I got kicked out of a park yesterday. Friendly Ranger, Un-friendly Park System!

[rlf2174]

So here's my 1st post & I'm already complaining. Went out to Olympia Lakes yesterday. Was there about 1/2 hour & a nice ranger came up & kicked me out.
"Sorry, your not allowed to metal detect here". Apparently, Burlington County park system has taken over the area & their rule on metal detecting is "Not Permitted".
That's it. No reason, no detecting whatsoever. The ranger truly felt bad, saying "They're really making it hard on you folks".
I'm curious, has anyone here ever inquired with the burl. county park system on this issue? What was the response?

Second complaint. To the Yahoo digging & leaving pull tabs all over a certain park in Ocean county (You know who you are).
If I see you, I will knock the detector out of your hand & kick sand on it.
Sorry to complain, but, it's getting to be very disheartening.
Good Luck to everyone else!

 

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[Skwerly]

Unfortunately, as with many, many things, a few bad apples wreck it for the whole bunch. I’ve not had any of those type issues yet, but I’ve only been hunting two very small town parks. I’m sure the day will come when someone will tell me hunting isn’t allowed because *the other guys* don’t fill their holes or otherwise ruin the landscaping.

Sad.

 

[GrizLeeBear]

I have visited state and national parks for over fifty years and have never met a rude ranger. That part of the story is a bright spot. Good luck with finding that Yahoo. Kick him in the rear once for every one of us here!

 

[cudamark]

I still think they should punish the ones doing the damage instead of all of us. If you put a heavy fine on irresponsible behavior like that, you bring more money into the park system and take care of the problem. I really object to being punished for something someone else did!

 

[herb n surf]

The government is not your friend . They always eventually use your tax money to lock you out of what you are being taxed for . (Unless you pay an add'l fee to pay to use what your taxes have already paid for.) We are to blame for the greed and disdain the different branches of government show you , the taxpayer for reelecting these self serving idiots to office year after year. Most of them see taxpayers as walking bank accounts to be emptied and transferred to their own pockets. It's simple , they get rich ,and you get kicked out of what supposed to be your park. Don't feel bad . That's just the way things are just about everywhere.

 

[bbells]

Unfortunately, it is impossible to catch the people who are causing the problems - Digging holes and not refilling, md'ing in protected sites, etc. And once caught, how do you punish someone for digging tiny holes? Plus, how does the park protect itself from lawsuits from the md'er who gets electrocuted by digging up a shallow power cable (I've found some in parks)? It is easy to give big fines for protected sites. But the public would laugh at the court system once it hit the press that someone got a huge fine or jail time for digging a 3 inch deep hole in a park. The only thing the authorities can do is ban everyone from certain areas. The police do not have time or manpower to operate surveillance on md'ers in parks. I am sure your local park system would be delighted to know if you have a better solution. And, if you do have a better solution that works, please tell us all so we can notify the park boards in our areas.

Personally, I would prefer laws that stated 'No digging tools while metal detecting'.

That being said, maybe it is time we started a thread on better ways for park boards to protect parks from discourteous md'ers. When 80% of the people on the roads, in the stores, etc., are pretty much discourteous it would be a big task to find a better solution. Hopefully not impossible for the people in this forum with their many varied backgrounds.

 

[gleaner1]

Sucks to be you. Sorry.

 

[Gold Maven]

Who are the lazy morons that can't fill in their holes?

I was on vacation near a state park in PA. this fall, got a permit from the ranger station to m.d. a beach at their small lake.

When I got there, the place was littered with holes that were not filled in, junk targets thrown down in the holes.

Instead of hunting, I spent 1/2 hour cleaning up that dorks mess.