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CalTrout calls for letter writing campaign to stop suction dredge mining on Klamath River

January 16, 2009 -- In December, California Trout, the Karuk Tribe and the Friends of the North Fork formally petitioned the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to restrict the controversial gold mining technique known as suction dredge mining. The Department has until January 25th to hold a hearing on the petition or deny it. And we need your help!

Suction dredges suck up sediment from river bottoms and spit it out into the river. This kills fish eggs and immature eels; and churns up long-buried mercury. In short, it's harmful to fish at a time when our fish need the most help.

Over two years ago, a court ordered the DFG to complete a statewide overhaul of its regulations by July 1, 2008. It is still not done and the destructive status-quo holds.

Please SEND AN EMAIL to DFG Director Don Koch urging him to use his authority to implement immediate emergency restrictions on where and when suction dredging can take place.

Tell DFG Director Don Koch that his Department needs to safeguard the backbone of California's commercial, recreational and tribal fishing industries by issuing immediate emergency restrictions on suction dredge mining.

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Regulate Suction Dredge Mining

Dear Don Koch, Director, Department of Fish and Game (Continued)

I urge you to approve the petition filed on December 26th, 2008 by California Trout, the Karuk Tribe and the Friends of the North Fork to impose immediate restrictions on suction dredge mining. This activity harms our rivers and endangered species of fish.

With a decimated commercial fishing industry and a plunging wild fish population, it is beyond irresponsible to give 3,000 hobbyists free reign to destroy fish eggs and spew mercury into our rivers.

Anglers buy 2.4 million licenses each year and the sportfishing industry supports a total of 43,000 jobs amounting to $1.3 billion in wages and salaries annually. Fishing equipment sales total over $2.4 billion annually. Does it make sense to risk all that for the 3,000 suction dredge mining permits issued each year?

Please approve the petition so that we can sensibly regulate this activity and keep it away from sensitive areas.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]