Comment sought on dredge permitting

The Department of Fish and Game is holding

three public scoping meetings for input on its suction

dredge perm itt i ng program.

The Redding meeti ng is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday,

Nov. 18, at the Shasta Senior Nut rition Program

Center, 100 Merc y Oa ks Drive.

Meetings will a lso be held in Fresno a nd Sacramento.

DFG is currently prohibited from issuing suction

dredge permits u nder a court orde r issued July

9. In add ition, as of Aug. 6, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's

signing of SB 670 (Wiggins) places a

moratorium on all California inst rea m suction

dredge min i ng or the use of a ny such equipment in

any California rive r, stream or la ke, regardless of

whether the operator has an ex isting perm it issued

by DFG.

The moratorium will remain in effect until DFG

completes t he env ironmental review of its permitting

program and makes a ny necessary updates to

the existi ng regu lations.

Wr itten com ments must be postmarked by

Dec. 3 a nd may be submitted, either by e-mail to

dfgsuctiondredge@dfg.ca.gov or by reg u lar mail to

Mark Stopher, California Department of Fish and

Game, 601 Locust St., Redding, CA 96001.

For more information, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/suct