relic dredging

[texan connection]

Does any one know about the laws concerning relic dredging in texas rivers like San marcus or frio??

 

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[ScubaFinder]

Good Question, and not one that I personally cannot fully answer, but I have learned a bit about Texas laws regarding antiquities and shipwrecks that I'll share. Since you said relics, I'll assume this is not a shipwreck, but any shipwreck that is over 100 years old is automatically a State Historical Site (and therefore cannot be touched in any manner), no matter what waters it is in, river, lake, ocean or otherwise.

Also, there is virtually NO land in Texas that is not owned by someone. It is always advisable to get permission from the land owner before hunting any location. If you make a big find without it, it belongs to the land owner, not you. Many court cases have backed this up, even at the federal level. Somewhere on TNET I found an agreement that you can modify and print out, if you have the land owner sign it, it basically gives you the legal right to hunt the property, and establishes a split percentage of anything found.

The next step would be to verify that the area is not a State or National park, if it is, again it's off limits. Lastly, if the area is owned or managed by the Army Corps of Engineers (this is most man made lakes and most areas that are prone to flooding near populated areas) then special permission must be gained.

Third, there are other entities that control access to certain waters, I hunt the Red River up here, and I have to deal with the Red River Authority, a state funded group. Army COE and water authorities are generally pretty easy to get along with if you give them the proper respect. RRA simply asked that if I found something incredibly unusual or a one of a kind artifact, that they get first crack at it. No paperwork was signed, just a gentlemens agreement that if I found something with great historical signifigance, they could put it in a museum, everything else was fair game.

The other side of the treasure hunting game is that if you sell it, it is technically reportable income and taxable at the federal level. This can get you in BIG trouble if you make a sizeable find and don't report it. On the other side, I've heard of guys getting a tax write-off by donating relics to museums and historical societies, so it's a two sided coin.

That might be more than you wanted, and not a direct answer to the question, but that's all I know, and I hope some of it helps you out.

Good luck!

Jason