Tom_in_CA
Gold Member
- Mar 23, 2007
- 13,804
- 10,336
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
State beaches & parks
I've been detecting since the mid 1970s. Since I'm close to the beach here in CA, my friends and I hit the beaches all the time, esp. after storms erode them.
When the internet was still a fairly new thing in the late 1990s, "TreasureNet" was the only forum out there (that I knew of anyhow). One day I logged on, and saw that someone had posted a question, to the effect that they were getting ready to vacation to CA, and were wondering if there was any rules or laws they should be aware of. As I read their question, I could see that someone else had already answered it, in the thread. The answer shocked me: the person answering had simply gone to a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States", written by a guy named "Grimm".
Most of our beaches here are state owned (as opposed to city or county), so I read on. There were things like "alert the ranger upon coming and going" "flag all old coins you might happen to dig, with a little flag, and alert the ranger, so they can bring in an archaeologist (I'm paraphrasing), "turn in all jewelry to lost & found", etc.. etc... etc.... Wow, this was all news to me! My friends and I had detected beaches here for 20 yrs. by then, in full view of anyone and everyone, and never heard so much as "boo".
It occured to me that probably the state park beach rangers really don't care less, or have better things to do. Or perhaps they don't even know of that minutia, because it never occured to them (afterall, what more innocent hobby could there be? geeks looking for lost change, eh?). I began to wonder what would happen, if someone inquired, at the ranger kiosk at various state beaches near me with the question "Is it legal to metal detect here?", that the rangers might look it up in their book, and come back with "no". If that were the case, then perhaps after that, those same rangers, who previously had never even given it thought, might see others md'ing, and think "aha, there's one of THEM" and perhaps start booting or severely restricting us?
So I wonder if sometimes things are better left as they are, w/o asking questions and drawing attention to oneself, as if..... something were inherently wrong with you, or your hobby, that you had to ask. Even if they can't find a rule, they may contort something they think applies ("don't disturb the vegetation" for instance). Or they may make a new rule, "to address this pressing issue". Know what I mean?
As for state parks on land, there are several here that I have detected, w/o ever being bothered. They (state park land) seemed to be out-right off-limits, according to Grimm. Once again, it never even occured to us that there was anything wrong with this, to begin with. But as I read that citation in Grimm's book, it reminded me of an incident where some guys were detecting at a particular state park, where they'd never had any issues before. But this one time, a ranger comes by and boots them. It was a ranger that they'd seen previously, and nothing more than a friendly wave was ever exchanged. When they asked the ranger "why?", he only responded "it's the rule". A few weeks later, those hunters found out that a newbie hunter had taken it upon himself to ask at the ranger kiosk "can I metal detect here?". They told him "no". The connection was hard to escape: now that this question was fresh in some bored ranger's mind, THEN he began to notice others, who previously, he'd never paid mind too.
So, what are we to make of this? Is everything we read about that is "off limits" really off-limits? One things for sure: I would always get my advice from within the md'ing community, to find out what the reality is, of a certain area. I would be dubious of asking bureaucrats or rangers, or putting full-stock faith in what I read. Any other thoughts on this?
I've been detecting since the mid 1970s. Since I'm close to the beach here in CA, my friends and I hit the beaches all the time, esp. after storms erode them.
When the internet was still a fairly new thing in the late 1990s, "TreasureNet" was the only forum out there (that I knew of anyhow). One day I logged on, and saw that someone had posted a question, to the effect that they were getting ready to vacation to CA, and were wondering if there was any rules or laws they should be aware of. As I read their question, I could see that someone else had already answered it, in the thread. The answer shocked me: the person answering had simply gone to a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States", written by a guy named "Grimm".
Most of our beaches here are state owned (as opposed to city or county), so I read on. There were things like "alert the ranger upon coming and going" "flag all old coins you might happen to dig, with a little flag, and alert the ranger, so they can bring in an archaeologist (I'm paraphrasing), "turn in all jewelry to lost & found", etc.. etc... etc.... Wow, this was all news to me! My friends and I had detected beaches here for 20 yrs. by then, in full view of anyone and everyone, and never heard so much as "boo".
It occured to me that probably the state park beach rangers really don't care less, or have better things to do. Or perhaps they don't even know of that minutia, because it never occured to them (afterall, what more innocent hobby could there be? geeks looking for lost change, eh?). I began to wonder what would happen, if someone inquired, at the ranger kiosk at various state beaches near me with the question "Is it legal to metal detect here?", that the rangers might look it up in their book, and come back with "no". If that were the case, then perhaps after that, those same rangers, who previously had never even given it thought, might see others md'ing, and think "aha, there's one of THEM" and perhaps start booting or severely restricting us?
So I wonder if sometimes things are better left as they are, w/o asking questions and drawing attention to oneself, as if..... something were inherently wrong with you, or your hobby, that you had to ask. Even if they can't find a rule, they may contort something they think applies ("don't disturb the vegetation" for instance). Or they may make a new rule, "to address this pressing issue". Know what I mean?
As for state parks on land, there are several here that I have detected, w/o ever being bothered. They (state park land) seemed to be out-right off-limits, according to Grimm. Once again, it never even occured to us that there was anything wrong with this, to begin with. But as I read that citation in Grimm's book, it reminded me of an incident where some guys were detecting at a particular state park, where they'd never had any issues before. But this one time, a ranger comes by and boots them. It was a ranger that they'd seen previously, and nothing more than a friendly wave was ever exchanged. When they asked the ranger "why?", he only responded "it's the rule". A few weeks later, those hunters found out that a newbie hunter had taken it upon himself to ask at the ranger kiosk "can I metal detect here?". They told him "no". The connection was hard to escape: now that this question was fresh in some bored ranger's mind, THEN he began to notice others, who previously, he'd never paid mind too.
So, what are we to make of this? Is everything we read about that is "off limits" really off-limits? One things for sure: I would always get my advice from within the md'ing community, to find out what the reality is, of a certain area. I would be dubious of asking bureaucrats or rangers, or putting full-stock faith in what I read. Any other thoughts on this?
