National Forests allow metal detecting?

[Bigcypresshunter]

Oh, and by the way, we're not talking about a situation like, where if a nut-case "authority" said "it's ok to kill someone", etc... Ie.: I'm not saying that in that case, that if I "killed someone" and said "but so & so park ranger said it was ok", that I'd be "off the hook". Because in that case, there is an over-riding all encompassing law, at every level, everywhere, that murder is always wrong. Contrast to metal detecting, and it is quite common that rules differ everywhere. Metal detecting goes on all the time, at a myriad of public places, so there is no reason to think that "someone should have known". It would be quite common for people here to ask "can I metal detect?". So since rules do differ on this subject, there is no analogy to murder, or whatever.

Laws do not differ in a National Park. If a park ranger said it was OK he would be breaking the law in a National Park. But since the question was a National Forest, I guess I will have to read up on the law or we could debate this forever. Im going to guess from the replys that each state and each forest is different but I havent read up on it yet.

I work with park rangers and my experience has been that they are not always up on the law. One ranger may think its OK to detect and drive past you and the next one will arrest you. And since its a felony, the consequences will be serious.


If a ranger1 tells you its OK and the next ranger2 arrests you, I would hope that that ranger1 will testify on your behalf in court but dont count on it.. A felony is a felony, no matter who told you it was OK. You may win the case but it will cost you bail, an attorney, towing and storage. Is it worth it?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

A quick read of National Forests and it appears to be not nearly as strict as National Parks, Monuments, Beaches and Seashores. It says the Forest Supervisor has authority to allow metal detecting in certain areas.

We dont have any National Forests here in South Florida that I know of but it sounds as if you get permission from the Forest Supervisor, you are good to go.. I guess each forest is different.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Like THR said, print the law and take it with you.

 

[LuckyThirteen08]

No matter the state,Id do a quick google search for the exact area i was planning to search,A quick google search shows that state laws vary widely and are left open to interpretation,Make sure you speak to an authority figure who can give you the final go ahead,Id hate to lose 2k in equipment for diggin up shell casings.

HH John

 

[Tom_in_CA]

No matter the state,Id do a quick google search for the exact area i was planning to search,A quick google search shows that state laws vary widely and are left open to interpretation,Make sure you speak to an authority figure who can give you the final go ahead,Id hate to lose 2k in equipment for diggin up shell casings.

HH John

John, if I did a google search, as you recommend (and I agree, good to look it up for oneself) for any type entity of public land, and if I found the said-rules, as you say, for the given-type land I was going to, and if the rules, as you say were "left open to interpretation" (d/t it was silent on the subject, or just had other things that *could* be morphed to apply ... given enough semantics), no, I would not go ask for clarification,("speak to an authority") as you suggest.

Assuming, as given in this example, that it was not clear (didn't specifically say "metal detectors" as an item prohibited), then to me, I'd print that out (the list of rules you found on google for that entities park), and take that with me. Seems to me that's conclusive enough. If the rules are silent on an issue (no prohibitions), then why would you need further clarification by speaking to authorities?

The trouble with seeing things that *might* be morphed to apply (cultural heritage, disturbing or altering vegetation, harvesting or collecting, etc...) is that you often run into cases where ....... someone will simply say "no", even though .... truth be told .... detecting had always gone on, and no one ever cared or had a problem before. Ie.: the mere fact you are standing their asking them "do these other things apply? can I detect?" simply puts them in a whimsical arbitrary ability or mood to say "no, simply because I said so". Or put another way, you risk the possibility of "no one cared till you asked". The mere fact that someone is standing their asking, merely presumes that something is wrong, or damaging, or evil, that you had to ask, to begin with (lest why would you be asking, if it were innocuous?). I mean, would you ask to fly frisbees? (afterall, it might poke someone's eye out, or run afoul of "annoyances" provisions, etc....).

So if I see nothing specifically addressing metal detectors, then presto, there's my answer.

 

[TerryC]

If we are all doing our research of a possible detecting site, a certain amount of time must be taken to research the laws regarding that area. Written law ALWAYS supercedes supposition and opinion. Research! Go into any confrontation with your guns already loaded (figuratively). TTC