter (448,000 acres). Four areas would be designated sage grouse habitat restoration areas: Decker area (8,300 acres), Cedar Creek (29,000 acres), South Carter (64,000 acres) and a source population area (8,000 acres). Development in these areas would be restricted to maintain sage grouse habitat.

The BLM denied a request by sportsmen’s groups to protect an area next to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge from oil-and-gas development to protect sage grouse, saying the potential for development in the area was already low.

Protected areas

The BLM would add six new areas of critical environmental concern (ACEC), four that are historic battlefields from the Indian Wars and two that contain dinosaur bones.

The field office already oversees 16 ACECs. One – the Howrey Island ACEC – would be removed. It was initially created to protect a bald eagle nesting area when the bird was listed as an endangered species. It will now be managed as a special recreation management area, places that are more intensively managed for recreation.

Some of the existing ACECs and their size include: Ash Creek Divide (7,921 acres), Bug Creek (3,837 acres), Hell Creek (19,373 acres), and Sand Arroyo (9,052 acres) paleontological ACECs; Big Sheep Mountain (363 acres), Hoe (147 acres), Jordan Bison Kill ACEC (160 acres), Powder River Depot (1,401 acres), Seline (80 acres), cultural ACECs; piping plover (15 acres) and black-footed ferret (11,221 acres) wildlife ACECs; Finger Buttes (1,520 acres) scenic ACEC; and Smoky Butte (80 acres) geological ACEC.

The BLM identified 5,236 acres of the Devil’s Creek Common area as having wilderness characteristics.

The entire planning area contains seven wilderness study areas covering more than 97,000 acres. Those study areas will continue to be managed for wilderness characteristics. Motorized use on already established routes can continue as long as the resource is not impaired for wilderness suitability.

A Montana Wilderness Association representative said his group would be making a case for consideration of other BLM areas for wilderness characteristics, including Buck Creek, portions of the Powder River Valley and Wrangler Creek.

Recreation areas

Right now, the Miles City Field Office has three special recreation management areas (SRMAs) totaling 16,500 acres. Under the preferred alternative that would be expanded to 11 SRMAs covering 43,000 acres.

New areas include: Powder River Depot (162 acres), Calypso (71 acres), Lewis and Clark Trail (14,499 acres), Howrey Island (592 acres), Matthews (91 acres), Dean S. Reservoir (162 acres), Pumpkin Creek Ranch (19,435 acres), Glendive Short Pine (2,272 acres), Terry (110 acres), Strawberry Hill (4,248 acres), and Moorhead (13 acres).

Off-highway vehicle use would be open on 2,000 acres; limited on 2.8 million acres; and closed on 2,800 acres. But that’s simply a reflection of the creation of new ACECs, said the BLM’s Shane Findlay. After the plan is finished, the agency will begin travel management planning for the field office.

To comment

Once it is finalized, the plan can be amended to meet changing conditions.

The draft document can be viewed on the Internet at http://blm.gov/0ykd. A limited number of paper copies of the draft are available from BLM’s Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road.

Open houses have been scheduled in May in eight communities at which the public can provide comments. Or comments can be sent by email to: BLM_MT_MCFO_RMP@blm.gov; by fax to: 406-233-3650; by mail to: “MCFO RMP Comments”, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 59301; or delivered to the Miles City office. The comment period extends to June 5.

For more information, contact planning specialist Mary Bloom at 406-233-2800

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/miles-city-blm-office-unveils-management-plan/article_5bde9456-338a-52d2-a1a9-3b042e71a087.html#ixzz2N9U8oQAY

 

 

Brucellosis Found in Elk in Northern Wyoming Northern Ag Network posted on March 08, 2013 17:35 :: 59 Views

The following is a press release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department:    CHEYENNE — Two elk harvested by hunters in the Big Horn Mountains of northern Wyoming have tested positive for brucellosis. Brucellosis has been present for nearly a century in elk and bison in the Greater Yellowstone Area, including the northwest corner of Wyoming.    Brucellosis in cattle, elk, and bison is caused by a bacterium, Brucella abortus. The disease can cause an animal to abort its fetus. The positive elk were identified through the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s statewide brucellosis surveillance program, in which hunters voluntarily submit blood samples from harvested elk. Samples are collected from hunters in the fall and early winter, then analyzed at the WGFD lab throughout the winter.     The Wyoming Livestock Board, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and the State Veterinarian are collaborating to assess the situation and identify appropriate action.    “It’s important for people to understand that brucellosis has not been found in any livestock in this area of Wyoming,” said Wyoming State Veterinarian Jim Logan. “We will be working with livestock producers in the area to ensure they are aware of the situation, and we are moving to quickly analyze the implications and actions that should be taken.”    For more information about brucellosis in Wyoming, go to wyomingbrucellosis.com.     Source:  Wyoming Game and Fish Department Posted by Haylie Shipp  

