Last year I missed posting this essay + photo gallery from the BBC of Southern California watersheds and the damaged caused by illegal mining/prospecting.
The problem has only become more pronounced, and river cleanliness is exacerbated by homeless encampments in the hills, which is underplayed in this article compared to what I've seen for myself.
On this particular river, the last time I caught a trout was in 2015. It has been essentially dead since then, with the local angling community on reporting only 4 trout caught in all of 2016. The river is constantly cloudy and silted. Keep in mind this is a designated Wild and Scenic River, and is located within a National Monument.
Snce this article was published, local environmental groups have now photographed, GPS tagged and documented the damage caused by prospecting, such as entire trees felled to get the dirt at their root ball.
I'm hoping this documentation will make its way into th environmental reports that finally become the basis for action.
The problem has only become more pronounced, and river cleanliness is exacerbated by homeless encampments in the hills, which is underplayed in this article compared to what I've seen for myself.
On this particular river, the last time I caught a trout was in 2015. It has been essentially dead since then, with the local angling community on reporting only 4 trout caught in all of 2016. The river is constantly cloudy and silted. Keep in mind this is a designated Wild and Scenic River, and is located within a National Monument.
Snce this article was published, local environmental groups have now photographed, GPS tagged and documented the damage caused by prospecting, such as entire trees felled to get the dirt at their root ball.
I'm hoping this documentation will make its way into th environmental reports that finally become the basis for action.
