Gold Rush: Discovery Channel


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The Friday, December 10, 2010 premiere of GOLD RUSH: ALASKA, Gold, Guns and Bears earned a 1.51 HH / .94 P25-54, making it the #1 cable program (excluding sports and movies) during primetime among Men 25-54. For the second episode of this new series, GOLD RUSH: ALASKA posted double-digit gains.

I believe reality TV’s need for drama and stupidity is giving radical environmentalists nationally seen examples of idiots killing animals for no apparent reason, fowling rivers with heavy machinery; and digging up Mother Earth without any plan or regard for the environment – and them labeling it “Gold Prospecting.”

If you are as digusted with this show as I am, and if you believe it is damaging gold prospecting - as a hobby and profession, please email or call the Discovery Channel executives responsible for this show and let them know it! Please, use common courtesy and sense when writing or calling these executives. Make you point – not enemies.

Contact - Katherine Nelson

VP, Communications

katherine_nelson@discovery.com

310.975.5975

Contact - Amy Hagovsky

Communications Director

amy_hagovsky@discovery.com

240.662.2931

Thank you! - Terry

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I too am somewhat disqusted with some of the things I've seen on that show so far. It certainly isn't remotely close to any of the prospecting adventures and experiences I've had. However I'm sure the Discovery channel executives probably don't care what real prospecting is like. They do it for TV and their main concern is making sure the ratings are good and thats it. Do you think the Discovery Channel executives really cares if one of their shows give recreational prospecting a black eye? Nope!

I'll get a good chuckle when all these guys are driving home broke half starved and almost out of gas realising they just had their asses handed to them.

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Every year, many of these type of guys die in the wilderness.They totally under estimate what it takes to live with the wilderness and the wild animals.The small handgun the guy is going to use on a bear ,will only piss the bear off more. I grew up in Alaska, my dad was a big game guide and I wouldn't go into bear country without at least a 44mag,and it only works

if you are extremely accurate.The Fish and Game professionals will tell you that a can of Bear pepper spray works the best.Their antics definately aren't doing recreational prospectors any favors.

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yes sir only a bunch of inexperianced wanna be miners with big equipment and zero knowlege in the field could butcher our lifestyle as bad as these clowns , thanks for breaking the ice on this "joke" justin

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I believe reality TV's need for drama and stupidity is giving radical environmentalists nationally seen examples of idiots killing animals for no apparent reason, fowling rivers with heavy machinery; and digging up Mother Earth without any plan or regard for the environment – and them labeling it "Gold Prospecting."

If you are as digusted with this show as I am, and if you believe it is damaging gold prospecting - as a hobby and profession, please email or call the Discovery Channel executives responsible for this show and let them know it! Please, use common courtesy and sense when writing or calling these executives. Make you point – not enemies

Mr. Soloman...

Could you do me a big favor and point out to me at least 3 federal mining, EPA, or state of Alaska laws or regulations that these so-called "idiots" may have violated? I would really appreciate it.

Otherwise, you sound to me like the typical liberal greenie wannabe environmentalist who just likes to bitch and whine about something he/she hasn't a single clue, nor any knowledge about. I hope that's not the case.

Please prove me wrong and point out any violations or laws you may have witnessed being broken. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

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Mr. Soloman...

Could you do me a big favor and point out to me at least 3 federal mining, EPA, or state of Alaska laws or regulations that these so-called "idiots" may have violated? I would really appreciate it.

Otherwise, you sound to me like the typical liberal greenie wannabe environmentalist who just likes to bitch and whine about something he/she hasn't a single clue, nor any knowledge about. I hope that's not the case.

Please prove me wrong and point out any violations or laws you may have witnessed being broken. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

azblackbird

I am sorry to say, you really miss the point,tree huggers and enviorementalists see a hole in the ground or a pile of rocks etc; as destroying the enviroment

while they live in wooden houses and drive on millions of acres of highways,it's not about breaking laws it's about how a way of life is being portrayed!!!!to

the public..

RJ

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azblackbird

I am sorry to say, you really miss the point, tree huggers and enviorementalists see a hole in the ground or a pile of rocks etc; as destroying the enviroment while they live in wooden houses and drive on millions of acres of highways, it's not about breaking laws it's about how a way of life is being portrayed!!!!to the public.

