The Sierra Fund is rallying opposition to Senate Bill 1222, introduced in February by Senator Jeff Stone (R-Riverside County), which seeks to change the definition of suction dredge mining equipment as laid out in Senate Bill 637. TSF sponsored Senator Ben Allen’s SB 637, which was signed into law in 2015 and requires all small-scale […]
Read Moresuction dredge mining

Earlier this month, the US Government filed an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court opposing the Court’s review of the Rinehart v. State of California case. In 2016 the California Supreme Court unanimously decided that the State’s temporary ban on suction dredge mining is not preempted by the federal Mining Act of 1872. Rinehart […]
Read More
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is holding five public workshops in January and February 2017 to solicit input on potential actions the SWRCB can take to protect water quality from suction dredge mining. For the dates and locations of the public workshops, click this link, or see below. The problem: Suction dredge mining […]
Read MoreYesterday the California Supreme Court ruled that the state’s right to protect watersheds from the potential impacts of suction dredge mining is not preempted by the federal Mining Law of 1872. The high court’s ruling is the latest development in a long saga to address the effects of the mining practice on water quality and […]
Read More