I'm kind of surprised it hasn't been brought up here yet but is everyone watching the Discovery Channel's "Gold Rush"? For those unfamiliar with it, it is about a group of unemployed Oregonians that go up to Alaska in hopes of striking it rich on a gold claim. I'm completely hooked on the show and my girlfriend can't understand why I even bother watching.

From my perspective, I'm both slightly impressed and completely horrified at the same time. It feels like watching a slow-motion train wreck. I'm impressed at the fact they've actually been able to get a bunch of real equipment all the way to the site. I'm horrified by the complete wrecklessness which they operate, particulary since there are nearly always children around. They dropped multi-ton items, broken cables/chains that could have cut people in half, and have only barely managed to avoid ruining extremely expensive equipment. When one of the guys mentioned that "someone could have been killed", the response by the lead guy was "don't talk like that around me" rather than to take steps to avoid someone actually dying. They (inappropriately IMO) shot a black bear, diverted streamwater in wreckless, lawless fashion, and have trashed more than one of their vehicles by running their other equipment into them.

As a social experiment, I think the show is very insightful. You essentially have a bunch of uneducated red-necks that even admit they are "risking it all" with no fall-back plan. They are clearly "anti-government" types that would appear to fall into the Tea Party movement. While I don't know it, based on their general attitudes and way of life, it seems unlikely they would have health insurance. Yet, they rushed their daughter off to the hospital when she had a seizure, probably costing tax payers tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. I found that particular storyline particularly interesting because I think it puts a real-life perspective on the larger health-care debate and social safety nets that they would probably disagree with yet readily use.

-AP

I'm waiting for the episode where MSHA shows up. I expect that it will be no different than what happened with those two donkeys from Ax Men (S&S Aqua Logging) and the DNR if they don't have the proper hydraulic permits on that end. The actual mining operation from a safety standpoint is abysmal, no guards, railings, emergency stops, etc, etc... You just hope no one gets killed.

Haven't seen that one but other shows on the Outdoor Channel are Gold Fever, Alaskan and Prospecting America "with its visually stunning photography". Raping hillsides, turning land into mud pits, silting up streams and shoveling and sifting beach sand is pretty stunning alright. They are really just infomercial's for joining GPAA (Gold Prospectors Association of America) which was founded by George “Buzzard” Massie who is also the founder of the Outdoor Channel amazingly enough.

And from the GPAA website:

By BRAD JONES
GPAA Editor / Content Director

Beach mining has received favorable reviews in a two-year study conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Washington State GPAA Director Rob Matthews is pleased with the findings of a WDFW report, which suggests the department is satisfied that prospecting and smallscale mining on and near seven beaches pose no real threat to wildlife or the environment and that ‘beach mining’ should be allowed to continue.

At a subsequent hearing of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, part of the WDFW, Matthews was even more encouraged by the willingness of the department to accommodate the land rights of miners under existing laws

“Because of budget crunches they are going to see if they can, through rulemaking, allow beach mining to continue in the state of Washington — and not go through the legislative procedure,” Matthews said.

In its report, the commission concluded: “During the course of the pilot project, no significant user conflicts were observed by Parks staff... A few local residents in the North Beach area had voiced some initial trepidation about the activity, but their concerns seemed to wane as the pilot project progressed. Overall, holes on the beach created by prospectors appear to cause no more impact than holes created by recreational razor clam harvesters

”The commission also recommended that further studies of the impact on fish and wildlife be conducted if placer mining is to be allowed in the future.

Based on the results of the two-year pilot program, the commission concluded “Parks staff is open to continuing allowing the activity.”

“I think that everyone concerned will be very excited and positive about the report because it was fair and accurate,” Matthews said.

“The possibility exists for beach mining to be extended to other areas of the state.” he said.

“We’re going to have to work closely with the commission staff of the state parks and Department of Natural Resources to get that accomplished,” he said.

