creek detecting laws in PA?

[sweetinsanty]

I have kicked this around on other sites.... but there seems to be more people on here closer to my area. I've talked to park rangers, state and local police, game wardens, fish commission and even stopped at our local court house! no one will give a straight answer. some say you can't come up past the high water marks (top of banks). others say as long as you are in the water you are fine. another went as far as to tell me, if I'm in a boat i'm fine...just don't touch bottom. they all said if they saw us in a creek detecting they would blow on by. if a creek is stocked with trout and people are fishing and swimming.... can the guy next door who property borders the creek run the detectors off and let other public stay? not trying to start trouble..... but for four years! I have yet to get a straight answer.

 

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[sweetinsanty]

I just found out that New York has a law that any Gold or Silver that I find belongs to.....New York. I wonder if that goes for coins too? In New York, I'm sure that it does mean coins too. Of course I can find it, and put it back, so that's what I'll do. Any gold coins that I find will go right...back...in...the...er...ground. It doesn't seem fair, but I must follow the law. I'll have to be careful not to have a piece of gum on my shovel, because I could accidentally take home coins, or gold nuggets that are stuck to my shovel.
I have a creek running through my property, so I guess I'm lucky to have both sides of the creek. I probably won't bother looking for gold underneath my waterfall since I can't keep any gold after all. That darn law!

the pine grove furnace park above me has a rule.... any man made objects found must be handed over! I see people gathering things from the ground all the time! we always get enough change off the beach to buy our ice cream.... do I give the park service the change or my ice cream? lol

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

I just found out that New York has a law that any Gold or Silver that I find belongs to.....New York.....

Really ? Can you post a link to this ? I'm sure all the NY md'rs who frequent this forum will be quite grief-stricken. They will immediately search their collections of all silver and gold, and rush to turn it into the proper authorities.

So show us the link to such a law !

 

[Gold Maven]

any navigable waterway in the US is open to the public.

the stream bed and banks are owned.............simple as that.

 

[Vdubguy]

I live in PA and have hunted the cricks around where I live many, many times. I stay away from fishermen as a courtesy. I've only had on game commission talk to me and he just asked if I was finding anything cool. He didn't say either way if what I was doing was wrong or not, and I didn't ask. As for the private property part of the question, I've only hunted larger cricks, so I would assume there's no way one person can own it or any part of it. I've walked down cricks while people are sitting in their back yard and just get the occasional wave. Never been bothered. Hope this helps.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

..... I've only had on game commission talk to me and he just asked if I was finding anything cool. He didn't say either way if what I was doing was wrong or not, and I didn't ask. ......

Why not ? Seems the general consensus is that you/we should be asking.

.... Never been bothered......

Simply amazing. I guess PA is like CA, and .... people walk along creek/river banks. Glad I don't live in Texas, where apparently people are shot on sight for this.

 

[seekerGH]

find something valuable, they will contact you!

 

[dabskie]

The high water line pertains to gold prospecting,,and using a highbanker,,I was gold prospecting pa creeks for 19 years or so,,and checked all the rules when it comes to creeks,,,Never, I repeat Never did I ever run across any rules saying you cannot metal dectect the creeks, sides of creeks , creek banks,,,as long as your not trespassing and have permission and heaven forbid "don't disturb the fishermen",,lol

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The high water line pertains to gold prospecting,,and using a highbanker,,I was gold prospecting pa creeks for 19 years or so,,and checked all the rules when it comes to creeks,,,Never, I repeat Never did I ever run across any rules saying you cannot metal dectect the creeks, sides of creeks , creek banks,,,as long as your not trespassing and have permission and heaven forbid "don't disturb the fishermen",,lol

Clarify, when you say "... have permission", then are you saying that when you were prospecting gold , that you "had permission" ? Or are you saying it was not needed d/t public access @ "navigable waters" language ? Or how about the fishermen: I'm assuming they're standing on the banks. Is that because they're allowed there ? Or because they had permission ?

 

[dabskie]

Clarify, when you say "... have permission", then are you saying that when you were prospecting gold , that you "had permission" ? Or are you saying it was not needed d/t public access @ "navigable waters" language ? Or how about the fishermen: I'm assuming they're standing on the banks. Is that because they're allowed there ? Or because they had permission ?[/QUP

Pa. is a noted for it's trout fishing streams which are public access, I prospected the same streams,,and it was just common courtesy not to prospect in the beginning of trout season when the fishing pressure was the highest.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I have two creeks on my property and If I find you on my property without permission, no matter the reason, I will make you leave.

I do allow neighbors to hunt. No one digs without asking. But no one has asked.

 

[Swaveab]

This is interesting to me as a Pa. resident. Can you guys confirm that the property does in fact go into the water on its bed for creeks and streams? I do know that for any rivers in Pa. that the state owns it and that includes the beds. Probably won't matter much in my local area as the creeks and streams here have been used as open sewers and I am leery of disease. Yes, they are supposed to rectify them and clean them up and we get taxed extra for it, but t seems they never get around to it and years later they create another tax for cleaning it up. Politicians.

 

[jeff of pa]

Riparian water rights (or simply riparian rights) is a system for allocating water among those ... Under riparian law, water is a public good like the air, sunlight, or wildlife. ... The Pennsylvania Supreme Court defined it as the "ordinary low water mark, unaffected by drought; that is, the height of the water at ordinary stages.


Public and Private Rights
to PA Water Bodies



https://www.psls.org/resources/Documents/newsletters/PAWaterBodies.pdf

 

[jeff of pa]

A Short Review of Pennsylvania

Water Law


http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Water/BSDW/WaterAllocation/water_law_review_022806.pdf

 

[jeff of pa]

Public Rights in Pennsylvania Waters FAQs
fish & Boat commission


Public Access

 

[jeff of pa]

Publicly-Owned Streambeds - DCNR


http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_009715.pdf

 

[jeff of pa]

Here is a historical list of the navigable waters is Pa


https://books.google.com/books?id=c...ic+highway&pg=PA146&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[jeff of pa]

interesting article worth reading

Stream Confluences & Waterways

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx for all the links Jeff.

 

[Swaveab]

Ditto from me. Good reading on the Stream Confluences and Waterways.