Bill passes to halt suction dredge mining

Resumption would await new regulations from Fish and Game

Humboldt Sentinel staff
7/13/09

Sacramento

A measure headed to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk would immediately enact a temporary ban on suction dredge mining in rivers and streams across the region.

Senate Bill 670, authored by Pat Wiggins (Dem - Santa Rosa) and Lois Wolk (Dem - Davis), was adopted earlier today by a 28-7 vote of the State Senate -- a sufficient margin to override a possible gubernatorial veto.

The ban would stay in place until the state’s Department of Fish and Game finishes its court-ordered overhaul of regulations governing this practice, which the bill’s backers claim is highly destructive to spawning grounds for fish. Suction dredge mining involves powerful machines which float on the river’s surface and suck up sediment to uncover valuable minerals.

Wiggins asserted in a release today that she undertook this legislation due to her alarm at the decline of salmon and steelhead populations on the North Coast, which led to recent bans on salmon fishing up and down the Pacific seaboard.

“This ban affects the livelihoods of thousands of commercial fishermen, fish processors, and charter boat operators,” she stated. “The ban has eliminated hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic activity – especially in rural areas.”

“Yet while fishermen are being told to stop fishing, a recreational activity called ‘suction dredge mining’ is allowed to continue. SB 670 is about equity. We simply cannot ask an entire fishing industry to stop their work, while a small group of hobbyists are allowed to continue.”

The state was ordered by a federal court to overhaul regulations governing suction dredge mining as a result of a 2005 lawsuit by the Karuk Tribe. After counterclaims by suction dredge miners, the courts ordered Fish and Game to complete a California Environmental Quality Act review before it acted. This CEQA review was supposed to take 18 months and wrap up a year ago -- but Fish and Game has yet to even begin the process.

Last Thursday, the Alameda District Court issued a preliminary injunction in the case, ordering Fish and Game to immediately cease using general fund money to operate the suction dredge permitting program because it is being operated in violation of CEQA.

“In addition to this being essential to saving salmon and steelhead fisheries, this bill will save the department an estimated $1 million in costs, to administer a program that does not pay for itself,” Wiggins added in her statement.

Assemblymember Jared Huffman (Dem - San Rafael) shepherded the bill through the State Assembly, along with Noreen Evans (Dem - Santa Rosa) and Dave Jones (Dem - Sacramento). It received its strongest support from the California Tribal Business Alliance, the Karuk Tribe and other tribal organizations, along with a coalition of fishermen and environmental groups.