Letters to Editor
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Metal detecting - A growing Hobby - A shrinking land
Wanted to pass along, for your information and something that you may want to look into furtherto protect your readers and the Metal detecting field as a whole.
Seems that in Arizona we have a catch 22 that can lead to advanced heartburn and lossof equipment if you are not aware of the fine points of the law.
Seems that some 9.7 m acres is tied up in State Trust lands - unless you have a hunting license youcannot even step on this land without a State permit for each member of your group.
You may drive across Arizona State Trust land on a designated road (note - The state is not required to mark the dirt roadclosed or open to Vehicle use).
You may NOT remove ANY rocks, plants - live or dead, or any other items
(Note: A family in Tucson was detained for over 8 hours because their two children picked up some nice rocks and had them in their pockets.)
The use of metal Detectors is against State Trust law.
A long list of no/nos is listed under Arizona state trust recreational land use permit.
The legal control of the restrictions is up to the Arizona Fish and Game Dept and they are allowed to confiscate any and all items used in the commission of the crime.
When our club members asked a state officer and a BLM enforcement officer why the land and historical sites ware not posted, they bothstated they did not have the time, money and manpower to post the land and sites as their own bylaws require. We were told that it was up to us to know where we were.
I asked them if the dirt /rocks/cacti ware different in size and color and how anyone could tell that they were trespassing.
The answer was "Carry a GPS unit and a good map." I showed him the best map available in our area - a Topo map I purchased at the local BLM headquarters (without GPS coordinates) - he was not impressed.
Richard Wright
Sec/Treas. - Gila Valley Treasure Hunters
gandaff1@msn.com
Editor
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Metal detecting - A growing Hobby - A shrinking land
Wanted to pass along, for your information and something that you may want to look into furtherto protect your readers and the Metal detecting field as a whole.
Seems that in Arizona we have a catch 22 that can lead to advanced heartburn and lossof equipment if you are not aware of the fine points of the law.
Seems that some 9.7 m acres is tied up in State Trust lands - unless you have a hunting license youcannot even step on this land without a State permit for each member of your group.
You may drive across Arizona State Trust land on a designated road (note - The state is not required to mark the dirt roadclosed or open to Vehicle use).
You may NOT remove ANY rocks, plants - live or dead, or any other items
(Note: A family in Tucson was detained for over 8 hours because their two children picked up some nice rocks and had them in their pockets.)
The use of metal Detectors is against State Trust law.
A long list of no/nos is listed under Arizona state trust recreational land use permit.
The legal control of the restrictions is up to the Arizona Fish and Game Dept and they are allowed to confiscate any and all items used in the commission of the crime.
When our club members asked a state officer and a BLM enforcement officer why the land and historical sites ware not posted, they bothstated they did not have the time, money and manpower to post the land and sites as their own bylaws require. We were told that it was up to us to know where we were.
I asked them if the dirt /rocks/cacti ware different in size and color and how anyone could tell that they were trespassing.
The answer was "Carry a GPS unit and a good map." I showed him the best map available in our area - a Topo map I purchased at the local BLM headquarters (without GPS coordinates) - he was not impressed.
Richard Wright
Sec/Treas. - Gila Valley Treasure Hunters
gandaff1@msn.com
Editor
