Galice Mining District, Oregon: Another Bundy Ranch type Confrontation with BLM?

[thorfourwinds]

Bundy Ranch type standoff brewing in Southern Oregon between miners and BLM

Bundy Ranch type standoff brewing in Southern Oregon between miners and BLM

Locked And Loaded

April 14, 2015
For the past several years, the miners from the Galice Mining District, about 30 minutes west of Grants Pass, Oregon, have been arguing over who has the rights to the minerals in the ground  around Galice Creek.

The Galice mining district is compiled of a number of claims, owners and miners and has been in continuous operation since the early 1870's, which makes it one of the longest running operations in the US.

This specific operation predates the BLM bureaucracy by many decades in fact.

The area in question has produced in excess of 10 million ounces of gold since its conception, and geologists estimate that only 10% of the gold in the ground has been removed, which makes this area highly sought after by any standard.  It is said that children find gold with their hands in the creeks to this day.

BLM has made several attempts to disband the operation of the Sugar Pine Mine through multiple unsubstantiated stop orders and now a cease and desist order.

The owners of this mine have spend tens of thousands of dollars to date requesting documents, researching the claims of the BLM, and preliminary attorney fees.

The Sugar Pine has made requests to produce the official rulings that show they are in violation which have gone unanswered.

The simple reason given by the BLM is that "they say so".

The BLM claims that the mine has no surface rights to the area and in turn says that all structures and equipment need to be removed. The BLM also claims that this violation is grounds for the operation to cease and tunnels filled in.

The mine predates more recent rulings about surface rights so the Sugar Pine feels that the new ruling is not applicable to this specific situation.

Late last week, BLM officials accompanied by Josephine County Sheriff deputies issues a cease and desist order to the district without any official ruling by the courts.  Specifically, the issue is not even scheduled to be heard in court until later in the year.

The order has given the mine until April 25th to remove all equipment, buildings and supplies from the location.

Local BLM officials have threatened to burn the buildings down if they are not removed by the date.

The owners of the Sugar Pine have stated that they will fully disobey the order as they claim that it is illegal and invalid.

A call for assistance to the Oath Keeper's has been made and there is no intention to leave the area by the deadline.

This issue has far reaching implications.

The outcome from this issue and the court ruling to come will effect all of America.  The issue at hand is not just about the Galice Miners and the gold in the ground, but more about what the government says you can do with the ground in your control.

These miners have the rights to the minerals in the ground and the government wants that changed.  What comes next could effect every American.

What if your backyard has a specific mineral that the government values?

By any means,  can the government come in and tell you that you can not grow your broccoli on your land because it absorbs this "special" mineral?

The bigger picture would effect farmers.

What if gold, oil, or something like uranium was found under a farmer's corn crop.  Does the government have the right to those minerals and have the ability to over ride your use of your own land?

This issue will have the ability dictate the future use of our public and private lands.

(courtesy PrisonPlanet)

[thorfourwinds]

Published on Apr 13, 2015
SHARE GET IT VIRAL!

GREEN LIGHT OREGON STAND OFF!

SHARE GET IT OUT CALL TO ACTION: GET TO OREGON NOW!

If you are a true Militia, true III%, Oathkeeper etc. then you are needed. If you can get away from home to help, NOW IS THE TIME. Just like Bundy ranch, the BLM is out of order!

SHUT DOWN THE FOREIGN CORPORATION NOW!
The miners need you!!
Chris W. Langer III
This has been verified.
Get your teams together.
Posted by Alex Sealey.

Operation Gold Rush For Oregon III%

Ok now that I have had time to contact the person in charge at the Sugar Pine Mine this is the info that needs to be passed out:

EVERYONE WILL BE UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF OATHKEEPERS OF JOSEPHINE COUNTY!!!!!

Person of contact at the mine:
Joseph Rice   541-326-1911

Oath Keepers of Josephine County PO Box 553, Grants Pass, OR 97528
Resource   Alex Sealey     541-786-8372      oregoniiipercent@hotmail.com

Rally point: 42.550514, -123.529695

Needs 60 minute leeway before you arrive to rally point.
This will be off I-5 exit 61 Galice Rd.

