U.S. Forest Service closes Solo Creek
NORDMAN — The U.S. Forest Service has temporarily closed an approximately 5-acre parcel in the Priest Lake Ranger District to manage significant safety hazards and damages incurred from amateur mining activities.
The Solo Creek quartz site, located just over the Washington border in Pend Oreille County, has long been a destination for rockhounds seeking to dig quartz crystals. In recent years, it has become so full of holes as to create significant hazards related to undermined trees, slope stability and drainage issues from bare soils, giant holes and tunnels. The site contains dozens of hazardous trees at risk of falling into the diggings. Some trees have fallen recently as a result of the extensive digging beneath their roots.
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