Sorry guys that confusion was just me being a smartelec . but seeing as i got your attention how dos one go about trying to reverse the laws on detecting, i know the Danial Boone National Forest ,went in effect on July 8 2015 prohibiting metal detecting. so who dos one need to contact on something like this, i know about that time frame was when some archaeologist came into the area and started some digs. so i just figured they got there foot in the door first.
Daniel Boone National Forest was originally called the Cumberland and Redbird Purchase Units. It is not an Organic National Forest subject to the CFR and laws on National Forests. It is a renamed Purchase Unit created in 1933. Daniel Boone was the first Purchase Unit that was renamed as a National Forest. The governor of Kentucky requested the name change, I seem to remember that was in 1964.
In any case there is very little federally owned rights in that Purchase Unit/Forest.
In the map below
The Cumberland Purchase Unit "Daniel Boone National Forest" is within the dashed green line.
The dark green filled areas are the lands where the United States has already purchased some surface rights
The hatched light green areas are still private land.
That red area is where the United States owns mineral rights. Only in the red area could the Forest Service allow metal detecting. In all the rest of the "forest" the subsurface rights are in private hands and are not owned by the United States.
Again...
The
western Public Land Forests were created by the Organic Act of 1897. Those are the National Forests.
They are public lands and are open to all forms of recreation including metal detecting.
The
eastern non Public Land forests were acquired under the Weeks Act of 1911. These are not true National Forests and
are not public lands but instead are legally known as "Purchase Units". There are a few exceptions like the Ocala in Florida (Florida is a Public Land State).
The US Forest Service
administers those Purchase Units. Purchase Units are usually only surface rights and being acquired property they are not public lands but instead are United States Government owned property. Usually the subsurface (minerals, water, oil and gas) is still privately owned.
Often Purchase Units are designated only. When Congress designates a Purchase Unit they set aside money to purchase the land inside the unit boundaries. Land owners are under no obligation to sell to the government so many of the lands inside most Purchase Units is still privately owned.
Until the current privately owned lands inside the unit are sold to the federal government the unit exists only in the minds of the Forest Service administrators. Those administrators are allowed to make local rules and regulations for the lands already purchased but they can't make rules for the areas not yet purchased. Most Purchase Units are a swiss cheese mix of private and government owned lands. Management of these areas is a nightmare of different ownership and rights.
The National Forests created under the Organic Act all have exactly the same laws and regulations.
Purchase Units under the Weeks Act are individually controlled and laws and regulations can vary every few hundred feet.
The Western Public land Forests are controlled by laws passed by Congress. Those laws are the same in every Public Land National Forest.
The Eastern non Public Land Forests are areas scheduled for purchase by the United States. Most of those areas have never been purchased and remain private property (off limits to you and your metal detector). The areas that have already been purchased are, for the most part only surface rights, those areas are also off limits to metal detecting. The few areas the U.S. has purchased subsurface rights to are owned by the United States - they are not public lands and they are not subject to the laws governing Forests. They are subject only to the whims of the Purchase Unit administrative supervisor, who happens to work for the Forest Service.
There are no laws to change. These are not the Public Lands administered by Congress. They are purchased lands owned by the United States regulated and administered by the executive branch.
If the United States doesn't own the land they can't permit you to dig there. If the United States doesn't own the rights to the subsurface they can't permit you to dig there. If the United States does own the subsurface rights it's up to the administrator whether you can dig and where you can dig and what you can dig with.
_________________________________________________________
