Now that I've stopped laughing, I'll point out that you failed to note that your so-called scientific article came from the Gold Prospectors Association of America, and that both of the authors are gold prospectors themselves. That's just who I'd go to for objective information on the effects of dredging! The rest of their long article is a rant against "extreme environmental organizations," the "mainstream media," and the findings of most climate scientists that climate change is underway due to burning of fossil fuels. Those two prospector-"scientists" even took a shot at fat old Al Gore, who supposedly has brainwashed our younger scientists. Yeah, their article certainly is the clincher!!

After reading the article in full in the original, I've just gotta admit that you've proved your case, and state for the record that suction dredging on public lands is a perfectly legitimate activity (for private profit) that actually helps steelhead and salmon spawn, especially when they couldn't do it otherwise. (The little picture of the happy salmon spawning in the dredging hole is real science, isn't it?) So much for dredging having no public benefit. Let's just issue dredging gear with the largest possible suction hoses to every fisherman when he buys a license and save wild salmon and steelhead that way. (Incidentally, dredgers don't even need to buy a license to strip mine a stream, do they? That ain't right!)

Oh yeah: please stop pushing your own personal dredging agenda. Although you obviously must be right since you produced that fine article, I still don't want aquatic strip-mining to occur where I fish.