During June July 2001 about two two cubic yards of streambank was excavated into Left Fork Sucker Creek (bottom photo) and about 15ft of streambank destabalized (top photo). Excavating stream banks is harmful to salmon and prohibited by law.
Aproxomately 370 square yards of Briggs Creek was disturbed by section dredging , which made the spawning gravel unsuitable and unsafe for salmon.
During the summer of 2001, miners severed the roots of a 4ft diameter snag and dug soil from out it's base in their search for gold. The public safety is now jeapordized by this precariously standing snag and the ungly excavated pits will remain for decades.
During summer 2001 suction dredgers felled and bucked a live 14 in diameter Douglas-fir tree into Briggs Creek.
Suction dredge miners used helicopters to place 55 gallon barrels of gasoline in the streambed of Silver Creek. The dredge pictured is capable of moving large quantities of streambed. The motiv is profit, not recreation.
Suction Dredge miners using helicopters abandoned these leaking barrels of gasoline on a terrace above Silver Creek. These abondoned barrels are in the center of the North Kalmiopsis Roadless area, miles from any road and may still be there today.
Egregious mining in streams is done under the obsolete 1872 mining law.
