Suction dredge mining in California has been under a temporary moratorium since 2009, when the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) began conducting an Environmental Impact Report on the practice. In February 2011 the draft report was released, which concludes that suction dredge mining is not deleterious to fish.

But the positive outcome was not anticipated by a handful of Indian tribes and environmental extremists who don’t like suction dredging, so they concocted an erroneous $1.8M deficit in the suction dredge program and proposed to Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) that he carry the ‘budget cutting’ language to the State Budget in a trailer bill. The bill language was written in such a way that the DFG would have been prevented from ever publishing the EIR, thus ending suction dredge mining forever in California.

Miners got word of the last-minute attempt to kill the industry and began contacting Governor Brown and the Legislators who had been supplied with the erroneous information. In three party-line votes, all Democrats voted for the ‘budget cut’ and all Republicans voted against it. Because the Democrats have majority in both houses, the trailer bill passed and was sent to the Governor for his signature. Fortunately, the bill died there today.

With Governor Brown’s veto, the DFG can now publish the EIR findings and resume updating the dredge mining regulations.

However, in a companion attack by the same anti-mining foes, amended moratorium language was inserted in yet another trailer budget bill AB120, which, if enacted, will add five more years to the soon-expiring moratorium which began in 2009.

“It is our hope that Governor Brown will allow the original moratorium to be solved with the EIR scientific findings,” states Dunn, “rather than allowing anti-mining foes to keep inventing new criteria for the DFG to chase after, and wasting taxpayers money while doing so.”

If the Governor vetoes the trailer bill language, the nearly immediate consequences to California’s economy would be positive: 4,000 miners will be back to work and 15,000 inter-related jobs will be protected, adding much needed revenues to the State’s coffers.

The suction dredge gold mining industry generates $23 million annually in California, and supports jobs in more than 14 sectors, including restaurants, hardware stores, gas stations and camping outfitters. “These are real mom and pop businesses that rely on miners every season,” says Dunn. They, along with the miners, are hoping for a quick and positive decision by the Governor on AB120.

About Gold Pan California:
The company was founded in 2008 by Mike Dunn, an international gold mining specialist who has been suction gold dredge mining for 33 years.

For more information visit http://www.goldpancalifornia.com .

News Source: Gold Pan California :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

In a terse written communication yesterday to Governor Brown, McClintock stated “Destroying 4,000 jobs when California is suffering from 11.9 percent unemployment is simply insane.”

McClintock is referring to a bogus $1.8 million “budget deficit” which was supplied by anti-mining foes in order to provide a “cut” to the budget of the Department of Fish and Game, who oversees the suction dredge gold mining program. Although erroneous, passage of the language will close the industry forever in California.

Adding to the insanity, the erroneous $1.8 million “budget cut” will increase California’s budget deficit by $23 million. “Depriving the state from yet another source of revenue while breaking the back of its economy with higher taxes is indefensible,” states McClintock.

While the miners and McClintock are trying to save the California industry, anti-mining foes have submitted grant requests for $9 million to lease industrial-sized suction dredges from a Canadian company to suck up sediment in California reservoirs. “The utter hypocrisy is staggering,” says Mike Dunn, owner of Gold Pan California. “Keene and Proline are the two largest dredge manufacturers in America, and both businesses are located in California,” says Dunn.

“This Legislature is so bamboozled by a handful of Indian tribes and environmental extremists,” says Dunn, “that they think it’s a good idea to kill California’s entirely solvent gold mining industry, erase 4,000 direct jobs plus 15,000 inter-related jobs, and increase the State deficit by $23 million, meanwhile, send our tax dollars to a Canadian manufacturer for equipment used in California.”

Congressman McClintock summed up the legislation attempt precisely; this is insane.

On a bright note, if the Governor removes this harmful legislation, the miners’ contribution of $23 million can now be added to the Revenue side of the budget, since it was entirely omitted in the budget which was vetoed last week.

