Our Detecting Rights are slowly dwindling away in Wisconsin

[lockman209]

Just to let you know of a change in the metal detecting laws on DNR land in the state of Wisconsin.



http://www.dnr.wisconsin.gov/org/land/parks/other/metaldetect.html

 

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[capt1989]

I truly don't understand this type of thinking. It is really ridiculus. Hope you have some other places to hunt...

john

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

At a park near you, and
you,
and you,
and you...............................................................

all have a good un.........
SHERMANVILLE

 

[deepskyal]

Hmmm...a DNR archaeologist....Mark Dudzik....sounds a bit power hungry.

I'm sure he's doing it for the best interest of the public...

Saving all those wonderful relics for generations to come.......to sit in awe at what lies under the ground...or used to after they rot to nothing.

Pretty absurd...you can snow mobile, horseback ride...all a lot more damaging than a small dug and refilled hole.

And you have to pay to park Come on!!!

Al

 

[seger98]

Still going to detect where I want, I know the land where I go & I ain't never seen anyone walking around out there! Let alone someone that MIGHT know the law & MIGHT give a dam to what I was doing.


Chris

 

[seger98]

By the way, it's actually been that way for a while, this is nothing new.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Shucks, that is the least of your worries --->

"1867 by Karl Marx: "Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism"

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[deepskyal]

Shucks, that is the least of your worries --->

"1867 by Karl Marx: "Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks, which will have to be nationalized, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism"

Don Jose de La Mancha

Very Orwellian...scary

Al

 

[Lowbatts]

It really is up to Wisconsin voters to take back their lands from people who steal in the name of some lame government plan to "save it".

Wisconsin DNR is really one over-bureaucratic wasteland of tax dollars already.

don't vote anyone into office up there unless they promise to start dismantling that monster.

 

[Blacksheep]

By the way, it's actually been that way for a while, this is nothing new.

This is a huge change over last year, last year there was no reference to "personal property" or
specific search areas, the biggest issue when I inquired about the permit at our local DNR office
was keep-off-the-grass.

What happened? Curious if someone got into an area that was off limits and did some damage, sad
time to be a Wisconsinite.

 

[scrounger d detector collector]

WISCO DNR STINKS. i avoid the ripoff. they charge high fees and then wont even take out the freaking garbage. forcing u to pay high and then u must pack ur picnic trash out. I SAY BOYCOTT WISCONSIN STATE FEES. goto michigan. they are much nicer. u can even hunt many mich state parks.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Blacksheep, you ask: "What happened? Curious if someone got into an area that was off limits and did some damage ......" Yes, that is the kneejerk reaction/thought when some place, that previously never even gave the issue thought, all of the sudden comes up with rules. The immediate thought is that someone must've been leaving holes, or night-sneaking sensitive historical monuments, etc... But actually, I think most of the time when bureaucrats start thinking up new rules and clarifications, is this: That they get a bunch of people asking them "can I metal detect?" Afterall, you have a bunch of people, reading scary accounts of isolated places elsewhere, so they figure "I better ask".

Now put yourself in some state or city headquarters bureaucrat's mind: If your image is geeks with shovels, what's the easiest answer to give these inquiries crossing your desk? Yes, I believe that rules actually end up getting written, to address these "pressing issues", in places where no one ever would've ever given the matter a second thought (until you asked, so they answered).

 

[Blacksheep]

Knee jerk reaction or not, the simple fact is that Wisconsin has required permits to metal detect state
held lands for as long as I can remember. My question as to what happened and the following speculation
was based on several things, the first being my inquiry last year as permits are issued new each year, most
detectorists I`ve spoken with never had a clue a permit is/was required and never bothered getting one
even when known, could that indeed, be the reason?

I hadn't read of any news anywhere, concerning the possibility that "someone", not necessarily a detectorist,
got into an area that was sensitive or protected in Wisconsin, that being said I again need to ask, why the change.

Did the issue in Florida have any bearing on this? Maybe but the fact remains, metal detecting was targeted for
denutting by the state and it wasn't done just "because".

 

[Lowbatts]

Blacksheep, one town in central Illinois that a former neighbor moved to looked like a beautiful place to hunt. I told him I'd bring down the detectors and we'd go play at the nearby park.

He decided to check into the premissability with the parks people and called the town hall. The person at the other end told him no one could detect in the park there. Did not cite any rules or anything like it. When I got there a few days later he told me about it. I had driven by the park the last time I had been there, it looked old and very detectable. This time there was an addendum at the board where it says what you can't do there, dogs w/o leashes, alcohol, etc., etc, and no metal detecting.

I know that's where Tom was going and some of us have been there. I would advise you all if you come by my town, just hit me with a pm first, I've been detecting all over it for 20 years no problem. But get enough calls to city hall and they'll wonder if they're missing one more thing they can restrict. Maybe they infer some issue because people feel the need to ask first. So all they think is liability.

I'm aware of past DNR rules, you needed a permit to swing a coil at their sites. Now you need a permit and a good enough reason, as determined by them. That's an obnoxious bureaucracy in action.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Lowbatts, strange how that works, eh? You take a given geographic locale (city, county, or whatever), and a given old-timer hunter who's been hunting there for years, never bothered, even in front of anyone an everyone in the parks/schools. Then all of the sudden one year, someone takes it upon themselves in that city to go to city hall and ask "can I metal detect?". And oddly, they can sometimes get a "no". Mind you, the oldtimers will be scratching their heads and asking "since when?"

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. I'm convinced that if I wanted to spread peanut butter on my head, and wear of costume made of wood bark, they'd probably tell me I need a parade permit, or "no you can't do that", etc... But if just did it, would anyone really have given a darn?

 

[oneeye]

I would challenge them to arrest me for that. It would be a very expensive arrest for them.
BTW, the citizens of WI own their public land, NOT the government and not one dictator in a government agency. Wake up and fight, or you get what you deserve.
Dan

 

[lockman209]

We are in the process

 

[Blacksheep]

It is highly doubtful that few people asking about detecting Wisconsin state owned lands, was the reason for a change this fast/drastic. Pointing fingers in the direction of those few who did as the cause of the change is also a knee-jerk reaction and unfair to those who made every attempt to detect responsibly within the law.

I purchase hunting/fishing licenses each year, register my car and know a few people who harvest Morel mushrooms by permit through the state but detectorist`s should hide their passion under the guise of
"Shhh, maybe they wont see me"? I don't buy that for a second.

(and yes, many people will be attempting to change this)

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Blacksheep, no one will ever know perhaps. But just to point out that it is possible, and does happen, here's an example of the state parks of Utah's recent tightening restrictions: In an exchange with an md'r trying to clarify some new wording, here's an exact quote from a park's official as to why some new wording was coming down the pike:

"Parks receive numerous calls each year from people wanting to do metal detecting activities within the parks....."

Here's the full text where that came out of: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,173003.0.html

I would also say that persons taking my stance aren't automatically therefore slinking around scared thinking "Shhh, maybe they wont see me?" Yes, if I thought I was doing something wrong, then I might think that way. But that's just the point: if there's not a law on it (silent on the issue), I haven't the slightest feeling of worrying about "being seen". No more so than I would, if, for example, I was using the monkey bars, or any other use of the park.

 

[Blacksheep]

For clarification, the discussion was about state law, county/town/city laws can differ greatly from state and I do understand and appreciate your point. Hopefully we can change this but it will take a concerted effort from not only individuals but clubs as well.