|
|
||
Mining, trash among ongoing concerns for city's river-watcher Date published: 11/22/2009
By RUSTY DENNEN On a small stream draining into the Rappahannock River in southern Stafford County, there are holes and mounds of dirt piled up along the bank. Lee Sillitoe, Fredericksburg's watershed property manager, points out spots where someone has dug into the shore with shovels. The diggers were modern-day gold prospectors, looking for remnants of gold belt running through parts of Fauquier, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Earlier this year Sillitoe found a sluice box--a slotted wooden container resembling a ladder, used for separating gold from gravel--and other tools hidden under brush nearby. Sillitoe, who keeps watch over 4,200 acres of city land flanking the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers, has no problem with gold mining per se. But he does have a problem with people who are crossing private property onto city land and adding to the rivers' serious sediment issues. "They may be finding some gold, but they're rearranging these little tributaries," Sillitoe said on one of his patrols last week. Silt and mud from the digging flow into the river, reducing water clarity and affecting aquatic life. Landowner Roberta Sharp called Sillitoe after seeing a small SUV entering the property. Sharp lives on a back road, knows her neighbors and knows who's not supposed to be there. Her land abuts the acreage Fredericksburg purchased from Virginia Electric and Power Co. in the 1960s and placed in a permanent conservation easement three years ago. 'A LOT OF NERVE' Sharp said she first noticed several gold panners about 10 years ago. "I had walked down and there were three guys in the creek doing their thing." Then, this spring and summer, she saw the SUV going in and out. A couple in the vehicle told her they had permission from a property owner. Sharp said she's upset by the digging and the potential environmental damage. "I feel like that's my river. They have a lot of nerve going down there and doing that."
Date published: 11/22/2009
I am a gold prospector /miner ..And I am disgusted to hear
of this person's violations of the law .
But ,please get your facts straight ..
There is no negative eco impact from a shovel and sluice.As long as it isn't in the creek bank .
There is no such thing,as a hydraulic dredge ..
Prospectors are not resposible for all the litter ..
We as a whole,respect the laws,and protect the enviro ..
Yes,there are bad apples,but they are the rogues,and we reject them,and report them ..
|
|
|||||||||||||||