About Gold Pan California:
The company was founded in 2008 by Mike Dunn, an international gold mining specialist who has been suction gold dredge mining for 33 years.

For more information visit http://www.goldpancalifornia.com .

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News Source: Gold Pan California :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

The California legislation would require carriers to wait 10 years before requesting rate adjustments on new insurance products (5 years for existing policies).

“AB 999 sounds like a good idea, to protect consumers by keeping a lid on rates,” says Truesdell, “but in the real world it would have very bad unintended consequences.”

These include:

* Risk of rate spikes on new policies. “Insurance companies don’t have crystal balls,” says Truesdell, “so on their new products, many would set higher rates than otherwise, knowing they can’t change them for 10 years. They would need to protect themselves from the worst, since anything can happen in a decade, such as longer periods of incapacity requiring care, or continued low interest rates that depress their income.”

* Fewer LTC insurance choices. “Some carriers have told us they will exit the California market if AB 999 makes it into law,” says Truesdell. “Many years ago we saw this happen in another state with a related health-care product. A well-intentioned but onerous law drove most of the top insurers out. They don’t like being handcuffed, thrown overboard, and then expected to swim in uncertain waters.”

* Greater financial burden for Medi-Cal (California’s name for Medicaid). With an initial rate hike and fewer options for private LTC insurance, “more middle-class Californian’s would spend down their assets to qualify for Medi-Cal instead of buying LTC insurance,” says Truesdell. “This could break the back of a system designed for the truly needy, and everyone would lose.”

Instead of pursuing counterproductive legislation, California should ramp up an effective, already-existing program, the California Partnership for Long-Term Care, Truesdell advises. In this program residents may choose any qualified private LTC plan with the state’s assurances of Medi-Cal asset protection.

“We applaud the motives behind AB 999,” Truesdell says. “But good intentions can result in over-regulation that backfires. This new law, if enacted, will not only encourage but almost mandate higher initial rates on new policies. How does that help consumers?”

Truesdell encourages California voters to let their State Senators know where they stand on AB 999, “before it’s too late.” Contact information for California representatives may be found at http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html .

LTCFP is a co-founder and sponsor of the “3 in 4 Need More” campaign, which seeks to multiply the number of Americans protected by long-term care planning. More information is available at http://web.ltcfp.com .

- Photo Caption: LTC Financial Partners CEO Cameron Truesdell.

News Source: LTC Financial Partners LLC :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

What the gold miners and Dunn are in upheaval about is a proposed budget “cut” of a non-existent $1.8 million deficit in the suction dredging gold mining program.

Dunn says that a consultant preparing this year’s budget for the Department of Fish and Game used a 3-year old estimate of costs to arrive at a deficit in the suction mining program. The real cost was later formally determined, and provided by Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office.

According to legal correspondence to the Superior Court of California from then-Attorney General Jerry Brown, “As we informed the Court at the hearing, issuance of suction dredge permits is supported chiefly, if not exclusively, by funds received from permit fees.”

A second, more precise communication to the Court from Jerry Brown’s office stated: “In no uncertain terms, General Fund Monies have not been expended on suction dredge permitting.”

If the California Legislature passes the trailer budget bill language, the consequences would be sweeping: 4,000 miners will be put out of work permanently, 15,000 inter-related jobs will be affected, and the entire suction dredge gold mining industry will be killed.

“The task at hand is daunting,” Dunn states. “But the disaster awaiting is even worse, so I am trying to reach every Legislator before they go to the floor to vote.”

The suction dredge gold mining industry generates $23 million in California, and supports more than 14 sectors, including restaurants, hardware stores, gas stations and camping outfitters. “These are real mom and pop businesses that rely on miners every season,” says Dunn.

There will never be a time when it doesn’t make sense for a man to prospect for gold, and if Mike Dunn is successful in his efforts to stop this bad budget proposal, 4,000 miners will be back at work in November, contributing millions of dollars in gold and paper back to the economy.

