In Reply to: Texas Law
posted by Col. Gene on February 23, 1998 at 07:13:47

Col. Gene, your right, the Antiqities Act in the state of Texas does in fact state 50 year on artifacts and belong to the State of Texas if found on state lands. I'm Keith Wills, past president of the Texas Council of Treasure Clubs and now vice president of the FMDAC, national orginization. Since time does not permit me to spend hours on these forums to answer the many questions of folks wanting to know about the laws and the attacks to our hobby, it makes me very proud to see someone like yourself taking on the job to help others understand the facts. I can not relay to you the countless hours and cost spent by myself alone much less the other officers and some of the members across this country, working hard each and everyday to perserve and open the hobby for all. This is all volunteer work, no one gets paid, just like yourself. People of the hobby, wanting to help other people of the hobby and the future of the hobby. I want you to know how much I and the other officers really appreciate you and others like you. It is disappointing to see someone like the post below, that is so mis-informed or just without the the knowledge of what they are talking about; spout-off about the FMDAC and "they haven't done anything for me", like "knock on my door with a pass in their hand for me to hunt a state park". Boy, is this just like some of the club members that we all have in our local clubs, that come to see what the club is going to do for them and then complains about it afterwards and never pitches in to help. I call it; "Put up or Shut up". The fellow below doing all the complaining is like his brother, they both scream about what they know nothing about and are not even members of. Cold Hard Facts is: if the Federation was to try to inform everyone in the country as to the hundreds of incidents that take place against our hobby a year and the many efforts by the FMDAC to take care of these problems, then membership in the FMDAC would cost approx. $75.00 a year per individual member, so to cover the cost of printing and mailing of that information, but they don't think of that, they just complain. Also, if it was truely a subject that they were really upset about and they complain about the orginization doing nothing about it, then why are they not running for office within the orginization so they can do something about it, if they feel they can. Surely they would not point the finger at someone and know that they themselves could do no better a job at the task. While these type of folks complain, little do they know that in the last four years several of us here in Texas (not spending our time shooting our mouth off about what we don't know) have been working toward opening our state parks to metal detecting. We have also been working toward having our government to reconginize the 50 year ruling of the State of Texas ( which is also the ruling of most all the states in this country) is in contradiction to the federal ruling of ARPA by Congress of 100 years. When this happens, we can just set back and watch both the Congress and the various government agencies that decided to change it without permission from Congress, battle it out. Who do you think will win! Thus we will win at the same time. Won't it be nice, to have those folks that spend all that energy, complaining about what they know nothing about; get involved, become a part of the cure instead of the problem and use that energy in behalf of the hobby. Won't we have some fast results then! But we will always have such folks like the one below's post, isn't informed, doesn't care to be informed, just wants to raise a stink about something and could careless if he is right. What a waste! I'm so very sorry for the long post and again, thanks very much for your help. Keith P.S. I too know Richard Ray and the fellow that discovered the shipwrecks on Parde in 1967, both longtime friends.