LOGISTICS
We need 50 + people on the ground within the next 24 hours.
They need to be self sustained for 7 days with food and gear.
There is water and firewood on site.
This is mountain terrain plan for adverse weather conditions.
Do to some lack are real-estate we are asking people to carpool if they can.
There will be limited cell phone coverage.
They have the ability to program some radios (baofengs and others) to the frequencies they are running.

SUPPLIES WE NEED AS OF RIGHT NOW
Fuel cards from Chevron, Fred Meyers
Medical supplies
Batteries
Food
4-wheeler or side by side

SUPPLY DUMPS
At this time we will be setting up supply dumps in Oregon and activating the Patriot railroad. If you can help with manning a dump or have supplies for a dump please let Alex Sealey know by one of the means above or getting on the Patriot railroad on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=...

[thorfourwinds]

BREAKING NEWS: OREGON GOLD MINING STAND OFF WITH BLM....NEXT BUNDY RANCH

April 13, 2015

BLM issued a cease and desist order without a court order and without 'Coordination Authorization'....with local authorities. Federal officials acting lawlessly. Possible federal land grab to seize gold rich property on behalf of Chinese government.


AGENDA 21 RADIO
by PAUL PRESTON
First Published April 11, 2015
1st Updated April 12, 2015
UPDATED 3:40 PM PST APRIL 13, 2015


Below is a partial letter from Kirby Jackson the Recorder for the Galice Mining District. In the letter which is addressed to a number of individuals and is directed at Mr. J. Perez, the BLM's State Director there is a great deal of information setting the case against the BLM and their heavy handed tactics.

As we have mentioned there appears to be no Coordination Authorization on the part of the BLM which is mandated by federal law before such actions can be taken against citizens and their property. The letter was ccd to numerous state and federal officials. A partial list appears below the letter. Parts of this letter have been left out.

On 4/12/2015 11:59 PM, Kerby Jackson wrote:

While I will not go into the details of this case, what I will say is that of all the local mining districts (three), Galice has actually attempted to have been the "most friendly" with BLM, by actively trying to encourage certain people inside the Medford District to actually take advantage of opportunities to come to our meetings to put forward their viewpoints and positions.

As well, though we do not "toe the line" of the two agencies, our "official view" of the surface management authority of the agencies in the United States Code is actually remarkably closer to the view of BLM and USFS than it is to a lot of other miners. This probably has much to do with the fact that we have devoted considerable resources to obtaining actual textbooks on modern Mining Law and have studied that material in great detail.

While we have questioned the legality of a lot of those regulations, we acknowledge that they are reality until they can be proven to be unlawful and that the average miner is better off to try to work with the agencies if they want to get something done in relative peace.

To date, while there have been some friendly one on one conversations between ourselves and a few BLM employees, Medford has refused to attend meetings for the purpose of engaging in discussions or putting on presentations. This same institutional arrogance is the root cause of the brewing situation in Galice in that disagreement does not result in rational conversation with BLM, but instead results in BLM pulling their club out and threatening to bludgeon you with it, while in the meantime, the entire agency promptly cuts off communication and refuses to answer legal notices and demands for records which they are obligated to produce.

In addition to violating their very guiding light, the 1955 Surface Resources Act by unlawfully attempting to steal surface rights from a Pre-55 claim, BLM (not only Medford, but also the state office) have also actively worked to supress public mining records, have engaged in intimidation and harassment, have blatently violated the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and more that I will not go into. In the meantime, BLM is also ignoring Josephine County's request to co-ordinate, in violation of federal law. Ultimately, BLM are really excelling at breeding hostility in this county and elsewhere.

This brewing hostility is so great that one would think that it is either intentional or simply that BLM, in their arrogance, have no interest in getting along with the locals.Since we have Mr. Perez, BLM's State Director, as a recipient of this e-mail, let me make the following items crystal clear: Mr. Perez has the power for his agency to keep the peace in this county and to protect his agency's future.

