Removing minerals from Whites allowed?

Met a couple on Sugarloaf this afternoon with tools chiseling rose quartz out of the slab alongside the trail --- when I politely asked if it was ok to take stuff out of the forest the said it was.

I carried on my hike but wondered if that is true?

Looks like they were ok, unless next to the trail (see bullet point 5 in pdf).

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/recreation/minerals/minerals_brochure.pdf

Actually on my way back they were gone and i followed a ten foot long herd path to a quite large excavAtion just off the trail, they were mining directly on the trail and had quite a sizable pile mined. Will read your PDF and post pics later, heading to north Peak now

Well, they were standing on the trail. I have no doubt that they were really nice folks doing what they felt was acceptable and allowed. The mentioned they read about the area on a website.

When I came back down the trail they were gone. I was relieved because I admit I felt bad about asking them about taking minerals out of the whites. They had some lovely large pieces of rose quartz. Its not rare by any means. Its a mineral I happen to admire alot and have a large piece myself that I found in the woods in NY many years ago.

I read Dr D's post while I was on the trail and the pdf he posted (thanks). Another thing about the regs is that it states minerals can't be excavated from a steep slope, or adjacent to a trail. This site fits both. Just off the trail there is a small what looked like slide or talus field but when I looked closer I realized it was erosion and mining tailings. I climbed the little ten foot long herdpath off the trail to a level area where I found many large fresh holes in the ground. This made me sad. There was a lot of digging going on right off the trail. There were many pieces of broken rock rolling down toward the trail. The folks collecting rose quartz at this site are creating quite a bit of visual impact to the trail. I'm not sure, but as I read the regs I think that's what they are trying to prevent.

I took a few pics with my IPHONE and I plan to send them along to the FS. Maybe this is a long established small mine and those nice people were well within their rights. Or maybe its time for the Forest Service to look at the size of this excavation and say it needs to be closed down.

Those would think hiking poles should have rubber tips lest they scratch the rocks would likely become catatonic after reading this, Sabrina.

Will be interesting to follow this thread to see if this type of mining/scavenging turns out to be permissible under USFS regs.

In the west, it's generally permissible to remove up to 400lbs/day on lands maintained by the BLM. On occasion we've lugged some big rocks to line the driveway from BLM land, especially those obviously volcanic in nature. But, policies often differ greatly between the USFS, the USPS and the BLM.

Well, according to the FS I guess I live in a Wood Sprite Fairy Tale Land where no one takes nary a flower from the forest...the fact is that our lands are a natural resource and we are allowed to remove products from them....

In all the backpacking I've done in Colorado I guess my naive nature lead me to believe that seeing people panning for gold was part of the romantic mystique of the West..and those roadside geological excursions I took at SUNY in ES undergrad didn't translate to the present tense...so I admit to being a bit taken back when I saw that there are people...yes, people..who's idea of enjoying our natural resources is to head out with thier hand tools to see what treasures they can chip away from the Earth...

All a part of tolerance and balance I guess...lots of people love the natural world and all our votes count to keeping it natural...guess I have to say I admire the USFS for putting together ..the pdf that Dr D shared -- all interests represented-- I'm always learning...still my gut tells me this particular little excavation is a bit too close to a trail and is worthy of a USFS look see..

What is the difference from panning for gold and chipping away at rock for "gems"? Are they not both takings something from a National Forest? Just a question. To be honest I am not against it if it is done in safe location and has minimal impact.

ps I thought, maybe I am wrong, that there was a location on the eastern side of the Moats that were opened for mining.

brianW said:

I thought, maybe I am wrong, that there was a location on the eastern side of the Moats that were opened for mining.

Click to expand...

You're correct, there are designated collecting sites in the WMNF. Those sites, as well as mineral collecting policy for the entire WMNF are discussed here:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/recreation/minerals/

This is a fairly timely topic as the Saco district is doing a program about mineral collecting in the WMNF this Saturday at the Russell-Colbath Barn.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/conservationed/2011_campground_program.pdf
Bob

brianW said:

ps I thought, maybe I am wrong, that there was a location on the eastern side of the Moats that were opened for mining.

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There was an extensive popular mineral collecting locality south of the Moats called Government Pits, where I found lots of gem quality smoky quartz crystals years ago. The excavations were for "rottenstone," formed by weathering of the Conway granite. But, last time I visited, most of that area had been reclaimed (graded over), I think.