Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Wildlife & Endangered Species Category
Click here to view all posts

Editorial: Gold mining protected as salmon dwindle

Posted by: Maven on January 29, 2009 at 8:04 am

From the Sacramento Bee, this editorial:

The California Department of Fish and Game said “no” to fish this week and “yes” to gold miners. Even though experts within DFG have said that suction dredge gold mining is having “deleterious effects on fish,” including endangered coho salmon, the department declined to further restrict gold miners who use giant dredges to vacuum up rock and sand from creek and river bottoms, likely killing fish in the process.

In a petition to the state, the Karuk Indian Tribe and several environmental organizations had asked the department to curtail dredging on sensitive stretches of waterway. The department said it could not act until it completed a court-ordered review of the issue. But DFG was supposed to complete that review last July. It hasn’t even begun.

Suction dredge miners claim that their operations actually help the fish. “As salmon populations dwindle, the state agency charged with protecting them protects gold miners instead,” says the editorial. Full text from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

January 29, 2009 · Filed Under Northern California, Wildlife & Endangered Species

Comments

Leave a Reply