The 1,031 st meeting of
The Mineralogical Society
of
Southern California
MSSC ZOOM PRESENTATION
Program: Collecting Radioactive Minerals
presented by: Scott Braley
Friday, October 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm.
See program notes below
Visitors are always welcome
About us…
The MSSC is a member of the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies and is dedicated to the dissemination of general knowledge of the mineralogical and related earth sciences through the study of mineral specimens. We are a scientific non-profit organization that actively supports those endeavors through public outreach, field study and related programs.
For more information info@mineralsocal.org
Members….Action Needed! Protect your hobby.
CFMS Electronic Communication: Update on National Monument proposals from Ruth Hildago
“There is a push for President Biden to declare two monuments in Southern California, the Chuckwalla National Monument (660,000 acres) and the Kw’tsan National Monument (390,000 acres). The lands within the proposed monuments include well known collecting sites such as the Hauser Geode Beds and Chuckwalla collecting sites and the Dumortierotie, kyanite, petrified wood/palm collecting sites respectively.
A bill to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument was just introduced last year, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4132/text.
There isn’t even legislation for the Kw’tsan National Monument. It was proposed along with another monument, the Sattitla National Monument in NorCal, via a joint resolution, SJR-17 was revised to focus on Sattitla National Monument and it unfortunately PASSED. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SJR17.
As you can see from the map below, these two Monuments would close a huge swath of land to our hobby.
Write your reps and ask them to oppose these proposed monuments. The time to act is NOW.
Key points: Explain you’re a Recreational Rock and Mineral Collector, aka Rockhound and are concerned a Presidential Proclamation would close the lands within the footprint of the monuments to Recreational Rock and Mineral Collecting. These Monuments were proposed within the last year, with little to no input from local Stakeholders. A Proclamation would be premature. Designation of huge swaths of land was never the intent of The Antiquities Act. Creating these huge monuments totally over 1 million acres would be an abuse of the Antiquities Act.
Pink is the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument. Right below it in blue/green outline is the proposed Kw’tsan National Monument.”
Please copy the attached pdf and send a letter of opposition to your legislator; find your representative’s contact in formation below.
Find your reps here:
https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Can’t hurt to include the White House too: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Notice of July 29, 2023 regarding Mojave Trails National Monument. Reprinted with permission from San Diego Mineral & Gem Society. Great commentary in the notice by its author, Lisbet Thorensen, SDMG’s Public Lands Representative. Thank You, SDMG and Lisbet. Angie Guzman, MSSC President. Please click here to read article and commentary.
Program Notes: Friday, October 11, 2024 at 7:30, join us for “Radioactive Minerals”. Presented by Scott Braley
Some collectors avoid radioactive minerals due to uncertainty about health risks. Scott will be giving an overview of the origins of radioactive minerals, discuss the impacts of radiation on minerals and crystal structure, show some interesting pieces, and discuss the “dos and don’ts” of handling and storing specimens. Scott has been collecting minerals since childhood, with a focus on microminerals and photography for the last 15 years. He had previously been a member and/or officer in clubs in the Washington DC, Colorado, and New Mexico regions. After retiring from the Air Force, he completed a Ph.D. and is now a professor of radiation safety at a small college in northern New Mexico.
SPECIAL ZOOM MEETING NOTICE
MSSC members will be automatically on the invite list each month.
Non Members, you must request to attend the MSSC zoom meeting every month. Email our Speakers chair, Carolyn Seitz at speakers@mineralsocal.org no later than the Thursday before the scheduled meeting Please include “ZOOM Meeting” in the subject line of your response. We will send you the meeting link.
Upcoming Events
all events, except field trips are via ZOOM
- November 8, 2024: Glenn Waychunas
- December 13, 2024: Raquel Alonzo Perez – Harvard Museum Tour & Latest Field Collecting for Emeralds, Diamonds REE Minerals in Africa
- January 3, 2025: Nathalie Brandes – From Gold to Lead
- Board Meeting, Sunday October 27, 2024 at 1:00 pm, all are welcome to attend
The MSSC is pleased to offer the updated 2023 edition of Bob Pedersen’s X- Dana