Metal detecting in city owned parks

[Tom_in_CA]

.......What bother me is you can golf ride your bike skate board park park on lawn swim ice hockey basket ball foot ball soccer jog let your dog poop everything you can think of ...... ask to metal detect .... is a big fat no,........ kids bring a bunch of kids and give them shovels and buckets and they can dig holes where ever they want.........

Well, ohio-fred, do you know what the difference is between those golfers, bike-riders, skate-boarders, ice-hockey, dog-poop-walkers, kids with shovels, etc... is ?

As you have deduced, persons doing those things (which could be deemed to damage park features) are doing it, and no one's stopping them (unless some rare occurance or bored cop, etc...). But here's the difference between them, and md'rs: The reason md'ers are being told "no", is because ........ we asked! (doh! ) What I mean is, if any of those other people you listed had gone in to city hall and said: "hi, can I shovel sand in the park?" or "can I let my dog poop on the lawn?" or "can I golf which might leave divots?", etc... What do you think the city's answer would be? They would probably tell those people "no". But as you can plainly see, people are doing it, and ...... no one cares. Thus the difference between them and us? For some reason md'rs have gotten it in their mind that they need to ask "can I?" type questions (grovelling). But those other people don't look at themselves in that light. Might they *technically* be doing something that there *could* be verbage morphed to apply to their activity? SURE! But does anyone care? Usually not. The moral of the story here: we md'rs should stop asking silly questions, and ... just go, when there's no *specific* disallowance. And just like those other people you list, you're usually ignored.

 

[ohio fred]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_juris_non_excusat

 

[sgoss66]

Great post, Tom in CA.

Steve

 

[Doctorcoinz]

Parks , always a favourite subject of mine. I live in the UK and have to admit parks in the past were superb sites for good finds. I have found plenty of silver coins on parks plus loads of modern coinage.
Detecting on them for the most part these days is a hit and miss game as to wether you get told to leave. It's forbidden in most parks here. I have been told to leave te park at least half a dozen times over the last 10 years or so. Ball fields i like to detect on but thats all we have mostly as school fields are closed by 9 foot high fences. Well there is all that ancient farmland we have to detect on but i never found
anything worth more than

 

[kingingkunsan]

How do I put this? Take 20 detectorists.....2-3 out of 20 don't fill their hole and leave the trash they dig on top of the ground. Now 18-17 of the good do-bees loose the right to detect cause of the few bad apples. Just prohibit it to all and cure it in one stroke of a pen! Now what about drivers? Say they just stroked the pen in favor of prohibiting driving cars cause of the nuts on the road today...well now we can't do that now can we....it would ruin the revenue they make on violations, and car manufacturers will go broke, and workers will loose their jobs and more will rely on welfare then a snow ball effect and the USA will be the Homeless capitol of the world.....ok....has any of the pen strokers considered the same for manufacturers of the metal detecting industry....and the US citizen trying to pursue happiness, hell no....we will just become criminals, no jobs, no fun, depressed, amongst other things..... all of these things will = crime......Why can't they just look at it as revenue and fine anyone caught not following the good ethnic rules......Whats the big deal....Mother nature will take care of the grass if it gets a little brown....we will try our best to do a good job....They allow dogs at parks as long as they pick up the poop...or fine them if they get caught not picking it up.....animals leave more brown spots than detectorist when they pee on the grass......and all the poop on the beaches may cause e-coli...but they still get to bring the dogs to beach....at least during the off season here. Hello pen strokers making the rules....the things you do to ruin the lives of many......is it really worth it.......Live and let live is a better motto than.....I make the rules around HERE!!....
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I liked this post so much I wanted to add to it. Law makers better start making parks off limits to squirrels cuz they dig holes too, and birds (who wants their children to climp the slide just to sail down through several bird droppings?), and trees they litter with leaves, and you get the point. Common sense equals; instead of passing laws against metal detecting. Make us get a license just like hunting or fishing. Use the money to enforce the standards and fine those not in compliance.
OK off my soap box,

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Heres the kicker....digging holes in the eyes of many is damaging the park...so even if no detecting signs or for that matter laws or policies are present....damaging the park always comes into play...and all parks have a policy of no damage to the property....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Dan, you're right: there's no escaping the connotations that a man-with-a-metal-detector carries. Ie.: that "he might make a mess" or hurt the grass, etc... EVEN THOUGH you and I might know we'll leave no trace of our presence when done, yet to the busy-body passerby, they don't know that. So it's as you say, in their eyes, and not necessarily a reality though.

I would NOT apply any such "defacement" or "alteration" rules to apply to us. Since we will leave no trace when done., thus we have not defacED or alterED anything. But you're right, in the eyes of some, they're not convinced.

So my solution to that is NOT to think I'm going to get permission to "alter" and "deface" the park (if that's their automatic equivalance of metal detecting). Instead, my tactic is simply to avoid such lookie-lous who make such assumptions, IN THE FIRST PLACE. I hate to say it, but metal detecting is a little like nose-picking. Sometimes ........... you have to use a little discretion in your timing. I mean, why do some md'rs think they can go at high noon , the busiest part of the day, waltzing around gardeners and archies, and expect no flack? For pete's sake, choose off-times, when no park workers are present. Heck, it's even gotten to the point where I do most of my turf hunting at night. So peaceful. So serene