Help with Florida laws on metal detecting

[skip_fla]

I was out detecting on the beach yesterday afternoon, in about knee deep water. I get a tap on the shoulder, turn around and there was the life guard. He told me that at one of his meetings a few weeks back that it is now illegal to detect in the water any ware within the state of Florida. I tried to explain to him that I was aware of it being illegal if I were in within 3000 feet of a ballast pile of one of the leases. However where I was at is at least 5 miles from the nearest lease. So my question is did the laws change. If not can you give me a link to the law that says that it is legal to hunt in the water. The life guard said that this beach is his regular beach and he would like to see the law that says that it is legal. If I could show him maybe he would let other life guards know.


PS: For those that know Florida I was at Pepper Park Beach North of Fort Pierce.

Thanks Skip
HH

 

[Bottomfeeder]

n/t

 

[allhuntedout]

Call their office and one of their aides should be able to run this down for you and send you a copy in the mail within a week. Remember this is your representative, and they work for you.

By the way, you're taking the right approach here and respecting the lifeguard (even if he's wrong), not being confrontational or argumentative, and I appreciate that.

 

[allhuntedout]

n/t

 

[allhuntedout]

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Welcome/index.cfm

but I did not find anything referring to metal detecting or metal detectors on beaches. Department of Natural Resources or whoever runs the parks can make thier own rules too, so you may want to contact them.

 

[allhuntedout]

http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/archaeology/underwater/finds/metaldetecting.pdf

From a search at http://www.myflorida.com/

 

[therick]

I hunt several beaches with lifeguards and nobody has ever said any more than "findin' anything good?" More than likely he heard someone say something referring to one of Mel Fishers leases and he interpreted it to mean the entire state. I think that I (and this is when my "type A personality shows itself) would have let him call the cops and it would have been settled once and for all. The only thing the cops would have said is that is ok for you to be there or he would've explained why you couldn't be there and asked you to leave. At least you would have some sort of closure for yourself and the lifeguard. Then I would have thanked him and asked him to keep his tree huggin liberal B.S. opinions to himself. therick (people like that really tick me off)

 

[therick]

Hard for me to let someone else's opinions dictate what I can or cannot do. If you can back it up, I'll graciously apologize and excuse myself. Of course I'd be smiling the whole time I was disagreeing with him. :blush:
therick

 

[tank]

florida has discontinued the isolated finds program, makeing illegal to remove 'historical' atifacts from lake,rivers and within 3 miles of the coast. see this link: http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/underwater/finds/

 

[Bowtie41]

According to this,it still may be safe from the toe of the surf to the waterline.The language is so vague: http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/underwater/finds/metaldetecting.pdf


Maybe somebody with larger grey matter can help.

HH


Kirk