HB2078 Headed for Vote; Send emails before it is too late.

[cachenut]

Even though the words have changed the position designed to accomplish the tasks in the bill will still exist. We need to get rid of the archaeologist position too. Otherwise it is business as usual.

Here is my latest response to all delegates. Send your opinions before it comes to a vote. Please.


Topic: Oppose HB2078, Archaeologist in COVA's Pocket, Vote NO

Dear Sir or Madam Delegate:

Please vote against bill HB2078. It is a bad bill for both relic hunters and archaeologists. This bill and the attached archaeologist position has done more harm to our combined interests than any one person could ever do.

Even if everything is removed except the archaeologist?s position the original intent and goal of the bill is still there. The archaeologist would still have the same duties as before. It is just unwritten.

The goal of this bill is to restrict and limit relic hunting and artifact collecting in all its forms. It is not a bill supporting archaeology or property rights. It does in fact make relic hunting as it is practiced now illegal. A misdemeanor. I know of no one in my 20 plus years metal detecting who gets written permission.

In a meeting of COVA they discussed their plans for stopping what they call looting and group looting of archaeological sites. They put the meeting minutes on their website and directly mention this bill's intent and speaking to Delegate Van Landingham to sponsor this bill. It is a bill designed to stop what they call looting and group looting and what I call relic hunting. As they planned it this would be a state archaeologist in their pocket.

This is why I call it a bad bill. I do not want the state of Virginia to pay for an archaeologist who does not do archaeology but whose goal is to eliminate hobby metal detecting. Please do not fund this bill and vote against it when it comes for a vote.

I was shocked to see how much influence this small group COVA has on my state government. They seem to be closely tied into Department of Historic Resources. Unhealthy? They generate bills, write mission statements, write policy, determine responses, submit applicants, and who knows what else. I saw where they were even looking for money to hire lobbyists and mentioned getting APVA funds. I expect DHR would like to get them out of their hair too.

I was born in Virginia and one thing I do love is old buildings. I want to see them preserved. As I grew up in Winchester I saw many torn down to be replaced with shopping malls and parking lots. I also made many trips to the State Archives and Library. I love books to truly enjoy researching thru old documents prior to 1860. It is fascinating work. Please spend extra money on these. What the archaeologists want to preserve are all the rusty pieces of metal buried in the dirt about 150 years old.

Please don?t let them run the DHR or ruin my hobby.

Thank You,
Joe Wolfe
Winchester, Virginia

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[Lowbatts]

Good going Joe, sent them another note. Here's my two cents:

Please review this bill in it's entirety before voting against it. The bill will have a direct effect on the recreational use of metal detecting in Virginia. Most people who pursue this activity are not even seeking historic artifacts or sites when they engage in the hobby. But many do find such objects and some find valuable sites. To criminalize this behavior is an unjust action against not just Virginians, but Americans on the whole. The language as it has been written moves an entire class of otherwise law-abiding citizens into the status of criminals.

History, heritage and our past is something that not only belongs to all of us but to each of us as well. Virginia, like so much of the country cannot afford the time to seek out and recover every or even a fraction of those bits and pieces of history lost to the ground under our feet. But the occasional metal detectorist does find such things on both incidental basis and as part of planned search. Items that would otherwise be lost to time and the elements.

Preservation and recovery is a growing amateur field. To classify so many as illegitimate because they are the casual, weekend seekers of history is to further divide a population between those academically accepted and those not. This sort of division is senseless in a time when we find our nation at war with a culture clearly defined by similar blind allegiance to dogma.

Please consider this plea. My maternal family name, Bleakley, is Virginian and we did not distribute ourselves across this country so many generations ago that we cannot recall the freedoms we learned there. To make criminals out of so many who do nothing more than enjoy a passive, non-threatening and completely victimless hobby is the height of what Virginia and Virginians have stood against for generations.

Regards.

 

[rgecy]

Mandatory! You must READ THIS! We need Everyones Help!

Even if you are not from Virginia, we need to express our concerns on this.? Its as simple as copy and paste.? Highlight the email addresses and copy them to the "TO:" section of your email.? Then Copy and Paste the text into the body of the email or write your own personal message.? Send it out ASAP!? I am ging to send the same email every day.? If this happens, other states are sure to follow!

We need everyones support on this.? There are over 4600 memebers on this forum.? One from each would be pretty impressive.

Robert in SC

 

[jeff of pa]

You Know the Drill. it AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER !!!!!