"I was at a suction dredge (gold mining) hearing last night. One man said (to the effect of): "We used to dredge on our claims, free whenever and however we wanted. Then the DFG came along and said 'just fill out this form documenting your mining,' and we did that. The next year, they added a $450 processing fee. The year following it went up some more, then some more and more as it evolved into a 'permit.' Once it became a permit, they had the ability to tell us we couldn't mine any more. Now dredging has been closed down for more than a year. Under this new permit, they want to regulate my nozzle size down to 4 inches, tell me i can't mine on my claim unless there is a 3 foot clearance to the bank on either side. They put me out of business. I have dredgers I can no longer use and claims I can no longer mine." That is what has happened"