 

 

Bullock Okays Movement of Bison to Quarantine Northern Ag Network posted on March 06, 2013 11:03 :: 259 Views

The following is a press release from Montana Governor Steve Bullock:   HELENA – Montana Governor Steve Bullock has approved a request from Yellowstone National Park to move 63 bison from a holding facility in the park, near Gardiner, to an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service facility in Corwin Springs, three miles away.   The bison are now approved to be moved to the facility for research and quarantine.   Under an Executive Order issued in 2011, the U.S. Department of Interior is prohibited from transporting “wildlife in Montana to or from any Department of Interior-managed lands or facilities without prior approval.”  That Executive Order, No. 16-20111, remains in effect.   The movement of the bison to quarantine is consistent with the Interagency Bison Management Plan.   In approving the transfer, Bullock encouraged Yellowstone Park officials to “work closely with my staff and the Montana Departments of Livestock, and Fish, Wildlife and Parks to safely effectuate this transport.”       Source:  The Office of Montana Governor Steve Bullock Posted by Haylie Shipp  

The travel plan for the Blackfoot (Lincoln) area is out. This plan is open for comments until March 11 and is for non-winter use.  Please review the information put together by MTVRA and GFTBRA, recreaction groups from the Helena/Great Falls area.

We need your comments, please participate.  Thank you!

Good news for Recreation, Resources, Private Property and Agriculture! HD 70 Representative Kerry White, primary sponsor of HB169, An Act allowing a local governing body to use or modify a growth policy for the purposes of coordinating and cooperating with federal land management agencies and amending Section 76-1-601 MCA, was signed into law today by Governor Steve Bullock.

The bill can be viewed here:

http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2013/billhtml/HB0169.htm

2013 Convention April 20, 2013 in Bozeman at the Best Western Plus Grantree Inn, register by April 8th! The 2013 Convention will be hosted by the Moutnaineers in Bozeman on April 20, 2013. The meeting will begin at 10 am., and dinner at 7 pm. The Mountaineers are also planning a trail ride for Sunday.  The meeting will be held at the Best Western Plus Grantree Inn, just off I-90 Exit 306. Cost wil…l be $20 per person, $10 per child under 15. Dinner will be The Trail Ride – Fire roasted mesquite chicken, barbecue pulled pork,  home-style baked beans, hickory bacon potato salad, relish tray, cornmeal Kaiser rolls and barbecue sauce. Rooms at the Best Western are $79.99 for the night for either 1 king or 2 queens. All proceeds go to M4x4A. The Best Western phone number is 406-556-6212. Deadline to register for convention is April 8th. Make checks payable to the Montana 4×4 Association (M4x4A). Send registrations to Bozeman Mountaineers, PO Box 951, Bozeman, MT 59715, the Mountaineer Sec/Treas. Keith Aldridge, 406-586-0132,

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Yellowstone National Park P.O. Box 168 Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 22, 2013              13-010 Al Nash or Dan Hottle (307) 344-2015 YELL_Public_Affairs@nps.gov ————————————– YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE ————————————– National Park Service Releases Final Winter Use Plan For Yellowstone National Park The National Park Service has released a final plan to guide the future of winter use in Yellowstone National Park. Under the preferred alternative of the Final Winter Use Plan/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), the park would manage oversnow vehicles based on their overall impacts to air quality, soundscapes, wildlife and visitors, rather than focusing on the number of snowmobiles and snowcoaches allowed in the park each day.  The park would allow up to 110 “transportation events” a day, initially defined as either one snowcoach or on average a group of seven snowmobiles.  No more than 50 transportation events a day would be allocated for groups of snowmobiles. The preferred alternative would provide for one entry a day per entrance for a non-commercially guided group of up to five snowmobiles.  It would continue to allow for motorized oversnow travel on the East Entrance road over Sylvan Pass. The winter of 2013/2014 will be a transition year, during which the park will allow motorized oversnow travel under the same conditions in place for the past four winters: up to 318 commercially guided Best Available Technology snowmobiles and up to 78 commercially guided snowcoaches daily. Additional information and an electronic copy of the Final Winter Use SEIS is available online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/yell. A proposed rule to implement the preferred alternative will be released soon for a 60-day public review and comment period. You can request a printed copy of the Final SEIS by contacting the National Park Service, Management Assistant’s Office, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park will use the analysis and recommendations contained in the Final SEIS to make a final recommendation to the National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director regarding the direction of winter use.  The Regional Director is expected to issue the Record of Decision (ROD) sometime this spring. Once the Record of Decision has been issued, a final rule to implement the decision will be published in the Federal Register in order to allow the parks to open for the winter 2013/2014 winter season.

