Dirt diving in NH

[Zodiacdiverdave]

I am heading to the White Mountains in New Hampshire for a romantic get away with my wife (and my AT Pro). I don't want to break any State Laws there my wife is allready POed enouph at me, so are there any places that are generally off limits, like state parks or school yards and what about the National forests?
ZDD

 

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[harryb007]

Hello. I am about 60 miles from there and wanted to warn you that most of the white mountains is national forest and metal detecting is not allowed as it is federal land. Sorry can't help you as to where you can go. Have fun and stay out of jail and the doghouse.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

.... most of the white mountains is national forest and metal detecting is not allowed as it is federal land.....

Harry, where are you getting this information that "national forests" are not allowed? Check out this link:


http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5261774.pdf

And zodiac-diver, it appears that NH is one of the more lenient sounding states on this listing:

Federation of Metal Detector & Archaeological Clubs Inc.

So.... heck, ... you can't argue with those two links, now can you? (although I'm sure someone will). And the 2nd link only deals with state parks for instance. Nothing to do with city or county lands. Nor other forms of state land (as not all state land is state "park" land).

 

[harryb007]

Very good info. I have always been told it was not allowed. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Very good info. I have always been told it was not allowed. Thanks for posting this.

Yes. And one person tells another, who tells another, who tells another, etc... And before you know it, everyone's turning around looking at each other, saying "... since when?" And then worse yet, in order to confirm or clarify it, people go asking ("just to be sure"). Which only causes the self-fulfilling "no" or rules invented to address the pressing issue, etc... It's as if we md'rs can be our own worst enemy, eh?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

oh, and by the way, that NFS link I gave, does have the usual cultural heritage stuff. So .... obviously ... you're going to use a little .... uh ... "discretion" and not be waltzing over beach blankets at an archie convention there. Or parading old coins, or snooping around obvious monuments, etc... You're only finding "clad", or course.

 

[wvwildman]

Federation of Metal Detector & Archaeological Clubs Inc.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Federation of Metal Detector & Archaeological Clubs Inc.

wvwildman, I put that link in my reply too. While I take very little stock in that list, yet as you can see, NH is one of the nicer-sounding states on that list. So .... nice to have that in your pocket if a busy-body approaches you in a state-park there, eh?

But as for a lot of the other states on that list, as you can see, some of them sound down-right dire. Eg.: inquire at each kiosk you come to, etc.. OR OUTRIGHT NO's. But even in those "dire-sounding" states, I put little stock in that. You have to go back-in-time, to know how such lists were ever made and compiled, to begin with. And then once you do that, you have to start to take such lists with a grain of salt. This is not the first compendium of the 50 states to do that. And all such lists more or less did it the same way: Someone went and asked. Doh. Sounds logical enough, right? I mean, ... who better to ask, than a state themselves: "what are the laws regarding the use of metal detectors in your state's parks?" But the odd thing that happened when these lists or books were put out (like RW Doc Grim's book "Treasure Laws of the United States") is that some of those states with "no's" or dire/grim wording, had, up-till-then, quite frankly .... never had a problem. Ie.: you could detect state parks, and no one cared (barring unless you were being a nuisance, snooping around obvious historic monuments). So when lists like those started making the rounds, you had old-timers scratching their heads, saying "since when?". See how that works? It was the old "no one cared till you asked" routine. And whomever fields your pressing question, must pass it past a state lawyer, who in turn forwards it to an archie's desk for review, and so forth.

Like in CA, you can detect state-of-CA beaches till you're blue in the face. But looking at that list, you *might* think it's riddled with rules (eg.: only with permission from the ranger, turn in everything you find, alert the archie everytime you find something old, blah blah blah). Yet I can tell you for a fact, you can detect state-of-CA owned beaches and no one's ever cared. So knowing that, .... it sort of makes me wonder how accurate the rest of those states are, if ... in fact, "reality" is different. Know what I mean?

 

[rock]

Contact the DNR for that state to be sure on the rules. I am sure you can google it on your comp. The rules here change often and it says rite on the site here it is you that needs to know the rules as they change so I didnt know doesnt work for our state here in Ga. There should be a # on the site you can call and talk to somebody to be certain. I know here they actually have places you can MD or even pan for gold even though there is a law you cant dig and if you find something worth more than $25 you cant keep it. Great rules

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Contact the DNR for that state to be sure on the rules. I am sure you can google it on your comp. The rules here change often and it says rite on the site here it is you that needs to know the rules as they change so I didnt know doesnt work for our state here in Ga. There should be a # on the site you can call and talk to somebody to be certain. I know here they actually have places you can MD or even pan for gold even though there is a law you cant dig and if you find something worth more than $25 you cant keep it. Great rules

rock, if "rules change", that still doesn't mean that a person needs to go asking "can I metal detect?". Because those "changed rules" must be reflected somewhere, in print, available for public viewing. So wherever the public can avail themselves of the rules, they can find out the rules (and yes, even the "current" ones).

So the fact that laws may change from time to time, doesn't mean we all need to go ask "can I?". At the very MINIMUM (if someone just can't bring themselves not to talk to live people), they can phrase it in this way: "Where can I find the latest listings of rules for the park's dept?" And they'll link you, or pull out the binder from behind the desk, or hand you the pamphlet at the kiosk, etc.... If you see nothing there saying "no metal detecting", then presto, it's not prohibited.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Thanks everyone for the info glad you all chimed in.
ZDD