The Region : Prospector Gets Stay

A federal judge has ruled that Billy Joe Bagwell, the only gold prospector living on a mining claim in the Angeles National Forest, may remain on his claim until Sept. 1.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson on Friday modified an earlier eviction order requiring Bagwell and his family to leave by May 30.

In April Wilson had ruled that Bagwell, 45, built an elaborate, if somewhat rusty, gold-mining mill simply for show and that his mining efforts were merely a ruse to allow him to live for free on public land.

Bagwell, who has become a local folk hero to his supporters and who defended himself in a three-day trial last November, maintains he is a legitimate miner being thwarted by federal bureaucracy, including the U.S. Forest Service. For 17 years, he has lived on five acres in the national forest, 10 miles north of Pasadena.