Hopefully, former Attorney General Jerry Brown’s legal finding will get to Legislators in time to avert a disastrous end to the industry that put California on the map.

About Gold Pan California:
The company was founded in 2008 by Mike Dunn, an international gold mining specialist who has been suction gold dredge mining for 33 years.

For more information visit http://www.goldpancalifornia.com .

News Source: Gold Pan California :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .

In 2009, the California Legislature imposed a temporary moratorium on suction gold dredging until a court-ordered Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was completed. Since then, the State has spent $1.5 Million to conduct the study, and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), who manages the suction dredge permitting program, is on track to release the updated regulations in November, which will allow the gold miners to go back to work.

That is, unless the California Legislature passes 2 lethal paragraphs of trailer budget bill language regarding suction dredge mining next week. Although the language is titled as a $1.8 Million cut and 5-year moratorium, the consequences will be colossally worse.

Since the DFG new regulations will not be concluded until November, but the current budget will be passed before then, the original temporary moratorium can never be lifted. Thus, the gold mining industry will be instantly killed, and the financial loss will affect small businesses in at least 14 sectors including grocery, restaurants, lodging, fuel and hardware.

Dunn points to the stack of fine-gold recovery units for suction dredges that he has been building in anticipation of the industry re-opening. “The DFG has already spent $1.5 Million to complete the EIR, which proved that gold dredging is not deleterious to fish; now the Legislature wants to discard the results? This is extraordinarily reckless legislation!”

Indeed, the socio-economic destruction would be vast. By the DFG’s own calculations, $23 Million annually benefits the lowest income regions of the State.

Proline, a mining equipment manufacturer based in Coulterville, suffered a 40 percent loss when the 2009 temporary moratorium went into effect. Owner Jeff Kuykendall paints a bleak picture for the California retailers of his products. “We are very fortunate to have overseas sales to help sustain our business. But if this legislation passes, my retailers will be forced out of business. The Legislature hasn’t even considered how broad the closures will be.”

In Siskiyou County, nearly every business and household is dependent on the miners. Bruce Johnson owns Mid River RV located in Seiad Valley. All of the neighboring businesses, a cafe, grocery store, mini storage and post office, rely on Johnson’s tenants for their seasonal incomes. Johnson also serves on the Seiad Valley Fire Board, which is the oldest all-volunteer fire department in California. Exasperated, Johnson asks “Is the Legislature intentionally dysfunctional? We’re holding on for dear life out here and the gold miners could immediately help ease the burden.”

In the 1850′s, gold miners blew down hillsides with huge hydraulic cannons of water which wreaked havoc on rivers and were outlawed. 100 years later, manufacturers such as Proline invented the environmentally responsible hand held suction dredge, and gold miners have been using them ever since.

Suction dredge mining is conducted underwater by a diver wearing about 50 pounds of weights, with most of the work dependant on the strength of the individual. The suction dredge consists of a hand-held vacuum hose, with a sluice box floated on pontoons above. The diver holds the vacuum hose with one hand while throwing cobbles out of the way with the other hand, and the gold flakes land up in the sluice.

Dunn says that suction dredge mining is the epitome of the American dream; “Suction gold dredging is one of the purest tests of the human spirit. The underwater working conditions are constantly challenging and sometimes brutal, but at $1,500 a teaspoonful, prospecting for gold is worth every effort spent.”

Whether prospecting for the Mother lode or a few small flakes to put food on the table, the fate of more than 4,000 miners and the annual $23 to $70 Million industry they create is being determined by the Legislature this week.

About Gold Pan California:
The company was founded in 2008 by Mike Dunn, an international gold mining specialist who has been suction gold dredge mining for 33 years.

For more information visit http://www.goldpancalifornia.com .

News Source: Gold Pan California :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: http://Send2PressNewswire.com .