*It Is Time Again...But Where Are The Juniors?

DEFINITION OF THE ATTITUDES - 1

"SAVE THE PLANET" ATTITUDE
("What makes you think you can mine in Alaska?")

Protecting the environment became a growth industry shortly after demonstrators in the 60's realized they had a path to power. They took the word, conservation, and turned it into something nasty.

It didn't matter that some hippies violated the mining laws concerning the legal use of a claim (i.e.: placer mining; not pot growing in the forests of Southern Oregon and Northern California), those same people, and their "brothers" felt that any commercial exploitation of "their land" was criminal (this said while selling their superior pot at a premium price) and should be stopped. Unfortunately politicians listened to their twisted arguments, and responded in a like voice.

"I OWN THE WEST" ATTITUDE

As part of a consequence of the above, for the past 30 years government offices dealing with administrating the Mining Law of 1872, devised all sorts of illegal ways to thwart the interests of small-holdings prospectors and miners. Run the little guy out by charging claim rental, and use the revenue from that to pay for studies that really didn't make much sense, other than to consolidate the power of government "land czars," in the name of preservation.