Mining claim occupancy rules are about to change After growing frustrated with their inability to move illegal squatters off federal forest land because regulations were unclear, the U.S. Forest Service has put teeth into the laws that regulate residential occupancy on mining claims. The changes, which take effect nationally on Dec. 8, also revise the definition of an operating plan for miners. The revisions clarify that a criminal citation can be issued for illegal occupancy, said Bob Fujimoto, group leader for minerals and geology for agency's Region 6 which includes Oregon and Washington. "When we went down the civil side (of enforcement), it would take years before we would get very far with a case," he said. "When we use a criminal citation, the process is much shorter." The revised residential occupancy regulations spell out what constitutes residency through construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance and use or presence of a temporary or permanent structure....