In the last ten years mining has come under increasing attack from extreme environmental, as well as tribal special interest groups and last, but not least, federal and state agencies. Most of the mining opposition today is centered around the small-scale miner. These miners number in the thousands and come from every walk of life. While many of these miners hold regular jobs and practice their mining as a supplement to their regular income, and some for purely recreational purposes, there are a large percentage of them who depend on mining as their sole income.

Mining benefits a very large support industry, which includes manufacturers of equipment as well as many other types of businesses that serve as the business community in the mostly rural areas of what is known as “gold country.” Many, if not most of these businesses depend heavily on miners dollars to carry them through the winter months when business slows down in their small communities. These are the businesses that keep small communities thriving. Their continued existence benefits not only miners, but also their respective communities. They are the mom and pop grocery stores, general stores, gas stations, repair shops, restaurants, motels and R.V. parks.

It is easy to see that anything that would ban or adversely affect mining can and does have a terribly devastating effect on our rural communities. In California a recent “suction dredge” mining ban in all state waters has caused extreme financial hardship on many rural businesses. Some will close because their owners say they cannot continue to stay open to serve their communities without the help of miner’s dollars; others have already closed because of this hardship.

Most of the present-day anti-mining sentiment is centered in the Northwest states of Washington, Oregon and California. The opposition to mining normally consists of well organized and well funded organizations. By contrast, miners are, for the most part, unorganized and lacking the funding needed to combat the assault on their mining rights and property.

While it is true that all natural resource users on our public lands are also being attacked by these very same special interest groups, miners are crucial to the success of the environmentalist’s agenda simply because mining is protected by an Act of Congress known by its federal designation: HR 365. This act was put in place in 1866, and last amended in 1872. It is now known as the Mining Law of 1872. If special interest groups can topple miners, who have an actual “right” to mine, then all natural resource users will be easy pickings.
Because of the very real threat to mining and miners, there has been a lot of talk among miners about the possibility of forming mining districts like the ones that were originally formed to unite miners and fight for our rights to mine, as Congress granted us. So far this has only been talk with no real direction or knowledge of how to go about forming one, or how it might be used for the good of all miners. Mining districts no longer exist, but that doesn’t mean they cannot exist once again to fulfill the unmet needs of the modern miner.