All they are doing is making a criminal out of me. Right now if you want to detect a beach you need to get a state permit for that particular beach, good for a year, no fee, just a paper and a lecture. I got one for Sunset Beach out of Coos Bay. All it says is that you have to turn any valuable find, ring etc. over to them to try and find the owner. Then after a certain period of time they are supposed to turn it back over to you. In Douglas County we are a bunch of rednecks, and the county doesn't care what you do, short of smoking dope in the park. No permits or rules other than don't leave holes. The park attendant even told me where a young lady got mad at her boy friend and threw the ring at him, and then they never found it. I didn't either. I don't get over to the coast that often, but at the county park at the mouth of the Umpqua River, the beach is state, but the county runs it, so we just detect there and don't bother to ask, and nobody has said a darn thing. Trouble is the people drive a lot of ATV's in the dunes, and they drink a lot of beer, and it's the most unreal amount of can slaw ever. I think Federal land it's still OK to look for gold, I've never been stopped, but if I am, my plan is to tell them I'm nugget hunting. The feds don't want you taking anything that's over 50 years old, and I would never, ever, do that, but while I'm nugget hunting I do the right thing and clear up the trash, bottle caps and pop tabs -- you know -- stuff like that.
