Originally published by the Western Mining Alliance

[Oakview2]

This was posted in our local club newsletter. I tried to find it in Western Mining Alliances archives, but had no luck


Everyone that enjoys the National Forest & our claims needs to be aware of what the Fish & Game is capable of...

California Department of Fish and Game
officers executed a warrantless raid on private
property owned by miner Jim Holden.
Jim’s property, located on the Middle Fork of
the Yuba River in Nevada County, California was the
target of a Fish and Game operation conducted on
private property, without a warrant and without
probable cause.
On the morning of May 18th armed officers
wearing body armor and wielding shotguns and
pistols stormed Jim’s camp. Jim believes they were
hiding in the brush up the hill when his dog began
barking. Believing the dog was barking at a nuisance
bear, Jim’s mining partner fired a shot into the
ground to scare the bear away.
The shot scared more than a bear away.
Immediately two armed men pointing a shotgun at
the miners ran from the bushes yelling “get down,
everybody down.”
Jim refused to get down. “Nobody comes onto
my private property pointing guns at me and telling
me to get on the ground. They’re the ones that need
to be on the ground.” Jim said.
“As they came down the hill I asked them who
they were and what the hell they were doing on my
property.”
“They replied they were ‘special police’ and they
had reports from three years ago that I was
dredging.”
Jim asked the Fish and Game agents who had
filed this complaint three years ago. They replied
they couldn’t tell him. They also said that a
fisherman had reported that Jim was unlawfully
dredging. Again Jim asked for a name and again they
said they couldn’t tell him.
“They wanted us to put our hands in the air and
to disarm. I refused to and I told them that this was
my property and I would tell people what to do on
my property.” Jim said, “I asked to see their warrant
and they told me they didn’t need a warrant as they
were special police with authority to go where they
wanted and when they wanted.”
Jim told the Fish and Game agents to leave his
property and they refused.
“I again told them, in a pretty loud voice, they
were on my private property and they told me that
private property didn’t mean anything to them.”
Jim, a Navy veteran and seventy years old told
the Fish and Game agents that the United States
Constitution protected him from warrantless
searches and “they told me the Constitution didn’t
mean anything to them and if I didn’t like it I could
take it up with their supervisor.”
The Fourth Amendment reads “The right of the
people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated, and Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause...”
“Anonymous tips that are three years old does
not sound like probable cause to me, but what really
made me mad is when they demanded to see my
dredge. I showed them my dredge which hadn’t
been used for three years and the one agent said
‘That’s pretty clever to put spider webs on it to
make it look like it’s not being used.”
“I told them it wasn’t being used. They replied
‘We got here to early didn’t we? I asked them too
early for what and they said ‘To catch you dredging.”
“I escorted them back to the trail and again
asked them to leave. They looked around my camp
and they asked me ‘Where was I growing the
marijuana?’ Then they asked me if I was running a
hippie commune down here. There was four miners,
I guess that must be a hippie commune to them. I
think they forgot that miners actually work for a
living.”
The raid ended with the two Fish and Game
agents leaving without an apology or explanation.
The following Monday Jim went to see their
supervisor who said he wouldn’t speak to him
because he was afraid of being sued.
Jim is in contact with his attorney.

 

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[gold nuggets]

If this story, as you related it is true, the offending F&G officers or "special police"
should be held accountable for illegal trespass, harassment and probably a lot of other
counts as well. Glad Jim held his ground and good luck to him and his attorneys.
Gold Nuggets

 

[kuger]

If this story, as you related it is true, the offending F&G officers or "special police"
should be held accountable for illegal trespass, harassment and probably a lot of other
counts as well. Glad Jim held his ground and good luck to him and his attorneys.
Gold Nuggets

F&G have rights no other enforcement does....they can act on any probable cause which can merely be tire tracks through a locked gate....no warrant needed they can and will cut the lock and enter
I know this for fact but
here is an exerpt taken from a quick Google search.........
First, in California wardens may enter your private property if (he suspects) hunting occurs on that property, despite objections from the property owner. This was established a while ago in 1984 under Betchart v. Department of Fish and Game.

Second, just earlier this month the Supreme Court of the US refused to hear another California case, People v. Maikhio, letting stand the California Supreme Court's decision. Under Maikhio the California Supreme Court decided that a warden does not need a "reasonable suspicion" to detain, question, and search citizens in their vehicles. All they need to know is that you were recently engaged in fishing or hunting.

So under Maikhio, there isn't much defense against a warden who just thinks you might be hunting because they don't need to be "reasonably suspicious". There are some limits to what they can do, like only demanding that you show them your license, equipment, and catch (CA fish and Game Code Section 2012). Though if they get to a "reasonable suspicion" then they can ask for more or do searches.

with dredging basically uncharted territory so to speak,it is open or closed to whatever they feel I presume...."they hear a motor running near a waterway?"