scaupus said:
The fact is, ours is a fringe activity, sort of a little bit of a pirate thing (or like the old Fl keys wreckers) pulling other people's lost valuables out of the ground. On private property, obviously those things belong to the current owner if not the folks who lost the items originally. On public property, it's really the public's property, I imagine, not necessarily available to individuals to find and keep. We just depend on the forbearance of the public and public officials in parks, swales, and so forth - I think the operating rationale all around is that if we don't dig it up, it will just remain lost, and we're not doing any harm beyond removing the lost article.
What we need to do, frankly, like every other group that has a stake in the rules of the game, is to organize and lobby for our interests. Recreational fishermen have done it with great success. Hunters have long had game officials that have a stake in maintaining the sport of hunting - rules enforced by them of course. There's at least one beach here in s florida - matheson hammock - which has been closed to md-ers in the last couple of years. If we were organized, we could lobby to have it opened again. Otherwise, it could go in the other direction, and see more closures.
At last, a voice of reason among the anecdotes. We depend on the forbearance of the authorities - exactly.
There is no public property, per se. It only takes one member of the "public" with a cell phone to end your privilege.
Lobbying IS the answer. Being fringe participants, however, that is something we are sadly deficient at. WE would rather be left alone, believing in ones independent right to pursuits of happiness. Our own motto - "Get it while you can," hurts us.
The public, on the other hand, has a different view. They don't see us as saving history; the self-anointed righteousness we ascribe to is lost on them. They know exactly what we are doing, just as scaupus says. Once they see you as this sort of "fringe," you must defend your actions. Softball players and fishermen are well known, so they are exempt from that. We on the other hand, are looters and parasites in the eye of the public... certainly something other than "harmless."
There is strength in numbers, but our desire to be left alone is our own undoing. The one organization we have, the FMDAC, is a toothless tiger. In my own struggle with local authorities, the FMDAC was not able to provide much assistance. They simply have few resources.
I don't believe it used to be so, but it has fallen on hard times. Membership is hardly mentioned much any more. How many of you even know what FMDAC stands for, without googling it?
What we must do is just as scaupus says, lobby collectively to retain our privileges. Complaining alone, or lamenting about how good it used to be, will see us overrun by the do-gooders of the world, those who know whats best for everyone else.
