For Release: October 4, 2005
Contact: John Scull (916) 985-4474
CCal-06-02

BLM to Hold Public Meeting on Proposed Lease of Yuba Goldfields Land

The Folsom Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management will hold a public meeting in the Yuba County Board of Supervisors chambers, 915 8th Street, Marysville, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 13, to discuss a proposed lease application filed by the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee.

The proposed lease for a training center will give apprentice engineers experience on heavy equipment and construction projects. Proposed training projects include reducing the size of the rock piles and constructing trails. Ultimately, the site will be opened for general recreation use.

The meeting agenda includes an overview of the findings of the environmental assessment and explanation of the project. Public comments on the project will be heard.

Following an analysis of the environmental assessment, public comments, and other related information, a decision will be made to either grant or deny the application, or to grant the application with stipulations. A decision is expected within two weeks of the close of the environmental assessment comment period on October 31.

The Goldfields, located west of Marysville on the Yuba River, are composed of gravel washed down the Yuba River from hydraulic mining activities in Nevada County during the 1870s and 1880s. The 9,000-acre site was then extensively dredged by drag line bucket dredges to recover gold, which was washed downstream along with the gravel, leaving behind large, very steep piles of rocks. The BLM is currently responsible for approximately1,000 acres of public land within the Goldfields.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the environmental assessment, contact the Folsom Field Office, 63 Natoma Street, Folsom, Ca 95630 or call (916) 985-4474.

-BLM-

Folsom Field Office, 63 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630