Sad that they have anyone's ear. Blatant lies and outright falsehoods





chuck

I met another member at Vein Mountain today that told me that the landowners below the Occonne camp sued and won to have dredging banned since they
Claimed that we were silting up their dammed pond. Now I ask you how were the trout supposed to get upstream with the creek dammed.

Hello, first time poster, I am confused. Is going to the Oconee Camp an execise in futility? Or can a person gold prospect and get some gold. I live in SC and that was my next place to visit. Thanks, for your assistance.

Carlin

I will toss out a few facts for this one.
The filing and lawsuit from the HOA downstream from the Oconee was dropped by the HOA years ago
Main result of their dismissal of the lawsuit was full compliance and working with DEHC. Our Permits were and have continually been granted.
This has not changed. We are currently out of the water for dredging but can pump water to the settling pond for members use. DEHC visited the site and approved the pond and gave thumbs ups for our proactive approach. I will be meeting with all of the parties from the State of SC in the near future. We are working with DHEC and Storm Water divisions within the state to reopen all facets of mining.
We will be expanding the current operation in acres in the near future after all current reclamation has been completed.
Members are still finding gold in the high benches and the statement made by the HOA in 2003 is correct in a matter of speaking. There is nice gold on the Oconee property but it is not what would be considered commercially viable as a LARGE SCALE MINE. Nor would the state allow a LARGE SCALE operation which was our determination years ago. It is perfect as a LDMA Club property where the use of excavators, dumps and a large scale recovery system is never even considered for daily operations.
All in all it was great reading this again. It has been some time since I read this piece. Read the entire paper as well especially the section titled, "Is U.S. Wildfire Policy a Smoke Screen" It basicly attacks the Bush administration for a plan to manage forest and allow private sectors to work, create jobs, save many forest area and they made a bit of a profit. In reality it work out just fine the free enterprise at work.

Hello, Thanks for your reply to my post, We are planning to visit the Oconee Camp on Thursday, May 12, 2016. Looking to make a lot of new friends. My basic stradegy is ot visit, each of the three camps Loud Mine, Oconee, and Vein Mountain and determine which one to "Start" with and them spend the summer visiting and prospecting. I currently live in Aiken SC and am local to all three. I have a fairly serious truck, but it needs rear leaf springs, so that is the hold up. Once that is done, life will be good and the Adventure can begin. Hope to see you all soon, and thanks again for the info.

Carlin AKA the mountain man.

Kevin;  I know you're a busy guy, but can you update us on future plans for this LDMA site.  A great deal of funds have been spent on the western properties, and not to seem sheepish here, but the eastern properties haven't been paid that much attention.  All of the articles published this past 12 months have focused on the western states, with little to nothing of the east.  This is the time of the year you usually post on improvements to properties, can you include all planned and completed actions to SC, NC, & GA?

Thanks in advance.

Sergeant Major Gary "Sketer" Nichols (R)  

 

Gary,
I do not know if you are a Facebook user, if so please check out the LDMA Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/LDMACAMPS/posts/1397075616975883 this will share with you more about the plans for the first camp and what is on my list for the remainder of the year.

Beginning May23rd a team of LDMA member Volunteers will be starting the partial reopening of the Blue Bucket camp which has been closed for 5 years. LDMA Team Endeavor will complete this project in early June and Oconee is the next on my list.

Terry and Mark are working together to complete a few task at this time along with working with me to complete the full task list for the property. I am in the process of setting appointments with SC. Officials to address ours and their requirements and our proposals for a better working relationship in the future.

Once these pieces are in place I will set a start date for the Oconee project. I am shooting for early to mid-July.

I have had a great deal of members becoming a part of Team Endeavor in the eastern states with a number of them planning on being a part of all camp projects. How quickly we complete projects is really a matter of the number of members that volunteer and the complexity of some of the projects.

Eastern camp now

During the late winter months, a number of LDMA volunteer members working closely with me took on a few of the projects that I had on the board for Vein Mountain as well.
During a short period of time they were able to trim, cut or remove a number of trees from the camping area allowing members with larger rigs better access to the property. They also worked on the Burger Hut in securing the building and replacing some of the wood that is in need of repair. They also worked on the bathhouse during their time in camp. The caretaker is completing these projects and I have a punch list of other projects that Team Endeavor will be completing in the near future.

Loud Mine is in the final days of completing a month long project to divert water from the camp area and eliminating slope erosion. This included moving the office, trenching hundreds of feet of the camping areas and installing an elaborate French drain system along with connecting two ponds together to aide in runoff. The members there worked together and completed all of the work in a manner that exceeded all expectations of completing the project in time including moving power poles, water and electrical hookups.

Gary if you would like to become a part of the Endeavor Team please feel free to contact me. I am always looking for skilled members that are willing to work side by side with me in improving the camps.

Best regards,

Kevin Hoagland