In Olympia, Rep Tarleton gave her speech about just moving in from the East Coast and wanting to keep fishing alive in WA state for her husband and that all miners are bad… and I saw (2) people that gave testimony from an Environmental Group (they basically just said that they spend a lot of money to restore fish habitat and they hate miners being in their streams…) and 3 people that gave testimony from Trout Unlimited (their VP, a Lawyer, and a self-proclaimed scientist)… and about 60-70 people representing the mining community… of which about 15 of those 60 miners gave testimony against the bill. We have to get organized and united, I think we can all agree on this. The meetings are being kicked off in California first (March 14th in Sacramento), then Washington will be next, then Idaho, Montana and so on. This is a prime example of why we are forming and starting these state meetings with all small miners to unite. We had a few AMRA members attend the public meeting in Seattle and wanted to give you his assessment of how the meeting went. This has never been about the fish folks, it is the excuse they believe will further their agenda. Dredging is not allowed when the fish are spawning. Study after study have been completed by accredited and formal scientific researchers, biologists and agencies and the conclusions are still the same, suction dredging is not deleterious to anadramous fish (salmon and steelhead). Yes, it is the same narrative which has been touted for years without a shred of science to back it up. As most of you know, a bill has been introduced in Washington by the radical, extreme environmental groups working with the Democrats which would effectively halt all suction dredging under the guise that more studies need to be done, more money needs to be spent and that dredging kills fish.

Washington suction dredge mining