The miners involved in this are still receptive to having a serious sit-down with BLM for the purpose of BOTH sides to put their cards openly on the table and to discuss that issue in a reasonable matter. As part of that, we would also want Josephine County Legal Counsel Wally Hicks to also be present and for BLM to also hash out the county co-ordination issue so that it is be solved at the same time. That offer is probably in the best interest of everyone involved toward a peaceful resolution and the miners in this case have been asking your employees for three months to produce evidence of your surface authority via a legal document signed by an owner o record that adheres to the 1955 Act, which I think you and I both know, your agency does not have in its possession, nor has ever had.

Alternatively, you can simply proceed down the legal path with both the miners and the county and BLM can take its lumps in court. The county can do to BLM what it decides to legally and we will do what we decide to do you legally. While I realize that as a rule, BLM does not take the mining community very seriously because we are often guilty of being "a lot of bark, with no bite", and in fact, many miners are not the best read or best educated people and are often easily influenced by people telling them what they want to hear, I want you to understand that this time you are dealing with some miners that are unlike any your agency has ever dealt with. To be perfectly frank, we are actually looking forward to seeing BLM in court simply because you have given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to actually change the course of mining law history.


The rest here http://agenda21radio.com/?p=16435

[thorfourwinds]

Published on April 13, 2015
Miners and their families have had the rights to these lands since 1853 and now the BLM has told them to cease Mining. The BLM has no court order and can't provide documents that grants them authority to enforce a cease and desist coming from their agency!

[thorfourwinds]

Galice Mining District - Southern Oregon Mining

The Galice Mining District, first established in 1853 near the mouth of Galice Creek, is Oregon's third oldest mining district.

The Galice Mining District is neither a mining club, nor a prospecting association, but is instead, a local governing body for and by miners, its vested jurisdiction deriving its authority from the will of the United States Congress who recognized the long standing tradition of self government among miners and granted them with the right to create and enforce local rules and regulations pertaining to the location and development of their unique mineral properties.

Serving the miners of the Southern Oregon counties of Douglas, Josephine and Jackson, the Galice Mining District stands as a guard to protect and to preserve the rights, property and welfare of locatable mineral miners in this small, but mineral rich corner of the State of Oregon.

Membership in the Galice Mining District is open to all miners and prospectors of good standing who have mineral interests inside the lines of this district, who pledge to abide by the local customs, rules and regulations of this mining district for the unified protection of their property and welfare.

[thorfourwinds]

Remember Your Oath
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, pledging my life, my fortune and my sacred honor. So help me God.

[thorfourwinds]

Galice Miners Will Battle Bureau of Land Management

There have been many questions about rumors of a battle brewing between the Bureau of Land Management and several miners within the Galice Mining District.

While we cannot yet divulge any fine details (and ultimately must keep legal tactics completely private), at this time, we can confirm the following:

1. BLM recently (3/18/15) issued two Stop Orders on a mine, citing authority under their 3809 regulations, despite the fact that this is one of the oldest active claims in the country. The location date of this mine is so old that one of the location notices (the legal title to the mine) was actually first recorded in the original Galice Mining District Recorder's book in 1876 and then later transcribed into the Josephine County Clerk's records once the county assumed recording duties. Under the 1955 Surface Resources Act, claims of this age have exclusive surface rights unless the Department of Interior utilized a mechanism outlined in that Act to severe those surface rights. Demands to BLM to produce evidence of their surface authority in accordance to the 1955 Act have thus far garnered only "because we say so" answers and numerous stonewalling tactics. The Stop Orders came after several months of back and forth maneuvering from both sides, and are clearly retaliatory in nature.

2. BLM are in active violation, on multiple counts, of federal Freedom of Information Act statutes. (By contrast, certain mine records in the possession of the State of Oregon have been provided in a prompt and professional fashion when requested). Similar documents secured by another miner have appeared to have been "heavily parsed" of key file documents, raising suspicion that BLM is either actively suppressing the release of documents that could be very damning or has been actively destroying documents which they are obligated under Federal Law to maintain and provide on request. One of the BLM employees suspected of parsing the records in question has apparently left BLM in the last few days.