- www.nps.gov/yell -

 

CBU Note: The Montana House of Representatives Natural Resources Sub-Committee recently tabled House Resolution HJ 8, which opposed Sen. Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. It was our opinion then, that there would be little to stop the FJRA and that Sen. Baucus would resurrect his Rocky Mountain Front bill. It did not take long for Sen. Baucus to capitalize.

 

 

The plains meet the mountains on the Rocky Mountain Front near Augusta, shown here on Oct. 26, 2011, with Sawtooth Ridge at fthe ar right. Sen. Max Baucus has reintroduced the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana is taking another run at getting a bill passed in Congress that would increase protections for 275,272 acres of public land on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Great Falls.

The announcement, which came Wednesday, was timed with the 100-year anniversary of the state Legislature’s creation of the Front’s Sun River Game Preserve, Montana’s first game preserve. Today, the reserve, located in the Bob Marshall Wilderness adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Front, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The bill creating the Sun River preserve, passed in 1913, was crafted at the grass-roots level, just like the Heritage Act, Baucus, a Democrat, said.

“We owe it to our kids and grandkids to protect unique treasures like the Front that make Montana the greatest place on Earth,” Baucus said in a statement. “On top of that, protecting the Front is good for business and good for Montana jobs, with more than $10 million spent each year in the Front during hunting season alone.”

The legislation would designate 208,160 acres as Conservation Management Area, which Baucus refers to as a “home-grown designation” limiting road building but protecting current motorized recreation and public access for hunting, biking, forest thinning and grazing.

Supporters of the new CMA designation say it’s necessary because the current status of the land, while largely protected now, could be changed in future forest management plans. They say the bill addresses the threat of future expansion in motorized uses.

The legislation also would add 67,112 acres of new wilderness to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex

“It’s not an earth-changing piece of legislation,” said Dusty Crary, a Choteau-area rancher who testified in favor of the Heritage Act when it was heard in the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forest last March. “It says, ‘We like the Front the way it is,’ and unless you put it in writing there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.”

Crary, who is in Washington, D.C., on other legislative business, said all the talk in D.C. is focusing on the financial issues facing the country, but he’s still raising the bill when he speaks to staff members of lawmakers, who are in recess.

“It’s not that controversial of a bill,” Crary said of the Heritage Act. “It doesn’t have a fiscal note to it. It’s not a really hairy bill as far as some things, and I hope they get to it.”

Baucus first introduced the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act in 2011. Most of the land is in Lewis and Clark National Forest but some is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

It needed reintroduction because the 212th Congress, which adjourned Jan. 3, didn’t vote on it.

Baucus plans to try for another hearing in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a vote to clear the panel. In past years, various land bills have been combined into one public land bill.

There are a couple of changes in Heritage Act that the 213th Congress will consider.

Baucus said he worked with ranchers from Augusta to strengthen protections for responsible grazing practices within the lands designated as Conservation Management Area. The new bill also ensures that the Benchmark airstrip within the CM will remain open.

In reintroducing the legislation, Baucus cited a recent study by the Outdoor Industry Association that found that outdoor recreation supports 64,000 Montana jobs and results in $5.8 billion in consumer spending, $1.5 billion in wages and salaries in addition to $403 million in state and local tax revenue.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks estimates that there were 90,000 hunter days on the Rocky Mountain Front in 2010, the senator said. Sportsmen spent $10 million annually from 2006 through 2010 during hunting season on the Front, he said.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, is co-sponsoring the bill.

Baucus also wrote a provision that passed in 2006 that permanently protects the Rocky Mountain Front from oil and gas development. In January 2011, he worked to secure a voluntary agreement from five energy companies to relinquish oil and gas leases on nearly 29,000 acres of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front adjacent to Glacier National Park.

Baucus said the Heritage Act will not affect oil and gas development on private or state land.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20130220/NEWS01/302200017/Baucus-reintroduces-bill-protect-Front?nclick_check=1

 

 

 

HELENA — The Montana House on Monday rejected a plan that aimed to give  hunters and others access at “corner crossings” to public land that is  intermingled with private land in a checkerboard pattern.

