Suction dredge mining typically uses gas- or diesel-powered machines to vacuum up gravel and sand from streams and river bottoms in search of gold. It threatens important cultural resources and sensitive wildlife species, and the California Native American Heritage Commission has condemned its threats to irreplaceable tribal and archeological resources.
Suction dredge mining pollutes waterways with mercury and sediment and destroys sensitive habitat for important and imperiled wildlife, including salmon and steelhead, California red-legged frogs and sensitive migratory songbirds.
“Suction dredge mining recklessly tears up rivers, threatens our waterways and harms imperiled salmon,” said Jonathan Evans, environmental health legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “In this time of drought and climate change, we can’t afford to have California’s waterways trashed by a small but vocal group of hobby miners.”
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