"i have been appointed by the Washington State Mineral Council to act as their representative to determine what actions the Council can take to retain access to private lands in Washington.

Specifically this includes three current problem areas: Lucas Creek, Adna and Studebaker Creek.

In our efforts we should all strive to make this an example for other problem areas.

Objectives are coalescing along several lines:

To draft code of conduct building upon the rockhounders code of ethics that incorporates the concerns of all constituencies. To seek official endorsment of this statement by the regulatory authorities.

To determine private land mineral rights owners and managment entity concerns for each site in question and offer specific constructive solutions. Club or Council sponsership of sites, private joint ventures and small stream restoration projects are all possibilites.

To establish increased credibility for clubs and club members. We need very good PR to help reverse the increasing pace of closures and regulatory restrictions. This is an exceptional challenge in the face of the greed exhibited by the plunderers who reside almost exclusively outside of our community.

Please contrbute your suggestions to this thread. There are a lot of potential tasks that will contribute to these objectives. I will put the objectives and tasks together as the ideas converge.

Regardless, contacting Weyerhauser is on the critical path. To respect their privacy, please send me suggested contact indivduals by private message. And if anyone knows the underlying mineral rights ownership for these tree farms, please post that info.

Me, I need some sleep...

"

"Bravo! Count me in!"

"Sounds like a good start towards curing the ills in Washington State. Now if we can get it going in all of the states, we have a chance at keeping rockhounding alive.
Don"

"Things are shutting down everywhere. Rumor is that the historic Richardson's ranch is now closed because of vandalism and theft. The goldfish rules now in effect do not allow digging within 100 feet of any creek except for one month. And a one bucket limit appears to have been placed on the gate key purchasers for the White River tree farm. All of these rules were put in place because increasing demand. In a declining economy, there are a lot more folk out rock hunting. Most of them are not from the traditional rockhounding community, but from newcomers many of whom are looking for something to sell."