New member. Detecting US National Forest please read/Help

[T.A.L.LasVegas]

This US government website says you can if I am reading it correctly http://www.fs.fed.us/geology/For%20Web%20posting%20on%20Locatables%20page/Mineral%20and%20Rock%20Collecting%20on%20the%20National%20Forests.pdf
I have been calling the Nevada rangers station for Mount Charleston and their recreation and their supervisor, every person seems to have a different answer. I am awaiting a phone call from the supervisor for the ranger stations in Nevada but even if he says okay I know not all park rangers are of the same mind set and may not like it.
Because of the different answers I was thinking I would just have to drive to the mountain and go to the ranger station and speak to the ranger on duty, give him the names of persons spoken to and ask if he/she has a problem/advice for that day.
I am just looking to detect where people use their snow sleds for coins and jewelry but in now way want to upset the local ranger.
Has anyone here ever detected in a national forest for coins and jewelry if so what did you do first? Did you find the local rangers station to confirm where you wanted to hunt and did they say it was okay?
Any advice would be appreciated and if the advice is keep off national forest what would you do if the rangers office on site said you could, would you still keep out?

Thank you for your replies
HH
Todd

 

[leslie]

As I see it, all you need is a letter / permit of autherization and signed by the rangers supervisor, with of course your details

and signature. Only wish it was as easy to gain permission here in the U K.

Good Luck to you and H H.

 

[Digger]

Questions concerning the use of metal detection equipment should be referred to the applicable District Ranger.

You're going about it right. But make sure you speak with the District Ranger, not the guy in the tower at the time. If you are able to get permission from the District Ranger, get it in writing! Seems there are laws surrounding just what you can do and can't do in National Forests. And it is based on the "age" of the item you are recovering, as much as anything.

Metal detectors are strictly prohibited in all National Parks (and all areas managed by the NPS), National Wildlife Refuges, and State Parks. Metal detectors may be used on public lands managed by the US Forest Service and the BLM, but may not be used in or around historic sites, archaeological sites, or other areas as posted, or to look for historic artifacts. Typically, public use of metal detectors is ok in campgrounds and picnic areas to look for lost coins, jewelry, or other recent items. But you must remember, all items over 50 years old are protected under federal (and state) law and cannot be removed from their original sites.
Searching for coins of recent vintage (less than 50 years) and small objects having no historical value, as a recreational pursuit, using a hand-held metal detector, does not currently require a Special Use Permit as long as the use of the equipment is confined to areas which do not possess historic or prehistoric resources. But before you proceed, contact your District Ranger. He may not interpret the law the same way another might. And again, get it in writing in case someone challenges you being there. JMHO Randy

 

[DesertNuggets]

How true that every ranger has a different answer. Its the blind leading the blind.

Good luck!

 

[FortuneFinder73]

Yes, like Digger said get it in writing from the head honcho..... I know in the Smokey Mountains National Park/Forest you will get into BIG trouble for just having a metal detector with you, it can be in your trunk with no batteries and taken apart and they will seriously go over board with the whole situation and if your lucky the only thing they do is fine you and take your detector and oh yeah give you a lecture....which is bad enough,(trust me folks I know) but depending on wich ranger stops you and of course his or her mood at the time it can be all of the above and taken to jail. It's really ridiculous, I think they should offer some kind of permit (of course with rules & regulations) or better yet even charge money for the permits and then they can pay the rangers more money and guess what everyone is HAPPY....lol

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

Be glad that you do not live in Missouri. In Missouri, you may detect in recreational areas of the Mark Twain National Forest, but you may not dig for what you find. If a ranger's wife dropped her ear ring in the flower bed in front of their office three years ago, and it has gone underground, you may not retrieve it. You may collect all the clad, pull tabs, etc. that you find on the surface, but do not dig a 1/8 of an inch... Then, they give you this crap about items 50 years old, or, 100 years old, and those items include coins. You cannot go into the forest to what was a privately ran camp ground or, hunting camp for the city dwellers back in the late 1800's, or, early 1900's and dig for lost coins.

They are goofy, that kind of liberal, left wing goofy that led the what was it, the US FISH and WILDLIFE SERVICE to lie a couple years ago about wolves being endangered in a certain area in the west, or, was it that an endangered wolf was living in the area, so they restricted use? Cannot remember the particulars without looking it up, but they salted the area with that wolf's hair, etc, when the animal wasn't anywhere around for a million miles. They got caught, but nothing happened to them. Anyway, the Forest Service told me that you couldn't dig, and even had conflicting views on if I could dig in a rec area to retrieve a coin. Then, another told me on the phone from Rolla, a district headquarters, and they even sent me a paper that said that "finders keepers treasure claims be damned, if you find something, of worth, say a Barber dime, or, and Indian Head penny, or, a the little peoples pot o gold, down in the ground, it belongs to the government.." They do not sway from their beliefs. They don't want you out there at an old site, not that their local archaeologist will ever dig a old church, school, or, camp ground, they just do not want you there, period. If it is in the ground, leave it in the ground to rust, or, until God destroys the earth by fire and starts all over again, you ain't going to get it, period. It belongs to the government in their opinion, and unlike you falsely learned in school, you, as one of the "people" ain't the government.

All this debt crap in congress should have awakened to you to that anyway...