3. What few documents have been produced by BLM to date (many of which are in no way very legible) have displayed a long history of non-compliance with federal and state laws, as well as their own regulations, as well as instances of suspected forgery, fraud, extortion of real estate and other issues that suggest a well organized conspiracy that divested thousands of miners and others of their property rights, which in turn has allowed the BLM and the USFS to exercise ruthless control over the entire Public Domain of the Far West, including rights of ingress and egress.

4. A BLM mineral tech involved in this case remarked (4/8/15) to the attorney who is handling this case that he is aware that the BLM position is not "open and shut" and is proceeding on shaky ground. Ultimately, BLM's attack on the mine is a rolling of dice in the hope that they can get their way opposed to anything grounded in reality.

Where is this all headed?

This case is headed in a direction that presents what is probably a once-in-a-generation prime opportunity to strike at the heart of the very surface management authority of the DOI and USDA and to restore the "as patent" rights of every mining claim owner in the United States by striking down the actual source of that intrusive authority.

Regardless, we intend to take BLM fully to task and will not feel sorry for any civil or criminal consequences that may be leveled upon any BLM employees who are found to be negligent of wrong doing. We are actively pursuing these individuals through a wide range of tactics with the intent to reign in these wrong doers.

At this early stage, approximately $10,000 and countless hours have been expended on research and related fees in regards to this case, which could have far reaching benefits to every miner in the country. Thus far, this effort has been taken on by several miners who have sacrificed their personal funds and their personal time to the cause. The claim owners have since retained attorney James Dole, who has successfully defeated BLM in court on numerous mining issues.

Considerably more work must be done on this case and many more records must be obtained to expose this issue on a wider level.

For those who would like to contribute to the cause of unraveling BLM's surface authority, please make a donation below. Even small amounts help!

Thank you for your consideration.

~ Executive Committee; Galice Mining District

[thorfourwinds]

tfw
Peace Love Light
Liberty & Equality or Revolution

Hec'el oinipikte  (that we shall live)

FUKUSHIMA FALLOUT CLOCK
Elapsed Time since March 11, 2011, 2:46 PM - Fukushima, Japan

The World Must Take Charge at Fukushima

"In a time of universal deceit
telling the truth is considered a revolutionary act."
George Orwell

[zorgon]

Possible federal land grab to seize gold rich property on behalf of Chinese government.

Now THAT is interesting..

The Chinese were mentioned in the Bundy case voa Sen Harry Reid's 5 million dollar deal that went sour because of the standoff..

But that was supposedly for a solar plant lnad deal.  Considering there is a lot of gold in the ground at Gold Butte and it was the BLM that forced John Lear's gold mine closure when the state of Nevada had said he was grandfathered in...  and it was Harry Reid's office that processed the papers and declared the area a Tortoise preserve....

Hmmmm the GOLD for CHINA thing is raising hairs

[Shasta56]

Because we say so, is not a cogent argument.   The Five Civilized Tribes were removed from their ancestral lands because the government "knew best how to administer those lands."  Then oil was struck in Oklahoma,  so suddenly the government needed those lands back.  Again,  because the government knew best.  The claims being addressed predate the laws being used in the name of claim jumping.  Why doesn't the government concentrate on trying to at least appear to be doing its job.  I know it's tough.  The staffing supervisor at work today was surfing the Web and texting on her phone rather than making sure all the patient  visits were covered.

Shasta

[thorfourwinds]

Hold Your Hosses !!!


Hot news from the Western Front at Galice, Oregon.


"The Miners have asked that no one else come to the area at this time, but to stand by."

Sugar Pine Miners Stand off with the BLM

Posted on April 14, 2015 by TheHoss
There has been much misinformation and many misconceptions about the Galice Creek Mining district in Josephine County in southern Oregon. Being a 5th generation Oregonian, and a lover of freedom and liberty I am concerned any time the government shows up and threaten to burn things to the ground as some reports have stated.

I just got off the phone with Kirby Jackson, who is on the Galice Creek mining board, and he told me that he would like me to relay some information to the public.

