i am confused, i cant find any laws on metal detecting

[politcalmatrix]

i am a bit confused .... i have read all over on many different sites that we should check the local laws about public lands and historic lands and always get writen permission for private lands if at all possible, i have been digging and digging and diggin into wyoming local laws about that stuff and cant seem to find anything about it at all. my question is where should i be looking, i have emailed the outdoors council of wyoming, the bereau of land management, and even looked into the local legislature today and have had no luck on any of this stuff. am i lookin in the wrong place? is it state or federal laws that i should be lookin at? and what happens if by some unearthly chance i beet the odds and find an old train robbery cache burried some where? (not that it would ever happen). do i get to keep it or do i turn it in, my good side says call the local authorities or historical society or sompin like that , my bad side says keep it hush hush and sell to a collector ,,,,,,, heheh, well it prolly the same with all , but my main confusion is where do i look for the laws and bylaws and stuff.

 

[leesumm]

: politcalmatrix:
I have been doing an lot of reseach and asking questions on here like you on the same subject. Where I live I have a lot of National Forest and state land here with some private. From what I gather and the responses on emails sent to the US Forestry office in my district. There isnt a clear cut rule for using a metal detector in the National forest. What is defined is the digging and excavating . You cant disturb the natural habitat of the earth to cause errosion or disturb the wildlife. Its illegal to dig on Indian grounds, on historical sites marked or otherwise, you cant dig on archeological surveys etc. ON private ground its best to find the owner , ask permission, around here just about everyone is willing as long as you dont dig big holes. I have found a couple of rodeo arenas I hit sometimes. Some fairgrounds. The public city park etc. Some cities dont mind you using a MD but you cant dig , I have posted a link several times on here for a web site where you can search by state , city, county on areas you might consider then print a map to those areas

 

[dirt jockey]

Because of the technical times in which we live, I do all of my research on line. In google (or your preferred search engine) type the name of a city/town you would like to hunt. You will often get the city website. On their website they will list the various departments. Click on the Parks and Recreation. From there you can usually locate the city code and ordinance for the parks. If there are codes or regulations regarding metal detecting they will be listed there.

Another way to approach it is; type in the State you live and the words "metal detecting". This will usually bring up information on the metal detecting regulations for that State. Keep drilling down until you find what you are looking for. In Oregon and Washington (where I live) there is a list of State parks that allow metal detecting. It is as simple as going to the Ranger station at the park and filling out a simple form. They will sometimes provide you a map that allows metal detecting only in certain areas of the park.

Schools will usually have a sign if metal detecting is prohibited. If I don't see a sign I hunt. Do NOT hunt during school hours, fill your holes, remove trash. I've never had any problem with schools. Private land requires talking to land owners, explaining what you would like to do and getting permission, it is good to get written permission in the event you are questioned by anyone.

 

[frankp]

Please visit this link Metal Detecting Laws at my website for information on State laws.

Frank

 

[politcalmatrix]

thank you frank, your post was most helpfull, i tell ya i have tried everywhere i could think of , from the national parks and recreation, to the bureau of land management, national forest service (by the way the nfs of colorado did tell me that was ok for 3 in holes and such) . but i have to tell you that the area i live in is not really heavy with national forests as you would know them, but we do have many ghost towns, now from the research i ahve done , wyoming is not an area that is rich in gold, maybe oil, but a lot of these ghost towns we have near me were form from the old railroad days, they mined a lot of coal and such, now there are a few miths here from butch cassidy and his gang, about hidden caches that have never been found, i do know that he spent a lot of time here in my town in his time even tryed to rob the bank here but dint get it done. I am still researching the ordinances and "laws" here in my area, ( after all not much i can do with all this snow hangin around) i figure i have the time.

just wanted to thank you for your post
just like a good bbq, keep it low and slow

 

[tbirds1976e]

Hello politcalmatrix , what part of Wyoming are you from. I'm from Cheyenne but now live in Nebraska. Always good to hear from Wyo.