"We wouldn't be doing any of this (contesting placer mining) if it were under the regular old 1872 mining law," says Hughes. And on the North Fork, the law is giving the Forest Service the upper hand. The Mining Claims Rights Restoration Act of 1955 lets the federal government challenge placer mining in locations that it once reserved as potential hydropower sites. But another, little-known law gives it a straightforward way to prevent mining in at least a few locations. The Forest Service's ability to deny mining proposals is severely limited by the 1872 General Mining Law, a frontier remnant that prioritizes mining above all other land uses. But the Forest Service is now arguing that mining the claims isn't worth the impacts to the river. These claims grant holders exclusive rights to any valuable minerals. The day's panning confirmed that little gold is to be found on more than a dozen placer mining claims staked along a 30-mile stretch of the North Fork. The absence of gold flakes didn't surprise him, though. With a swish of the pan, he washed away the mud and lighter sand, leaving only a few garnets. Hughes scooped up a bit of placer - mineral-bearing gravel and sand - from behind a boulder. The area attracted gold prospectors in the 1860s, but these days, the river, which flows through a wild stretch of country near the Montana border, is popular with campers and anglers.
On a clear day last October in northern Idaho, Forest Service geologist Clint Hughes panned for gold on the North Fork Clearwater River.
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