Matthews expects new, less restrictive rules to be in place by late spring or early summer if all continues to go well. Several groups and individuals were involved in the study, including the Resources Coalition, Bedrock Prospectors, the Everett Chapter of the GPAA and the Western Washington chapter of the GPAA. Matthews applauded the efforts of several GPAA and non-GPAA prospecting groups for their participation in the study.

“Many individuals donated considerable time, effort and financial resources to secure this outcome,” he said.

Matthews strives to add local chapters

Matthews, 56, lives in Port Orchard, which lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. He became a GPAA member six years ago and has been actively prospecting for the last five years.

When he joined the GPAA, Matthews soon discovered, much to his chagrin, that there were no active local GPAA chapters in his neck of the woods. Not one who is easily dissuaded, he founded his own — the Western Washington GPAA Chapter and became its president.
He has since helped form the Everett chapter with president Vinny Grasso and is now spearheading an effort to recruit new members and volunteers with the aim of launching more local chapters in Spokane, Wenatchee, Yakima, Tri-Cities and Pullman. Washington GPAA members are looking forward to the 2011 Gold and Treasure Shows, and, in particular, the Puyallup, WA show, Matthews said.

In the meantime, Washington members are busy prospecting, treasure hunting and attending monthly meetings which always include speakers, hands-on training workshops and video presentations, And, of course, planning for monthly outings from February to October at various locations in the State of Washington and Oregon, he said.

Matthews considers it his mandate as state director to inform GPAA members of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to use of public lands.

In fact, he recently distributed a copy of an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court to help educate GPAA members about the issues facing prospectors and miners.

“I realize that it is fairly long and appears overwhelming but we must get a grasp of the issues. Only then, can we discuss and act on them intelligently,” he said.

“The biggest challenges we face are more restrictive state and federal legislation, rule making and court decisions further limiting the legal activities of the small scale prospector,” Matthews said.

Referring to the existing mining laws which allow people the right to prospect on public lands, Matthews said that it has become an uphill battle to preserve those sacred rights.

“The small-scale prospector is in a constant struggle with various authorities and courts, especially in the western states, concerning our mining rights given to us by the Congress of the United States,” he said.

“These issues are not going to go away and we must therefore become not only familiar, but competent, in these issues.”
While, Washington hasn’t faced the same degree of land rights issues and legal battles as some other states, Matthews said it is an ever-present and growing concern among prospectors and miners.

“I haven’t been hit in the face with any land rights issues in this state, yet. So, it is not on my radar screen, but we actively follow and from time to time financially support (GPAA affiliated) groups in Oregon and California taking the land rights issues to the courts,” he said.

“Our goal is to head it off before it spreads north to Washington State.” Although he hasn’t experienced any major confrontations with authorities or radical environmentalist groups, Matthews said the many opponents to prospecting have no clue what modern mining is all about and that miners are just, plain and simply, misunderstood.

“From our perspective, we feel that if the authorities and environmental groups had their way that a 10-foot high fence would be placed around all public lands barring any and all human involvement, because of their misunderstanding as to how we conduct our activities,” Matthews said.

“For example, when the Beach Mining Statute was originally introduced in 2008, we learned that some environmental groups had stated that we would proceed to the beaches with 18-wheel trucks and front-end loaders and strip the beach clean of all its sand,” he said.

“In reality, we left with tablespoons of gold and some five gallon buckets of sand.”

Rob Matthews can be reached at 360-329-6685 or by email at wwgpaa@yahoo.com.

I'm all for gold mining, when dredging, the silt and rocks settle quickly and actually make some better habitat for fish. At least in California, Oregon and Washington, you cannot dredge during spawning seasons, when eggs will be in the gravel. Strip mining, hydraulic mining or "raping the hillside" is illegalfor recreational miners, and cannot be done on public land.

A friend of mine worked with one of the guys on the show. Apparently they finished very well and paid all their bills and a good chunk of money left over...