Hunters and advocacy groups packed the chamber in support of the measure,  seeking access to patches of government land that meet at corners. Supporters of  House Bill 235 said denying access at such corners ensures that mega-land owners  like Ted Turner can lock up blocks of public land.

“This law would no longer criminalize a Montana sportsman from jumping from  one corner of public land to another corner of public land,” said Rep. Ellie  Hill, D-Missoula. “We are talking about hopscotch, folks, leaping from one  corner of public property without touching any private land.”

Hill said the measure would ensure access to more than 800,000 acres of  landlocked public parcels.

Backers, led by Democrats, were trying to get the measure out of a committee  where it had been tabled. Republicans used their majority in the chamber to  easily defeat that motion. It only received 45 votes, instead of support from 60  out of 100 in the chamber needed to meet a procedural threshold.

Republican critics argued that there is no way to cross at the corners  without trespassing, even if a person knows exactly where the property lines  intersect. They argued that a person’s hips and shoulders would cross the  airspace at the intersection of the four corners while hopping between  parcels.

“It is not about playing hopscotch, it is about trespassing across private  property,” said Rep. Jeffrey Wellborn, R-Dillon.

Wellborn said other measures are needed that can be supported by both hunters  and landowners.

“I believe this is going to further drive a wedge between landowners and  sportsmen,” Wellborn said of the corner-crossing bill. “We need to come  together, not further drive that wedge between us.”

Republicans instead advanced a bill that puts more money into the Block  Management Program that pays landowners for hunter access. They said House Bill  404, carried by Rep. Kelly Flynn of Townsend, is one of several measures in the  works to improve hunter access.

Democrats argued that it wrongly takes the money from a habitat program and  said that payments to Montana farmers won’t help gain access to land they argue  is mostly locked up in private hunting preserves for the wealthy.

Advocacy and hunting groups coordinated a rally Monday to coincide with the  move on the House floor to blast the corner crossing bill out of committee. They  were not impressed with the alternate proposal that paid some landowners for  access to farm land, which they argued is not generally prime hunting  habitat.

Bill Berg, of Lewistown, with the Russell Country Sportsmen, said jumping  over an intersection of land at the corners isn’t trespass any more than an  airplane that flies over.

The advocates promised to keep pushing the issue.

“This corner crossing problem is not going to go away. It needs to be  addressed,” Berg said.

A few hundred orange-clad hunters packed the House gallery to watch the vote,  many standing as the final vote was tallied.

At a rally outside the Capitol after the motion failed, supporters of the  measure said the issue was not over.

“We need you guys to start today and not stop,” said Hill. “I think we just  changed some mind today in there. Yes, the blast failed, but we are not  done.”

She said Sen. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, has a similar bill coming. And  even if that fails, she urged the fight to continue.

“I’ll say it right here: Civil disobedience. Get cited,” she said.

A ballot initiative could also be in the making, she said.

Randy Newburg of Bozeman, host of the television program “On Your Own  Adventures” and a recent appointee to the board of directors of the Rocky  Mountain Elk Foundation, said the top reason people quit hunting, or never  start, is about lack of access.

He and others also disputed the claim by bill opponents that the measure was  unconstitutional.

“This is not about the amateur lawyering of legislators,” he said.

Property rights, he said, apply also to the rights of the public to access  public property.

He said that as he travels and hunts around the West, people are envious of  Montana’s great hunting opportunities.

Three things make that possible, he said: great private stewardship, great  public land and wildlife managers and an “informed, committed and passionate” cadre of hunters.

But, he said, outsiders on the “fringe element” of contemporary politics are  trying to divide those in what he called “the sanity of the middle.”

“Outsides come here and they buy the votes of the fringe,” he said. “The  fringe operators are envious of those of us in the middle. … They wish they  could operate in the sanity of the middle. But there’s no money in it. Those of  us operating in the middle are not for sale, whether we’re hunters, landowners  or anyone.”

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/montana-house-packed-for-debate-on-corner-crossing/article_9ea480d6-1c8c-572b-a6b5-3207c431aa8f.html#ixzz2LV6iSCaW

 

For our friends in Oregon:

 

The following Oregon state senate bills are slated as “Declares Emergency,” which means they are on the fast track of becoming laws. The GPAA is appealing to all members to oppose this “greased’ legislation and inundate Oregon state senators with emails, phone calls, faxes and letters, especially the Senate Environment and Resources committee, which will vote on senate bills SB 115, SB 401 and SB 370. This legislation is mean-spirited and unfairly targets small-scale miners!

