Might as well throw my 2 cents in on this one...It depends--I tend to rely on my best judgement. If you're in an area where water is abundant (like Eastern Oregon/Washington) there's probably not going to be a problem. If you're in an area where keeping the turf watered is a problem, there are probably more restrictions. They may or may not be in a code book, but there is enough stuff in the codes so that ANYONE can be arrested at anytime for SOMETHING. (I used to do this sort of thing.) Many places in California, I know, have a no digging or no digging instruments other than a coin popper or screwdriver. Usually there's no problem with "metal detecting"--the problem's with digging. Sometimes I detect without any tools whatsoever--surface scan, if you will. If it's "historical", watch out--I always pass and I would advise caution. Always bear in mind that "asset forfeiture" could be an issue depending on who gets upset. You could lose a detector, you could lose the car you drove to the park in. Rare, yes, but it has happened and it ain't worth it to me for some clad. Schools can be tricky but if the grounds are open, it's more or less public property but the chances of getting the police called are greater. For instance, Sacramento public schools actually have their own police force and they have plenty of time, especially in the summer, to respond to calls and hassle you if they feel like it or if you piss them off. In fairness, most cops are just curious and okay as long as you're not destroying anything. BTW, it's my experience that big city cops are too busy to mess with petty crap like a coinshooter. The smaller the town, the more likely the cops are to show up. So I tend to be more careful about asking either the cops or city hall or the park dept. before I go. I've never bothered with trying to get something in writing--if the cops show up I just say I checked with Parks over on Fir Street or at city hall or whatever and they said it was okay. If the cop wants me to split, I leave. And I'm always unfailingly polite and I don't argue. Ditto with parks employees. (The worst A** I've ever run into was a grounds maintainance guy in Utah. It was truly pathetic--but he got to vent all his frustrations and be a big shot for five minutes.) To me, it's all about risk/reward. How much will I risk versus possible reward? Also, I never, ever use an expensive detector unless I'm really confident in where I'm at and my right to be there doing what I'm doing. Use proper recovery technique, leave things as you found them, and use some sense. One final note: I recently stopped in a town and FINALLY found the parks dept (the computer map printout showed the office on the other side of town). I went in and asked the young lady at the desk if it was okay to MD. She said, "I think so. I'll check with my boss--I know he does it." She checked, it's okay. HH.