Posted 23 Hours ago

"Breaking official news from Galice – One of the mine owners has informed myself and the second owner by phone, that he has spoken to Sheriff Dave Daniel.

Daniel stated that he has received many phone calls this morning from around the country.

In turn, he has spoken to Medford BLM about the brewing situation at Galice, Oregon.

BLM has assured him that they are not taking action at this time.

In light of BLM's long history of utilizing deceptive tactics and well known reputation for dishonesty, the mine site will continue to be secured.

The owners request that all interested persons remain on standby." - Kirby Jackson

Posted 27 minutes ago.

"Contrary to reports otherwise, all is calm in Galice, Oregon According to the attorney representing the mine, he spoke with BLM Special Agent Mike Swindon who told him that BLM is standing down. It is also reported that BLM has no LEO presence west of Merlin.

Despite this, the mine owners continue to have a distrust of BLM and efforts are still to keep the mine infrastructure secure from destruction or theft by run amok "land managers".
In the meantime, the internet is aflutter with all kinds of rumors.

As I said earlier, if you do not hear it from Oathkeepers or myself, it is NOT official.
We are currently working on an official release of information, including pertinent documents.
Stay tuned." - Kirby Jackson


The Miners have asked that no one else come to the area at this time, but to stand by. This is from the Oath keepers.

I was told by Mr. Jackson that he will keep me updated.

If need be I will go and investigate myself.

At this time I am standing by for more information.

The Hoss

[thorfourwinds]

Zorgon is on the right track; this story neglects to highlight that this mine has been under deed to the owners since the late 1800's.

10 million oz. of gold have been removed so far and geologists estimate that that is less than 10% of this vein.

NOW this all starts to make sense . . .

Pocket Gold Strike Made on Mount Reuben, Josephine County, Oregon

by Galice Mining District
Word of a fantastic little pocket gold strike has come out of the Mount Reuben area of the Galice Mining District.

The pocket strike, called the "First Blood" because its finders uncovered it so quickly in a historic local prospect and the fact that the ore was so mineralized that when panned it turned the water blood red, has thus far resulted in over one and a quarter pounds of coarse gold. The discoverers of the rich find were William Powell, Bill Powell, Kerby Jackson, Ryan O'Shea and Andy Baugh, all residents of Oregon.

"It is a pretty typical gold pocket for Southern Oregon," said Kerby Jackson, who is a local historian and author of numerous mining books. "We discovered it in a seam of gouge next to what is mostly a low grade vein of bull quartz.

The geology suggests that the gold was originally displaced out of the quartz by hydraulic forces and concentrated in the gouge below it. The quartz vein above the pocket was heavily fractured and full of spaces. The resulting ore in the seam was so full of gold that you could not crush it in a hand mortar.

This is typical of many of the old stories about pocket discoveries in South West Oregon and it's just another feather in the cap for the mines on Mount Reuben".

Mount Reuben is located near the historic mining community of Galice in South West Oregon and consists of the area north of the Rogue River and west of Grave Creek. Since the 1890's, the area has produced large quantities of lode gold.

Since the 1940's, the famous Benton Mine has been the leading gold producer in the area, producing over 50,000 ounces of gold despite only operating off and on since 1947. The nearby Gold Bug, Ajax and Reno mines have also made substantial gold productions.

At one time, the Benton Mine was the largest employer in Josephine County, Oregon. Most of the producing mines in the area are found along a geologic contact of quartz diorite and greenstone, as well as meta-gabbro.

While the exact location of the pocket strike has not yet been disclosed, Jackson said that the pocket was found in an old prospect that followed a fissure or crack near a greenstone contact.


Facebook - Galice Mining District

[Eight and a half ounces of coarse gold were recovered from the First Blood Pocket in less than a day. Jackson said that the final tally of the First Blood Pocket's yield is still to be determined.

"In addition to over a pound and a quarter of gold mostly larger than 10 mesh, there were also large quantities of fines. Pocket gold is very sugary, as we put it in miner's terms, meaning that it is sponge-like and full of little spaces inside the mass," Jackson said.

