MikeOregon
Sr. Member
- #1
Thread Owner
Hi,
I'm just back from a week at the Oregon coast, where I discovered the following:
1. Even though virtually all Ocean beaches in Oregon are public property, if you want to detect on the beach that fronts a state park, you need a permit. The permits are free, but the bureaucrats have had their fun, as follows--
2. For example, I was staying at a beach cabin in Waldport, about the center of the coastline. If I wanted to explore to the north, I had to go to Newport for a permit, but if I wanted to explore to the south, I had to go to Florence for a permit. There was a state park about 200 yards south of my cabin, but to get permission to detect it, I would have had to drive a round trip of about 60 miles on twisty and heavily congested coastal highway.
3. Only the sandy beaches are covered by the permits. Any detecting in picnic areas, parking lots, etc. is illegal.
4. Even though the permit only covers sandy beaches, it says that the only things you can dig with would be
"an ice-pick, screwdriver, or small knife." So kids making sand castles can legally dig with shovels, but
detectorists cannot!
5. Policy #7 on my permit says that anything I find, (and coins are specifically named) must be turned in to the
park manager and left for 90 days to see if anyone claims them before they become mine.
I am not sure who is writing the rules and laws in Salem, but whoever it is, they are really not very informed. I hope detectorists can somehow band together and have some influence on making intelligent policy. Again, and we cannot say this often enough, it is a few who ruin things for the rest of us. We have a duty and responsibility to insist on ethical detecting practices and to police ourselves so that we do not become part of the group that ruins things for others. It is not difficult to envision a future in which detecting is banned entirely. I hope that companies that make detectors (eg. White's is located right here in Oregon) would also see this as a possibility and that it would raise their level of concern to the point that they begin assisting detectorists in fighting these unfair and downright stupid laws and policies.
Mike in Oregon
I'm just back from a week at the Oregon coast, where I discovered the following:
1. Even though virtually all Ocean beaches in Oregon are public property, if you want to detect on the beach that fronts a state park, you need a permit. The permits are free, but the bureaucrats have had their fun, as follows--
2. For example, I was staying at a beach cabin in Waldport, about the center of the coastline. If I wanted to explore to the north, I had to go to Newport for a permit, but if I wanted to explore to the south, I had to go to Florence for a permit. There was a state park about 200 yards south of my cabin, but to get permission to detect it, I would have had to drive a round trip of about 60 miles on twisty and heavily congested coastal highway.
3. Only the sandy beaches are covered by the permits. Any detecting in picnic areas, parking lots, etc. is illegal.
4. Even though the permit only covers sandy beaches, it says that the only things you can dig with would be
"an ice-pick, screwdriver, or small knife." So kids making sand castles can legally dig with shovels, but
detectorists cannot!
5. Policy #7 on my permit says that anything I find, (and coins are specifically named) must be turned in to the
park manager and left for 90 days to see if anyone claims them before they become mine.
I am not sure who is writing the rules and laws in Salem, but whoever it is, they are really not very informed. I hope detectorists can somehow band together and have some influence on making intelligent policy. Again, and we cannot say this often enough, it is a few who ruin things for the rest of us. We have a duty and responsibility to insist on ethical detecting practices and to police ourselves so that we do not become part of the group that ruins things for others. It is not difficult to envision a future in which detecting is banned entirely. I hope that companies that make detectors (eg. White's is located right here in Oregon) would also see this as a possibility and that it would raise their level of concern to the point that they begin assisting detectorists in fighting these unfair and downright stupid laws and policies.
Mike in Oregon
:P Makes you wonder what they discuss around the table to come up with these ideas. Bottom line is: They don't make it easy for ya, do they! Sounds like you went ahead and got your permit. What did you find that you had to turn over?
-Noodle
