Metal Detecting Public Parks

[mlayers]

Go to the park early in the morning or later in afternoon. Start detecting and make sure you fill in your holes. If no one tells to to stop it will be OK. If someone come up and ask you to stop be polite and say you are sorry but you did not know it was against the rule to detect there....Matt

 

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[thrillathahunt]

Matt, I'm with you on this.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Matt & Thrill.... tsk tsk tsk...... What do you say when someone says "ignorance of the law is no excuse?" Now I expect that the next time you sneeze, whistle dixie, etc...in a public park, that you will properly ask permission. Don't just "wait to be told otherwise" Afterall, there "might be a rule about it"

 

[scrubber]

Tom_in_CA, I'm not sure why you decided to dump on me. Maybe you are having your period this week.

Hi jb7487, don't feel alone. On my second post in this forum I was roasted for suggesting asking permission. My suggestion was to ask groundskeepers for permission and definitely not ask a clerk or official in a government office.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,228925.0.html

I thought it just made good sense. It was even suggested that by asking permission, I might be ruining it for everyone. No, by digging unfilled or obvious holes and by getting in the way of kids in the tot-lots, or volleyball players on the beach, I would be doing the real damage to our hobby. I don't go looking for someone to ask, but when I see a park worker, hopefully the person in charge, and feel I have been noticed, I warmly introduce myself and assure him/her that I will be considerate and low impact. That approach has always been met with an appreciative smile -- and that's what I will continue to do when first visiting a new park.

scrubber

 

[metalmolly]

But I follow the pledge and always ask for permission first.

I'm guessing by the pledge you're talking about the metal detectorist's code of ethics. The code of ethics says always ask for permission on PRIVATE property, not PUBLIC property. When you are following the code of ethics you are doing no damage to property. So why would you ask permission? Your taxes support public property. Asking permission is just inviting some bureaucrat to say no, someone who wouldn't even have given it a thought before. The #1 rule among government workers is cover your rear end. And what answer do you think covers a government rear end better: yes or no?

 

[Goodyguy]

But I follow the pledge and always ask for permission first.

I'm guessing by the pledge you're talking about the metal detectorist's code of ethics. The code of ethics says always ask for permission on PRIVATE property, not PUBLIC property. When you are following the code of ethics you are doing no damage to property. So why would you ask permission? Your taxes support public property. Asking permission is just inviting some bureaucrat to say no, someone who wouldn't even have given it a thought before. The #1 rule among government workers is cover your rear end. And what answer do you think covers a government rear end better: yes or no?

Wise words indeed.

 

[thrillathahunt]

I have never ASKED for permission to detect a school or park. As was said, it is PUBLIC property.

Hell, I have seen where soccer players use the parks and their cleats do more damage to the turf than any marks left by me!

 

[jb7487]

Hi jb7487, don't feel alone. On my second post in this forum I was roasted for suggesting asking permission.

Thanks scrubber. I appreciate the feedback. I really like your idea of going up and introducing yourself. It is really hard to say no to someone who is courteous and makes it clear that they understand how hard people have to work to keep the park looking nice. I think that goes a lot further than anything else you can do. I chatted with a fellow detectorist last night at a public park and he had the same strategy. He has gotten to know a lot of the people working in the parks and he seems to be a very likable guy. So he has never had any problems. In fact, he could be the very reason why this city gave me such a warm reply to my request to MD in the parks. Maybe they know this guy well and he has been a good ambassador to the hobby. Personally, I think being outward going and pleasant is something that a lot of MD'ers really need to work on. We have this image problem where a lot of people think we are introverts who scan the parks like beggars picking up old cans and looking shiftily out of the corners of our eyes. It's the type of image that hurts us all in the long run.

I'm guessing by the pledge you're talking about the metal detectorist's code of ethics. The code of ethics says always ask for permission on PRIVATE property, not PUBLIC property.

Yes, I am talking about the code of ethics. It does indeed say private land. But in this day and age "public" land isn't really "public". Not asking on public land implies that you feel you are free to do as you will on that land which we all know isn't reality. Just last night I went to a "public" park with a bunch of soccer fields. I had my detector in hand when I walked past a sign that said something to the order of: "Warning: These fields are to be used by the XXXX Soccer Association only (or other sanctioned group). Use of this land without prior written consent could result in prosecution.". I was amazed. But hey, they can do as they wish. And the fact that my tax dollars helped pay for those fields means nothing. Just because we pay taxes doesn't mean that we have the right to free use of all public land. Those of you who are using that as a crutch may someday be arguing your point (to no avail) in front of a judge.

Again, you guys can do as you wish. I will continue to ask for permission on public land. And no, I don't subscribe to the belief that I am going to "ruin it for everyone else by asking". I think that is just the typical FUD that people use to justify their own actions.

Let's just agree to disagree on this one and leave it at that. I've spoken my peace. And I may quickly change my tune about this whole thing as I get more experienced with detecting. If I start running up against resistance to my detecting in the parks then I may have to change my attitude. But for now it is working well and I have not gotten rejected by the parks and rec departments that I've contacted.

 

[Born2Dtect]

jb7487,

The sign was probably there to keep peace. The town, city park keepers gave the XXXX association the authority to schedule usage to keep from having conflicts between teams. I doubt that the usage by a single person applies, as long as a club does not have the field scheduled. Go when the field is not in use and keep a look out for a friendly park worker to get to know.

 

[jb7487]

Born2Detect, that was my intention as well but it was the end of the day anyway so I decided not to chance it. This set of fields is huge and they often have 20 games going on at a time. There has to be plenty of clad and probably some decent jewelry there so I'd like to get at it. But they also have it gated and they only open the gates when someone is expected to be using the field. That means that it is hard to detect there without other people being around or without the workers being by soon to close the gates on me. I've got plenty of other places to check first so I'll stay away for a while until after soccer season ends.

But it looks like a prime spot and given that I've gotten permission from the Parks and Recs department to metal detect I don't see why this place would be off limits. One thing I'm going to do is refrain from taking a shovel the first few times I go. I'll just stick to stuff that is very close to the surface. That way if someone does stop me I can let them know that I'm not digging up grass. I don't expect there to be anything deep in this area as it has been corn fields for as long as I can remember.