Mark Hepfner
This was his response letter to me....rec, it 4-11-12 read it and tell me whats wrong with this....I will start with the first sentence....."Saturday March 18th 2012"...look up that date. And these are their LEGAL people!
United States Forest Law Enforcement and USDA Agriculture
Department of Service Investigations
631 Coyote Street
Nevada City, CA 95959-2250
530-265-4531530-478-6118 TDD530-478-6179 FAX
File Code:
5300/2810
Date:
April 9, 2012
Mr. Mark Hepfner
On Saturday March 18, 2012, Officer T. Madrigal received your certified letter regarding property that was impounded from National Forest System lands in Township 14 N, Range 11 E, and Section 26, Mount Diablo Meridian (base map), approximately one mile upstream of the North Fork of the Middle Fork American River along Mosquito Ridge Road (USFS #96), and located within American River Ranger District (ARRD) of the Tahoe National Forest.
You inquired why the personal property in question was impounded and under what authority.
Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 261.10(e) prohibits anyone from abandoning personal property on NFS lands. 36 CFR 262.12 provides the authority for the Forest Service to impound unauthorized personal property left on NFS lands. Because the personal property in question fell within the prohibition, was unauthorized, and in trespass on NFS lands, the Forest Service impounded it following the procedures of 36 CFR 262.12.The unattended personal property in question was initially observed by Forest Law Enforcement officers on September 27, 2011.
On October 29th a concerned citizen reported some unrelated suspicious activity in this general area. Upon following up on the citizen report, one of the same Forest Law Enforcement officers again observed the same abandoned personal property in question at the same site as he had observed in September. There was no identifying information with the personal property in question. The officer notified the ARRD Minerals staff and reported seeing the personal property in question, evidence of some ground disturbance and possible mining activities occurring, and inquired whether the District Ranger had authorized the use and/or storage of the personal property. The Forest Service reviewed the District's records for that site, but did not find any authorized Plans of Operation for that area where the personal property was found. Thus, the Forest Service had no information as to whose personal property that could be, and the Forest Service was unfamiliar with anyone using that area. The ARRD Minerals staff then utilized the BLM database for recorded mining claims to see if anyone had a mining claim in the geographic area where the personal property had been abandoned. The only information that was found in the BLM database was that a person had located an unpatented mining claim named the Boomer mining claim that covered the NFS lands where the personal property had been abandoned.
Caring for the Land and Serving People
Mr. Hepfner Page 2 of 3
On December 9th
2011, the District Ranger sent a letter to the owner of record of the Boomer mining claim, inquiring whether the personal property in question belonged to him. The owner of the Boomer mining claim hiked to the site to see the personal property and responded back to the Forest Service that while the personal property in question was left on NFS lands within the boundaries of his mining claim, the personal property in question was not his.
After determining that the personal property in question was not authorized by a Forest officer, as required by 36 CFR 262.12(a), and unable to determine the name and address of the person or persons who may own the personal property in question, on February 1, 2012, the Forest Service followed the notification procedure in 36 CFR 262.12(b). A notice of intention to impound the property in trespass was published in the Auburn Journal, posting the notice at the Placer County Courthouse in Auburn, California and at the local post office in Foresthill, California, and posted two notices at and in proximity to the site where the unauthorized personal property was left.Your letter included a photocopy of this notice as an attachment.
Under 36 CFR 262.12(b) any inanimate personal property left on NFS lands without the authorization of a Forest officer may be impounded at any time 15 days after this notice was first published and posted.On February 22, 2011, Officer Madrigal hiked to the site within the Boomer mining claim and found all the personal property still in the exact location that it was on February 1st. On Tuesday, February 28, 2011, the Forest Service impounded the unauthorized personal property using cargo nets and a helicopter to fly out the impounded personal property and took out all the garbage at this site, as well.
Neither Officer Madrigal nor the ARRD Minerals staff had any knowledge that there was an adjacent or overlapping mining claim known as the Golden Eagle at the same, or near the, location as the Boomer mining claim, until the Forest Service received your letter and you identified yourself as the owner of the personal property and provided the CAMC number for the Golden Eagle mining claim. The ARRD Minerals staff then checked the District's records and did not find any Forest Service records indicating that you have a current approved Plan of Operations or any other Forest Service authorization that allowed you to store personal property at this site on NFS lands.
In response to your request, a copy of the inventory record of personal property impounded is attached.
Unknown type(s) of wildlife destroyed some of the property, while some of the property contained various insects and rodent feces and had to be disposed of for employee health and safety reasons, as well as to avoid potentially contaminating our storage facility.
Per your request, pursuant to 36 CFR 262.12(c), also included in the web link below, is the authority and regulations you need to follow in order to redeem the personal property, in the meantime, I will direct my officers to calculate all costs associated with the impounding, removal, and storage of this property. The date fixed for the disposition of this property is May 15.2012.
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