You're right... heaven forbid we show on TV to the public how cows are slaughtered (Dirty Jobs), oil is drilled (Black Gold), trees are felled (Swamp Loggers), or how we mine for gold/silver (Gold Rush).

How else would all the hypocritical leather Birkenstock wearing enviro-weenies get the gas to drive to their protests, while carrying their paper signs, and texting on their Blackberries to all the other sheep about how we're tearing up the environment. rolleyes.gif

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You're right... heaven forbid we show on TV to the public how we mine for gold/silver (Gold Rush).

Remind me not to come onto your claim if that's how you "mine for gold" cus I sure don't tolerate that type of dangerous activity on my claims (hitting vehicles with excavators, vehicles that could have had a person's rib cage next to it, shooting bears that had left the camp, driving equipment across stream beds etc. I reckon if there's one saving grace here, at least they're not doing hard rock mining. I'd hate to image the carnage of these yahoo's using Ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO). :girl:

You're a brave soul admitting that you practice these terrible practices in your camp, I sure don't, and I'm pretty sure most others here do not either

Jen

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It's sad that some of you have to B@##$$ about everything. Do you think they will dig a hole to get gold? I bet they will, do you? Also will you fill your hole? Do you think they will? I bet they will. They had a tag for the bear and it's TV. So don't watch it if you don't like it. Stop being such a tree hugger and a bunny hugger. Yes the old man is not being safe, are you always safe? Tell me this when you die will someone dig a hole to lay your dead body in? I hope they fine them for digging your grave AAAAAAA hello people.

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It's sad that some of you have to B@##$$ about everything. Do you think they will dig a hole to get gold? I bet they will, do you? Also will you fill your hole? Do you think they will? I bet they will. They had a tag for the bear and it's TV. So don't watch it if you don't like it. Stop being such a tree hugger and a bunny hugger. Yes the old man is not being safe, are you always safe? Tell me this when you die will someone dig a hole to lay your dead body in? I hope they fine them for digging your grave AAAAAAA hello people.

I like hugging bunnies, they're cute......

:rolleyes:

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Those "reality" shows are all just a load of BS.

I can see where Terry is coming from completely, because this hyped up show portrays gold miners as being a bunch of clowns.

Now if someone who has been placer mining before watches this show, and knows that the program is just a joke, the show is harmless...

But reality is, there are a lot of urbanites in the world who have hardly seen a blade of grass, or got a taste of the outdoors, and these people happen to be the ones who sit inside all their lives watching TV.

So when they see these "reality" programs, they think that that's how its' done in the real world.

Which is why these shows are not good.

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But reality is, there are a lot of urbanites in the world who have hardly seen a blade of grass, or got a taste of the outdoors, and these people happen to be the ones who sit inside all their lives watching TV.

And a lot of those "urbanites" VOTE!!!!!

They vote for bills like SB 670 killing dredging in Kaleeeeeforrrneeeeeaaa, they vote for politicians which are pro anti mining legislation etc etc etc.

Jen

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Jen

The people do not vote for Legislative bills like SB670.... our crooked politicians did it all by themselves. Then shoved that law down the throats of the people, Or should I say up their a$$es.......

The show is fun to watch and I will bet all here who are complaining/whining will still watch it, because we are prospectors and wanna see the gold!

About the bear.... no they did not have to kill it, but they had a legal tag and as bad eating as bear generally is, they were eating it anyway....

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Yes I like watching this show for the comic relief they provide. It's like watching Dumb & Dumber or the Jackass movies. You keep waiting for the next stupid thing that is going to happen. It's a real wonder that anyone on this show did not get killed or injured. As for laws broken. That would depend on how they are written in Alaska. I know in Idaho if I had crossed that river with a piece of equipment like they did there would have been a heavy fine and or jail time involved. Also even though one of them had a bear tag they all were shooting at bears. Thats violating Fish and Game rules. I just wonder how much the Discovery channel is paying to the state for this show to be produced there. As for them being representative of the placer mining industry what a joke. They don't really have a clue to what they are doing. In any placer mining that I've been a part of there is always a lot of sampling going on way before you start up with any equipment. Otherwise you are doing just what the show is running around just punching holes in the ground hoping that you will get lucky. A lot of work and expense that could have been avoided if they had sampled the ground first. So yes watch the show if you like but don't try to tell anyone that that is the way placer mining is done.

