Dont plan on detecting in Boise!

[future]

Don't plan on detecting in Boise!

Just a friendly bit of advice.......don't plan on using your detector in any city park in Boise, Idaho. They require a $10 permit and you must take a 2 hour class to get it. You must agree to obey ALL their rules, prove you can retrieve a target using only a short screw driver, and the classes only run in the summer. The only retrieval tool allowed is screw drivers 1/4" or less in diameter and no more than 8" long. You must wear your permit in plain sight so the "detector police" can easily identify you. I've heard from more than one source here the Boise city council treats detectorists like would be terrorists. And if that's not enough, there is NO detecting on any Boise school properties. And the sidewalk strip which is usually open in any town, is not. You must obtain permission from the property owner to hunt it. Can't wait to get out of here..........lol.........goldpaninut

 

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[cudamark]

id prefer this over having ambiguous laws concerning MDing. I'd pay the 10, take the class, and then I'd feel very entitled to MD all over!! Also, with a official state/city document that says 'you can MD' I'm certain I would get a lot more permissions from people with old homes ect. Think of the bright side of this situation! Boise recognizes our hobby and has a clean and cheap process for us to do it to our hearts content.

That said - I would ultimately prefer to be left alone, and not have to ask permission to hunt in public land.

Really? I'd rather have no rules about detecting at all. If there are no rules forbidding detecting, they can't very well cite you for violating one. As for feeling "entitled to MD all over" with your new permit, see how fast that permit will disappear if you detect in a careless manner. It's not carte blanc, you make a mess and that permit won't save you....same as if there were no permits.

 

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[aa battery]

Sorry you live with the tree hugging educational elite socially aware residents of Boise (My Brother lives there as well).

my wifes brother lives there but he is to old to bend over and dig.

 

[Goondock]

Detecting buddy was in one of the Boise parks last week. He has his permit. He uses a screw driver for grassy areas and digs off the grass. A nosy Nellie was watching him dig. Sure enough a little bit later a cop pulls up then another. They asked to see his permit and had him show them some of the areas he had been digging.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Really? I'd rather have no rules about detecting at all.....

cuda-mark: To some md'rs, their eyes wax romantic at the thought of "permits". It sounds like a grand idea. And they'll even suggest it, in places that the law is simply silent on the subject . Because perhaps they're afraid someone will apply the dreaded "alter", "deface" , "remove" , "harvest" type verbage. They think of permits as being some sort of carte-blanche wonderful thing, because it evokes images of just being able to detect nilly willy anywhere. Eh ?

But if you've ever paid close attention, and tracked cities that ever implemented such a thing, you QUICKLY see that it is never a good thing. For the following reasons:

a) they're invariably riddled with silly restrictions, like: "digger shall not exceed 6". Or "hole/incision shall not exceed 4" deep". Or "no detecting with 10 ft. of any tree". Or "in sandy areas only". And "turn in all found items to city hall", blah blah blah . And

b) quite often, the permit simply system simply becomes revoked and dis-continued years later, and the place becomes off-limits. Why ? BECAUSE THE SIMPLE FACT that there is a "permit" for something, means it comes up on their radar annually as something to review. And then sure as &^*# someone, someday, is going to ask "gee, do we really want all these yahoos out there digging up the parks?".

Thus you're right: Much better that laws are silent on the subject (no *specific* restriction). As for the ancillary things that might apply (holes, dig, etc...): Pick lower traffic times and avoid such kill-joys.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Skippy, first you say this:

.... the Boise Police Officers I've inquired to, tell me they've NEVER cited someone for metal detecting. One officer told me the only time he could think that the ordinance even comes up, is when a MDer is trying to protect their turf. He laughed at how stupid that was. It's basically an unenforced ordinance ....

But then you say this:

..... I would LOVE to have one, but could not make it happen. I finally gave up, and just focus my time on other parks....

If you know it's un-enforced, and the cops THEMSELVES tell you "no one cares", then I don't understand why you just don't go detecting ?

 

[cactusman]

The only place I detected that required a permit was city parks in Tucson. It was a free permit, and no one ever asked to see it. A grounds keeper for did eyeball me a bit once, but when he saw me pick up an empty Doritos bag and put it in the trash he nodded his head and went back to mowing. -- The way I figure it, in addition to leaving the place in better shape than I found it, maybe the next time that grounds keeper sees someone with a metal detector he'll remember the one he saw picking up trash.

 

[diggummup]

Oh no. I heard that. A few people dictating rules about what ALL the people own. It sux.

Yeah, it's called the U.S.A.

 

[boogeyman]

wow, sounds like a lot of nerds on the counsel

Hey Jeff I think you misspelled. should be Nazi not nerd.

We have an enforcement dept here that will come issue you a ticket for weeds in your grass over 6". We call them "The Yard Nazis" Even they giggle when I call them that. In all seriousness one of them stood writing a ticket for a neighbor for 3 dandelions while a guy broke into his car & rummaging through it!?!?!