Bohemia Mine Owners Association Inc.

General Meeting Minutes

                President, Tom Pepiot, 541-844-8903; Vice President, Jessie Johnson, 541-255-8059; Secretary, Lyn Perkins, 541-731-3687, Treasurer, Nancy Pepiot, 541-767-9800; Corresponding Secretary, Carrolle Wetch; Event Coordinator, Duane Mayberry, 541-870-7588; Claims,  Dennis Hebard, 541-606-2872; Patrol, Parks and Roads, Earl Kenady, 541-799-4923

As the meeting scheduled for March 14, 2020 has been cancelled (due to Corona  Virus (covid19) situation in the state of Oregon) the following General Meeting Minutes of BMOA for February 8, 2020 have NOT been presented to the members and are subject to change at our next meeting.

General Meeting Minutes, February 8, 2020, Bohemia Mine Owner's Association  

The Bohemia Mine Owners Association Board Meeting was called to order by President Tom Pepiot at 5:00pm on February 8, 2020.  Board members in attendance were President, Tom Pepiot, Vice-President, Jesse Johnson, Treasurer, Nancy Pepiot, Secretary, Lyn Perkins, and Correspondent Secretary, Carrolle Wetch.   Also attending was Patrol, Parks and Road Chairman, Earl Kenady, and Events Coordinator, Duane Mayberry.  Missing was Claims Coordinator, Dennis Hebard.

The pledge of allegiance was led by Erick Cavanaugh at 7:00.

New Guests:  There were none

Reading of the Minutes from the last meeting:  Carrolle read the minutes for Lyn (she was having throat issues) from the last meeting held January 11, 2020.    A motion was made to accept the minutes as read.  Duane made the motion to accept the minutes as read; John Gilbert seconded the motion; motion passed.

Corresponding Secretary:   Carrolle announced the deadline for the scholarship applications will be March 13th this year; she will pick up the applications from Vicki around the 18th of March; the committee will meet on the afternoon of April 11, 2020 in order to have the winner's application presented to the Board for their approval.   Scholarship Night will be Wednesday, May 27th this year.  The committee this year will consist of Linda and Craig Olson, Debbie Warren, Carrolle, and a new member Mary Stutzman.  If Erin Wilson is available that weekend, she will be joining us.

Treasurer Report:   Nancy offered the treasurers report showing January thru February, 2020 income and expense figures.  The BMOA is in the black.  Linda Olson made the motion to accept the report as read, Craig Olson seconded the motion; motion passed.

COMMITTEE?S

Membership:  There are currently 259 members; up from 254 last month.

Patrol, Parks and Roads:   Earl reported that it is still quiet up in the district.  He indicated that they are still logging in the district.  The Little Red claim has large pot holes; however, the loggers will probably fix the roads when they have completed the logging; so be careful up there.  Also, Nancy will take the money for the phone dues.

Claims:   Tom reported that the LR2000 on the BLM computer site still has not been posted but they DO have the money.  He and Dennis are tracking this and still waiting for the paperwork.

Events:   Duane reported that there are already 60 classes/sessions currently scheduled for Outdoor School at the Christian Camp with a total of almost 1,000 kids to be there.  He explained that he needs as many people to participate in the panning as can make it.  Please fill out the form and let me know what dates you may be available.  Keep in mind, Ladies, the kids love having the women panning too!  He also requested that we really could use donations of "pickers" and any gold available to help with the cons that need to be put up for all these young people.  Also, Duane indicated that the volunteers that have been volunteering for several years really enjoy working with these young people.  They actually hear stories that are three years old about the "nuggets" kids in previous years have found.  The volunteers love hearing these stories!

Duane will be following up with phone calls to confirm dates and hours with each volunteer.

Calendar of Events has been worked on and we will be talking about them later in the meeting.  The caravans will be announced in a later meeting.

Timber Unity Event in Salem, February 6, 2020 in Salem, OR:  John Gilbert reported that he prepared signs to hold and brought them to the event.  He brought back for everyone at the meeting TimberUnity Association General Membership Applications and information.  He reported on the fact that Tasha Webb and Shannon Poe were speakers at the event and that the miners were mentioned several times so that everyone could hear the miners ARE involved in this fight.  After the speaking events Shannon Poe took several minutes to talk with some of the miners telling them that he is in touch with the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Interior for the State of Oregon.  He is the President of American Mining Rights Association.

John also told us other people involved in this fight as part of the TimberUnity are the Freedom Caucus, Gun Rights people, Loggers, Farmers, Ranchers, Miners, etc; all getting under the umbrella of TimberUnity so we can all fight together.

Richard Stocking stated that when we were stopped at McDonald at the Coburg exit, it was an impressive site seeing all the commercial trucks lined up along the freeway.  There were approx. 1,124 trucks and approx 9,500 people gathered.  You could hear horns around the building, including inside the building.

Linda Olson shared that while trucks were staging along the freeway, there were photos of all auto driving by on the freeway.  She helped with the signing of petitions and she announced that the petition regarding the Environmental Issues ran out of signature sheets at 10:30am.  

