Boondocking closures in Arizona

[Roads_Less_Trav]

Just a heads up to everyone that loves winter boondocking in Arizona. Almost all of the prime camping locations along the Salt River that have been beloved by boondockers for eons have been closed by Tonto National Forest.

At the same time, the US government has sold off 4 square miles of the Tonto National Forest to foreign copper mining companies who stand to make tens of billions of dollars (and create a few jobs...not many).

If this bothers you, I've outlined the situation in this blog post along with references so you know I'm not making this up plus an email address for the supervisor of the forest for expressing your thoughts (please be polite).

Copper Mines, NOT CAMPING, in Tonto National Forest

[nevadanick]

Not applicable to today's mines.

[daboy]

monkey44 wrote:
The troubles begin with these kinds of controls when the company decides it's less expensive to pay the fines than protect the environment. OR, the company goes belly-up, intentionally, after reaping the profits. Then the bonds never cover the repairs, and the bonding company tries every legal trick under the sun to delay or defer or defeat efforts to replenish what is now been damaged nearly beyond fixing...

Does Picher, OK come to mind? Does to me.

[monkey44]

The troubles begin with these kinds of controls when the company decides it's less expensive to pay the fines than protect the environment. OR, the company goes belly-up, intentionally, after reaping the profits. Then the bonds never cover the repairs, and the bonding company tries every legal trick under the sun to delay or defer or defeat efforts to replenish what is now been damaged nearly beyond fixing...

[nevadanick]

http://www.nma.org/index.php/land/reclamation
https://www.mineralseducationcoalition.org/reclamation-stories

[nevadanick]

Reread it yourself, i didnt read anything that says there are no enviromental controls and in fact they are working with stakeholders in the area to include access for recreation. People need jobs and the world needs copper, and once again i will say if you think there are no enviromental controls in place for mining then you are very misinformed or care not to be.

[Roads_Less_Trav]

Please read the references in my blog post from the Arizona Republic (the Phoenix daily newspaper) and the link to the bill itself (it is in legal wording but there are legal interpretations that are also referenced for the lay person).

It is all very clearly explained by the sources I reference.

[nevadanick]

Please use facts and not opinion or emotions. There is no modern mine in The USA that has No enviromental controls. Reclamation is an ongoing part of mining as well as bonds that reassure that reclamation will happen. Ongoing jobs as well as jobs during construction. Also the very device you are posting from as well as your vehicle and camper are possible because of mining.

[westernrvparkow]

Captain_Happy wrote:
Isn't this what Ted Cruz proposed ( a bill in congress) a couple of years ago to close al the National parks and sell them off to the Big Money Boys. well its started. This the reason I'd never vote for this guy. What I'm afraid is, he'll get elected, and here we go.

You need to get a better news service inside your bunker. What you described never happened. Closing the national parks and selling the land to big money isn't going to happen. I know, I tried to buy the Grand Canyon and was flatly refused.

[Roads_Less_Trav]

Phon D Sutton is closed to camping with a "No Overnight Parking" sign out front. The USFS website has not been updated. My blog is accurate.

I visited each place I mention in my blog post in person during the last few weeks. There are gates across the closed areas.

Many other RVers have been in touch with the Forest Service since October when they first started arriving in the area to find out what is going on.

I have spoken with the Forest Service and they have no intentions of ever reopening any of the camping areas I discuss and they are raising the rates on the day use areas to $12 with no senior discount as of Jan 2016.

28 year resident and user

[gatorcq]

Please check your facts before posting.

This is what is on the USA Gov Web Site. Phon D Sutton is Still open. The other sites were close due to no camp host and miss-use of people including campers.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tonto/recarea/?recid=35397

Here is the restrictions in place

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tonto/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5246945


34 year resident and user.

[Captain_Happy]

Isn't this what Ted Cruz proposed ( a bill in congress) a couple of years ago to close al the National parks and sell them off to the Big Money Boys. well its started. This the reason I'd never vote for this guy. What I'm afraid is, he'll get elected, and here we go.

[Shadow_Catcher]

Not to mention that it is First Nations sacred land. Your congress zombies were bought in my seldom opinion.

[Lady_Fitzgerald]

4aSong wrote:
I sent a letter to Arizona Senator John McCain back on July 27,2015 and still waiting a response. Letter was sent to His office in Washington at

The Honorable John McCain
United States Senate
218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Good luck getting a straight answer from him (I speak from experience).

[monkey44]

PatrickA51 wrote:

Mello Mike wrote:
Folks, awareness on this very important topic is good, but lets keep the political rants out of this thread or I'll have to close it.

x2
The Land belongs to the citizens of the USA, If you want to do something about it contact your representative not Rant here.

That's right. There is only ONE way to fix this kind of disgraceful behavior. And it's not a rant on RV.net -- altho we're glad the word gets out here, but there is another step in this process.