Quote
tomdisco
Vince,
I wonder if we watched the same You Tube video? It was evident from the video that the sediment went far more than just a few feet, it clouded downstream for quite a ways. Fine sediment does not fall out of suspension in a few feet. It can go on for miles. Also, you apparently ignored the portion where they explained the imbalance created in the disburbance of small underwater insects which fish feed on. Lastly, unearthing old mercury deposits from years ago is no small matter. That stuff is pure poison. I would not so easily dismiss the environmental studies and biology of fish habitats. Panning for gold is low impact. Suction dredging is something else altogether.
Jim
I disagree. You have to consider the motivation of the people doing these "studies" and who pays for them. There is no evidence, by my personal experience, that any of this activity harms anything at all. You're looking at a once-in-a-while photo and you are not being realistic at all. Remember the ugly photos of polar bears floating on small ice bergs, with no consideration that they actually swam there. Don't fall into the propaganda of the environmental extremists. I will give you a big concede, though...if hobbby dredgers are concentrating their efforts below the foothills, I wouldn't let them. Anything upstream of, say, Folsom Lake, Oroville Lake, or Mocassin Power Plant, for example, should be OK.
And don't forget much of the plight of the salmon is due to the sale of water to SoCal, which to my knowledge has no salmon runs.