• SB 115 Placer mining using any form of motorized equipment or motorized dredge is prohibited in this state.
• SB 401 Stops all placer mining in new streams listed as Oregon Scenic Water includes about 20 more mineralized streams. Oregon already has 19 OSW streams and Waldo lake including its tributaries.
• SB 370 requires an annual $125.00 license for nozzles over four inch classifying it as commercial placer mining in streams.

Miners in Oregon need more help and need to get the word out that our rights of miners might be the thing of the past. Pleas support Oregon miners and call the Oregon state senators today to voice your opposition to these senate bills!
List of Oregon State senators and contact information: http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/
Sen. Jackie Dingfelder chairs the committee and the legislation was introduced by Sen. Alan Bates

Oregon State Senators Below is a list of Oregon State Senators. Click on a senator name to find contact information including capitol/interim address, phone, fax, email, and web page addresses

Alan Bates-D Lee Beyer-D Ginny Burdick-D Peter Courtney-D Richard Devlin-D Jackie Dingfelder-D Chris Edwards-D Mark Hass-D Betsy Johnson-D Laurie Monnes Anderson-D Rod Monroe-D Floyd Prozanski-D Arnie Roblan-D Diane Rosenbaum-D Chip Shields-D Elizabeth Steiner Hayward-D

Senator Alan Bates  Back to Top Party: D  District: 3 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1703 District Phone: 541-282-6502 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-205, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: 2859 State Street #101, Medford, OR, 97504 Email: Sen.AlanBates@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/bates

Senator Lee Beyer  Back to Top Party: D  District: 6 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1706 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-419, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.LeeBeyer@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/beyer/

Senator Ginny Burdick  Back to Top Party: D  District: 18 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1718 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-213, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.GinnyBurdick@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/burdick

Senator Peter Courtney  Back to Top Party: D  District: 11 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1600 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-201, Salem, OR, 97301 Interim Address: 900 Court St NE, S-201, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.PeterCourtney@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/senpres

Senator Richard Devlin  Back to Top Party: D  District: 19 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1719 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-211, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.RichardDevlin@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/devlin

Senator Jackie Dingfelder  Back to Top Party: D  District: 23 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1723 District Phone: 503-493-2804 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: PO Box 13432, Portland, OR, 97213 Email: Sen.JackieDingfelder@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/dingfelder

Senator Chris Edwards  Back to Top Party: D  District: 7 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1707 Fax Number: 541-744-7110 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-405, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.ChrisEdwards@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/edwardsc

Senator Mark Hass  Back to Top Party: D  District: 14 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1714 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-207, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: PO Box 536, Beaverton, OR, 97075 Email: Sen.MarkHass@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/hass

Senator Betsy Johnson  Back to Top Party: D  District: 16 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1716 District Phone: 503-543-4046 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-209, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: PO Box R, Scappoose, OR, 97056 Email: Sen.BetsyJohnson@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/johnson

Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson  Back to Top Party: D  District: 25 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1725 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-413, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.LaurieMonnesAnderson@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/monnesanderson

Senator Rod Monroe  Back to Top Party: D  District: 24 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1724 District Phone: 503-760-4310 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-409, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: 7802 SE 111th Ave, Portland, OR, 97266 Email: Sen.RodMonroe@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/monroe

Senator Floyd Prozanski  Back to Top Party: D  District: 4 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1704 District Phone: 541-342-2447 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-415, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: PO Box 11511, Eugene, OR, 97440 Email: Sen.FloydProzanski@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/prozanski

Senator Arnie Roblan  Back to Top Party: D  District: 5 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1705 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-417, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/roblan

Senator Diane Rosenbaum  Back to Top Party: D  District: 21 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1700 District Phone: 503-231-9970 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-223, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: 1125 SE Madison St., Suite 100B, Portland, OR, 97214 Email: Sen.DianeRosenbaum@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/rosenbaum

Senator Chip Shields  Back to Top Party: D  District: 22 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1722 District Phone: 503-231-2564 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-421, Salem, OR, 97301 District Office Address: 5313 N Vancouver Ave, Portland, OR, 97217 Email: Sen.ChipShields@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/shieldsc

Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward  Back to Top Party: D  District: 17 Capitol Phone: 503-986-1717 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-215, Salem, OR, 97301 Email: Sen.ElizabethSteinerHayward@state.or.us Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/steinerhayward/