"That means it has a lower specific gravity than the placer gold you find in local creeks and rivers and as a consequence is harder to work in a pan or by other means of gravity separation.

There was so much gold to deal with that I just classified the concentrated ore by size and anything smaller than 20 mesh went into containers to go to a refiner. The amount of fines was pretty impressive and will certainly add to the final total.

I'd estimate that it will run at least two troy pounds when all is said and done. That's a conservative number".

Jackson shows off a quart jar loaded with fine gold.

Jackson says that the pocket strike was made mostly using basic hand tools.

"We took out most of the ore with a rock hammer, but the Teknetics G2 metal detector that we used to pinpoint the hotspots was the real key to it all," he said.

"We'd dig the ore, bag it and then before we milled it, we'd use the G2 on it.

If we got a strong hit, Ryan would pinpoint it and we processed the target by hand. On a few occasions we saw visible gold in the wall. Will plucked out one really nice quartz gold specimen from a stringer that had a band of gold almost two inches long and almost an inch wide. It was pretty exhillerating".


Despite this, Jackson says that the pocket is really only a mere taste of the mining possibilities in South Western Oregon.

"It's just a small pocket. We paid our bills and made a good memory," he said.

"Historically, some of these pockets have given up hundreds of ounces to individual miners in a very short period of time. The Briggs Strike, Revenue Pocket and the Gold Hill Pocket yielded thousands of ounces each in a few short weeks.

The hills around this area are literally full of hundreds of old pocket mines that range in size from a big mud puddle on up to a couple hundred feet worth of tunnel. Most of them don't have names and very few of them were written about.

We know even less about the guys who dug those holes, let alone about how they did it. Pocket Hunters are kind of a dying breed, but there is a resurgence of interest in this type of lode mining because everyone knows that there are plenty more of them out there.

The possibilities are virtually endless," Jackson said.

1.3 ounce nugget recovered from the First Blood Pocket

[thorfourwinds]

Greetings:

The owners of the Sugar Pine Mining Claim reached out to the Oath Keepers of Josephine County for help, and the Oath Keepers issued a nationwide call for assistance that was picked up by websites such as thelivingmoon, Infowars and Before It's News.





Militia groups flock to Oregon for Bundy-style standoff with 'government jackboots' over gold mining claim

14 April 2015
Federal authorities said they had notified the miners earlier this month that they were out of compliance with BLM regulations and ordered them and their equipment off the land by April 25.

"If you are a true Militia, true III%, Oathkeeper etc. then you are needed.
If you can get away from home to help, NOW IS THE TIME," says the alert issued by Chris Langer, a firearms instructor and barbecue restaurant owner from Wisconsin.

"Just like Bundy ranch, the BLM is out of order!
SHUT DOWN THE FOREIGN CORPORATION NOW!
The miners need you!!"



Also - BLM's side of the story:
BLM - Oregon/Washington Abandoned Mine Land Program

ACT OF JULY 23, 1955-(SURFACE RESOURCES ACT OF 1955)

* - OregonGold.net - Permits and Legal info
* - Federal land ownership and administration in Oregon
* - Josephine County Oregon

Economy

Most of the commercial activity during the territorial period centered on gold mining and the supply of provisions to miners. Miners had been active in the Rogue and Illinois valleys since 1851. By the late 1850s, however, gold mining was beginning to decline and population dwindled as well. In 1859, gold was discovered along the Fraser River in British Columbia and numerous people left Josephine County to search for valuable claims there.

Josephine County shares the Rogue Valley and Applegate Valley wine appellations with Jackson County. The U.S. government owns the majority of the land within the county boundaries, with the Bureau of Land Management owning 28% of the lands within the county boundaries, most of which are Oregon and California Railroad lands, and the Forest Service owning 39%.

So what exactly are they mining that has the BLM taking notice?

Gold... But the mainstream media is conveniently forgetting to report that part.

[Shasta56]

BLM, HSBC, what's the difference?

Shasta

[thorfourwinds]

BLM, HSBC, what's the difference?

Shasta

HSBC has more money.