We all think we know what we would do in future hypothetical situations, but we really don't. Your San Andres Wilderness Preserve posit is maybe not such a fair talking point, as it's a terrible logistic problem and its probable outcome is likely heavily skewed towards disaster to begin with. Seemingly, no matter what course of action you took, the deck is stacked heavily, and not in your favor.
Okay, instead, how about this more realistic hypothetical possibility: Mike acquires a very old-looking leather map at a flea market that caught his eye despite everyone else pushing it aside. Mike sees landmarks on it named in Spanish, weird symbols and a date of 1757. Intrigued, Mike finally determines that the map refers to a readily accessible, but little visited string of unimpressive mountains near the New Mexico-Arizona border, the Pelloncillos, just north of I-10 and used only by ranchers and rare historians interested in the Butterfield Trail. Most of the area is BLM land. Mike finds a nice private campsite in the area and starts exploring, taking lots of photos like a history geek would. On the second day, he finds a rock carving identical to one on his map. The map has a moon crescent next to the carving symbol. Mike climbs straight up the hill, toward the sky, and in a very remote obscure crevice sees a cave entrance. He squeezes in and finds 20 bars of 14 carat gold, 30 pounds each. At gross face value, that's $5,000,000. What does Mike do?
(I know, this is not a fair question for Mike specifically, but it might be something for folks who consider themselves treasure hunters to think about. What would you do if you found a cache of riches that would potentially set you up for life, if you kept a low profile? Mike is right - the risk/reward ratio is in play, and it would be up to each of us to figure out our own course of action.)
I will give you my dilemma, but won't swear which way I'd go. HAHAHA
Okay. I have explained this in another thread somewhere else, but I have a mathematical formulae that gives a fair approximation of what you will receive from a legal Treasure Trove Recovery:
First, you have to retain AN EXCELLENT attorney. Remember, even with signed agreements Mel Fisher had to fight about 112 lawsuits from every yahoo that said the only reason Fisher found the Atocha was because of information that person had given him. The State of Florida renegged on its deal with Fisher and tried to take everything. It took a Federal Court to rule that Florida had broken its side of their agreement and Fisher got it all. So, unless you currently have a great deal of money to keep a AN EXCELLENT attorney on retainer, you will have to give up a percentage. Lets say 15% (and that's cheap based on what they will have to do). Now, this EXCELLENT attorney is going to have to negotiate your TREASURE TROVE RECOVERY PERMIT with the GSA (General Svcs Admin) of the United States. The best you will ever hope to get is a 50/50 split with Uncle Obama taking his off the top. You will have to pay for all the recovery and security fees. You will have to pay an archaeologist to assess your site and make sure you aren't disturbing anything historically significant (this will take several months and cost many thousands of dollars). You will also have to come out of pocket for a reclamation bond. When you file your plan of action for the treasure trove permit, Uncle Obama determines how much you are going to disturb the area's natural beauty based on the equipment you plan on using and how much digging you will have to do. Now, when this hits the newspapers, your EXCELLENT attorney is going to have to fight off those leeches that are going to sue you because they all gave you the information you used to find your gold (that's why I say 15% is cheap).
Yours doesn't require a lot of excavation, so that saves a lot of cash.
Here's what you wind up with after:
50/50 Split with USA= $2.5 million
10% attorney = $2.25 million
Recovery $2000 = $1.91 million
Archy Ass. $10,000 = $1.81 million
Reclamation $10,000= $1.71 million
Security $350,000 = $1.36 million (figure two guards @ $20 hr each for a year due to Permit Negotiation and Archy Assessment Time during which the location of your cache is made public)
Incidentals $100,000= $1.26 million
CONGRATULATIONS! You are now in a new income tax bracket for this year!
Federal Income Tax (38%) = $781,000
Ca. State Tax (10%) = $702,900
So, after doing the right thing, your $5,000,000 treasure trove nets you about $702,000. Nothing to sneeze at, but a far cry from $5,000,000.
OR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DO I:
I know several people with LOTS of disposable income. If I want to unload a bunch of gold, I can do it all at once or a chunk at a time. Probably get spot or close for it. Depending on if I can fit into the crevice to recover the bars or if I have to dig out the surrounding area will help me determine how to recover. Am I the only person that knows about this discovery, or am I going to have to shut some people up? I could probably turn that gold into cash and only give up maybe 5%. Now I have about $4.25 million in cash sitting in my sock drawer! God forbid there's a fire or an attempted robbery, and the cops show up only to find my stash. Right away, I am either a drug dealer or a terrorist. If I tell the truth about where I got the money, I lose it all. Anyway, The money gets confiscated, and I have to retain AN EXCELLENT attorney to get my money back.
I want to do this alone for security and $$$ reasons:
*If I am caught removing the bars by bad folks with more guns than me= I lose everything and maybe my life.
*If I am spotted by the wrong people while recovering with no permit= I lose everything. Not only do I lose everything in the cache, but my truck is confiscated. My equipment is gone. Warrants for my home are issued, and years of research, computers, and equipment are taken to help prove their case against me for looting of historically significant artifacts (ARPA Violations). Not only do I lose all that, but I will likely go to jail because I can't afford that EXCELLENT attorney. I wind up with less than nothing of the $5,000,000 cache.
DO I take a safe $702,000, or take a HUGE RISK of losing everything (including maybe my freedom and/or life), and take about $4,800,000 in cash?
Heckuva dilemma? HUH?
Mike