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It's interesting that those who watch it for the "comic relief" factor of the show don't find anything bothersome in that the "comic relief" is at the expense of the credibility, expertise and law abiding that those of us who are "REALLY" in this business conducts ourselves with every day. It would be different if this was sold as a comedy, non reality TV etc.. then maybe I'd laugh too but when it's sold as "reality TV" I find it quite stunning that so many of us who are IN the biz don't take offense to the way we're presented (or the ammunition given, justified or not) to the greenies by this show.

A long time ago I worked in law enforcement.... if the show COPS showed nothing of the realities of the job and instead made every thing look like I beat up suspects, bashed my cop car into a truck hunted down and shot suspects etc, I'd take equal offense....

How about a "reality TV' show on doctors where we let the patients die, we drop instruments on the floor and don't clean them up etc.. Do you not think people in those professions would be up in arms about having what they do so dangerously misrepresented?

Comedy should be comedy.... making fun, or light or disparaging an industry that I use to pay my bills serves no service to me other than make my fight to stay in existence (with the constant regulation battles) harder... It all boils down to people not taking what we do seriously, including apparently, many of our own.....

It saddens me to see so many people who'd be sitting beside me in an anti-dredging battle, laugh at this because it's on """""" TV """"""" that all mighty brain drainer tool that the powers to be have so mastered.

Next stop... a TV show on dangerous hunting.... then we can loose hunting rights... will you all laugh then? How about a "reality TV" show showing dangerous driving by seniors.... maybe then we can look at taking drivers licenses away at 62.... extreme exaggerations, I know but you get my point...

Don't let your easy chair, beer in hand giggles at our expense continue to fuel the fire that the rest of us are trying to extinguish.... the fire against our rights....

Jennifer

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I guess if you take it in the context of entertainment, its ok, but those guys are a bunch of YO YO's someone is going to get hurt, and its prob. going to be everyone that likes to prospect and detect. They are unsafe, the old man and his son, don't think things out, and are giving us all a bad name. Mining is not like that, atleast no operation I've ever seen. safety should come first, Grubstake

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I guess if you take it in the context of entertainment, its ok, but those guys are a bunch of YO YO's someone is going to get hurt, and its prob. going to be everyone that likes to prospect and detect. They are unsafe, the old man and his son, don't think things out, and are giving us all a bad name. Mining is not like that, atleast no operation I've ever seen. safety should come first, Grubstake

High Fiving You!!!! :)

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I like the show they have a lot to learn there a little dangerous. But as far as hurting the environment It looks like there working in the flood plain if they fill there holes nature will take care of the rest. While I consider killing a bear bad mojo but a least they ate some of it unlike sport hunters that leave the meat and take the fur And how does driving a piece of equipment across a stream that floods every year possibly hurt anything I wish that was my equipment and claim. That looks like fun to me.

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Hi all,I posted a commet about 6 months ago about a reality tv show based on prospecting with a metal detector, I guess nobody really like the idea

only 1 reply,Now I know why,Ive watched both episodes of GOLD RUSH ALASKA,and although i like the concept of these guys getting together and prospecting, mining I have a problem with the redneck ways of runing that operation ,I think they should of had a geologist there to tell them where and what to look for instead of just randomly digging massive holes with that 150g excavator .South fork metioned the excavator crossing the river and the flood filling in the holes I know its not about tearing up the river bed its about the petroleum residue coming of the machine grease,hydrolic fluid diesel and contanimating the fish waters,Down here in california harbor if you drop one spec of diesel oil in water your toast coast guard hazmat look out

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If you don't care for THIS show (or even if you DO) then watch yourself at:

http://www.youtube.com/notoriouskelly#p/u/3/c7i6i9L9MYg

If you're not on there- stay in touch and let me interview next time I'm in your neighborhood; I find y'all far more interesting than anything on TV.

Scroll down on that page to see several more prospectors.

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