They even had buckets full of the slouce leftover that hadn't been sifted through that's loaded with gold I guess, they'll get into that next year. I guess they buried it until they get back up there...

Keith

"I'm all for gold mining, when dredging, the silt and rocks settle quickly and actually make some better habitat for fish."

Amazing fish were able to survive for thousands of years without it.

The Hydraulic was on Gold Fever I believe in a foreign country. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

+1

my fatherinlaw has done the exact same style gold mining up in canad's yukon. 25 years and alot! of gold came out of thier pit. i've seen many pics of cast iron skillets heaped with raw gold nuggets. some were very large.

he's watched the show and says that show/group have zero clue about where to start. anyways he finds the show humorous but it also annoys the hell out of him too.

yea the re/agent seems to have issues huh?

My brother does a little recreational dredging on the Applegate River near Medford and says the trout line up about 10' downsteam of thier outfall and gorge themselves. I would not of felt safe in Alaska with those yahoos.

WOW strong comments for not knowing!

Anything other then general attitudes and way of life of them to back it up!!!

First off I love the show.

Second, I too thought it was extremely interesting to see the juxtaposition of their "go for broke, don't want a handout" mentality, with the medivac flight for their child and subsequent (apparently excellent) medical care she needed.

The old man is a crack-up, and the gold fever is so evident it's really enjoyable...

STLHDR1 -- my 2c -- I would have appreciated a "SPOILER" warning on your post -- there are some of us who don't want to know the ending to stories in advance... Not a huge deal though, but surprising if true.

I'm either right or I'm wrong. I'd guess I'm right. They've clearly showed total disregard for the commons and the lead guy mentioned something along the lines of how he is "always complaining about the government". I just find it unlikely that a group that fails to have the foresight to buy fuel for their operation is thinking about health insurance.

A spolier alert would have been nice!!!

We too watch it...not sure why though. Like most said above, it's like waiting for a car accident. Ya gotta give them credit, even if the have more balls than brains. My dad and grandfather mined outside of Denali in the mid 50's and 60's, so I've got some "gold fever" in me....but these guys have no game plan. And the "leader"....what a dictator! IMO

I like it for the slow motion train wreck aspect.

.

Yeah, I watch it. I also marvel at how much they've accomplished without killing or maiming anyone and at the same time how little they've accomplished as far as actual mining. None of them really have any abilities or talents suited to what they are trying to accomplish. Their only mechanic can't hardly work for more than a few hours without major drugs and only one other guy can weld. They all seem so inept at anything they try to do.

Can't believe they brought wives and kids up there, that just tripled expenses to feed them and reduced their work hours.

With all that said, however, I'd do it in a heartbeat!

the old old man annoys the hellouta me. his whiney voice is unerving! they get thier pantys soaking wet over the slightest gold dust. betcha there's the same amount of dust in the city street gutters of ketchycan.

then the womens should've been panning all 30 buckets of black sand instead of standing around looking bored.

the breakdowns are are so numerous you'd think the camera crew from discovery was breaking things on purpose.

It is another version of the reality show theme. This one has some staying power. The personalities and characteristics of the individuals are what makes it work.

The "story" that these are all destitute people is a bit of a stretch. Yeah, some of them are at the end of their rope but clrearly there is a bunch of money being thrown at this mining operation. No doubt they have some issues with accuratley projecting their real costs. Makes you wonder how much the revenue from the TV contract was factored into their budget when they set their plan in motion.

Clearly, these people have just enough techincal mining knowledge to make them dangerous... to the envirnoment, themselves, their banking accounts, etc.

I share the "wathcing an accident in slow motion" feeling but then again I don't think the producers would have put this on the air without some sort of satisfactory outcome... so I guessed they would eventually get their operation chunking out the flakes and covering their costs, at least.

Its fun to watch people who don't have it figured out yet actually stumble into some success. I'll keep watching.

Yep, especially when he starts spewing Revo love.




Aunty