There were several petitions to sign with regards to the environmental issues, the adoption of administrative rules for DEQ and EPA, and the recall of Gov. Kate Brown.  Free food available, and LOTS of noise.  Lots of pictures were posted onto FaceBook for all to see.  It was an impressive event.

Old Business: 

DEQ & EPA:  Comments must be sent to these departments by February 4, 2020 regarding the adopted administrative rules.

Amicus Brief:  The law firm of Fisher Broyles has submitted an Amicus (Friend of the Court) Brief to the U. S. Supreme Court in favor of small-scale miners.  Tom reports from a note written by Shannon Poe, President of AMRA:  "My own opinion is that they did a great job in arguing why the matters in our case also affect many other industries; and it is in the strong national interest for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the conflicting interpretations of the Clean Water Act that are being acted upon differently by government agencies across America."

The Amicus Brief shows the signers as:  American Mining Rights Association, Bohemia Mine Owners Association, Coeur D?Alene Mining District, Galice Mining District, Northwest Mineral Prospector?s Club, Public Lands for the People, The New 49'ers Legal Fund, Tom Quintal, Willamette Valley Miners, Josephine County, and Siskiyou County; all in Support of Petitioners.

Tom went on to read the paragraph that he submitted as an introduction of the Bohemia Mine Owners Association (BMOA):  "Bohemia Mine Owners Association (OR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation organized in Cottage Grove, Oregon.  Miners from the Bohemia Mining District (OR) created the association on October 17, 1903.  Its mission is to advocate for mining rights and access to public lands, facilitate the exchange of information between miners and government agencies, and educate children and the general public about mining practices and environmental stewardship.  The association owns eight placer claims that are used by more that 250 of its members.  Those claims, and others within the Bohemia Mining District, are at serious risk, as state and federal assaults on the modern practice of suction-dredge mining make it more expensive and more difficult to commercially and profitably mine."

At this point Tom indicated that our check has been lost.  Tom and Nancy were notified that of the several checks send in, only two of the checks sent have been cashed.  Nancy will need to put a stop payment on our check, issue a new check and send the new check by Priority Mail to get this case onto the court docket.  

Tom reported that Shannon Poe, Tom Quintal, and Dave McCracken are all encouraged in that they have never seen this case get as far along.  It was also noted that the DEQ and EPA were requested by the US Supreme Court all data, modeling, studies, and any documentation done to support the decision to make their final determination to shut down the motorized mining in Oregon streams.  The State of Oregon and EPA requested to petition and now the US Supreme Court has demanded the originally requested information.

Tom advised us that Scott Adkins posted on FaceBook the possibility of Washington state may be paying for mercury brought out of streams by dredges.  We need to keep an eye on that possibility.

Richard Stocking made a suggestion that the BMOA start inviting congress members, senators, and other public officials to come up to the claims showing them what mining really is.

Walt Evans asked why are all water ways in the state of Oregon on the stream list.  Why is Sharps Creek on the list as it is not navigable.

It was also brought up that maybe the farmers in this state will need to start cleaning their running water for mercury.  :)

Tom Kitchar's wife is still ill.  He will be going to Washington the end of March taking our mining concerns of mercury with him.  

New Business:  

Walt Evans wants to know if the BMOA is interested in Oregon Senate Bill 1511.  This bill will direct State Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt by rule and administer program for authorizing voluntary projects for stream restoration and habitat improvement through construction of environmental restoration weirs.  Tom indicated that he will be contacting Herman regarding this issue and report back.

2020 Events Calendar:

March 14 General Meeting

April 11 General Meeting

April 16 Outdoor School

April 22 Outdoor School

April 27 Outdoor School

April 28 Outdoor School

April 29 Outdoor School

April 30 Outdoor School

May 09 General Meeting

May 11 Outdoor School

May 12 Outdoor School

May 13 Outdoor School

May 14 Outdoor School

May 21 Outdoor School

May 22 Outdoor School

May 26 Outdoor School

May 27 Outdoor School

June 01 Outdoor School

June 02 Outdoor School

June 03 Outdoor School

June 12, 13, 14 BMOA Campout at Little Red

July 04 4th of July Celebration at Creswell

July 16, 17, 18 BMD Days at Cottage Grove

July 19 Breakfast on the Mountain

August 21, 22, 23    WOE Fair at Cottage Grove

August 28, 29, 30    BMOA Campout at Little Red

September 12 General Meeting, Officer Nominations

October  10 General Meeting

November 14 Gen'l Meeting, Elections and Slide Presentation

December 12 BMOA Christmas Party

Good To The Order:  Tom will be attending the President, Mining District, Association heads to meet at a central location in the next couple of months.  The place and date have not yet been decided.  The meeting will be held to review the situation(s) with regards to State and Federal Regulations.

Adjournment was at 8:20pm.

Respectfully submitted by Carrolle Wetch, Corresponding Secretary