Ryan- Check with the state water or fish and wildlife or mineral depts. where you want to go. They can tell you what hoops you need to jump through, and then with BLM/USFS depending on where the claim is to see what they have for regs. If they require a Notice of Intent or Plan of Operation, those take a LOOOOOOOOONG time to get through and can get spendy.
Kevin- In water work time frames are dependent on when fish eggs and redds are present. We have so many different species between salmon, steelhead and native threatened/endangered fish, it is hard to try and find times that won't impact them.
Times will vary with the specific waters, and essential salmon habitat is in a 5 year "moratorium" now. Wher I plan to still work is open in one area from Jiune 1 to Oct. 15 and the other is May 15 to Nov. 15. Hours are now "daylight". At least the $150 surcharge is gone now.
We are still waiting on the new DEQ permit forms, but they should be out in the nex 2-3 weeks (I hope).
BTW, I hope the midnight sniping with the backpacker is a joke, because if caught you would probably be tossed from LDMA if you were on their property, and banned forevermore.