RJinTennessee
New member
TVA has band all detecting.
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TVA
- Thread starter RJinTennessee
- Start date
Sorry to hear that RJ...Guys, The Tennessee River is a very great place, its southern most point in Guntersville Al is a must for any of you that fish, there are more fish and turtle species in that ecosystem than anywhere else in the Country. In the Winter theres bald eagles, and you'd swear you were in Canada...Its old dirt too, Desoto came through there for Petes sake, and a lot of War skirmishes up and down the river system, old fords and hangouts etc, limestone caves, springs, whatnot, its a clear river coming out of the Appalacian Mtn.s...Its easy to get to, from Chicago on I65 its a 10 hour drive...Google Earth it and have a look..If you want to catch a World class Blue Cat or Largemouth, thats the place to go..cheap places to rent, and the locals dont get out on it after Thanksgiving much at all..The time to catch the next world Record Blue is in Jan, right before they spawn...by damn, I just talked myself into something here!
Mud
Mud
I bet if you researched the origination of such a ban, you would probably find that it's a response to a decade or two of well-meaning md'rs, who go seeking clarifications, inquire as to the rules, etc.... At a certain point, when enough people become a bullseye, it's only a matter of time before some archie begins to "answer the pressing question".
There's an actual example of this in Utah, years ago, where at a certain point, an edict (a policy or whatever) came down to the rank and file rangers of all the state parks there. Like a "memo" detailing the department's stance on the use of metal detectors in Utah State parks. It went on to list dire sounding things. What was most fascinating, was the opening sentences to the letter/memo, telling the reasons for the memo: It started with the introduction something to the effect:
"The Utah state parks dept receives many inquiries each year regarding the use of metal detectors in state parks. The following will serve to outline the department's stance on this practice...."
And it went on to detail severe restrictions. But when you read such an introduction, you have to see the implication, that apparently BEFORE these "inquiries", apparently detecting had just gone on, and no one had cared (barring unless you were a nuisance in some other way). But given enough "inquiries", well gee, we "better pass this by our legal dept, our indian counsel, our staff archaeologist, blah blah blah". And sure enough, you can guess the answer. Sheesk, it's as if we can be our own worst enemy, eh? I bet this TVA thing is probably has similar psychological self-fulfilling roots.
There's an actual example of this in Utah, years ago, where at a certain point, an edict (a policy or whatever) came down to the rank and file rangers of all the state parks there. Like a "memo" detailing the department's stance on the use of metal detectors in Utah State parks. It went on to list dire sounding things. What was most fascinating, was the opening sentences to the letter/memo, telling the reasons for the memo: It started with the introduction something to the effect:
"The Utah state parks dept receives many inquiries each year regarding the use of metal detectors in state parks. The following will serve to outline the department's stance on this practice...."
And it went on to detail severe restrictions. But when you read such an introduction, you have to see the implication, that apparently BEFORE these "inquiries", apparently detecting had just gone on, and no one had cared (barring unless you were a nuisance in some other way). But given enough "inquiries", well gee, we "better pass this by our legal dept, our indian counsel, our staff archaeologist, blah blah blah". And sure enough, you can guess the answer. Sheesk, it's as if we can be our own worst enemy, eh? I bet this TVA thing is probably has similar psychological self-fulfilling roots.
I hunt on TVA land about twice a week at some of the popular swimming areas with no problem. Swimming areas, boat launchs, public camping areas but you can only hunt in unoccupied spaces. The problem arose when some A$%#@^& got a permit for detecting and did not follow the rules. You can not dig in Indian burial sites or any other archelogical areas. Now they no longer issue permits because of a very fewA$%^&#@. Ask the local TVA police and hunt ONLY where you are told and you should be fine. Good luck and HH 
Jason in TN
New member
They are no longer doing permits have not heard of any ban. Need info where you got heard this.
fowlercharles
Member
Hi Tom, I am in total agreement with your thoughts! It is almost always a no win situation for the detectorist who wishes to abide by the common sense/law abiding/best possible whatever method he can, but so long as the laws are all founded and organized by the "wishes" of the Archies"(and that's fact) then any inquiries into matters will usually just give the "authorities" some excuse to excercize their "authority".That alone as you metioned is all it takes to get a shut down. If the authorities were better versed in what the actual laws were it would help.That is certainly no easy task the way the way the laws are written. Some authorities are more knowledgeable, and many/most don't have a clue, and that is much of the problem.Rather than deal with some unknown and trying to solve it, it is easier for them to just shut you down and have you go away, solving their problem. There is a huge difference in the privilages and priorities afforded to hunters and fishermen. I know they have their issues also,and are under attack but overall they are pretty well established with their situation. I am a bit anxious to see what new developments may take place with so many "sportsman" supply/chain stores that are now selling detectors to so many sportsman.I say anxious because it raises my thoughts about those few "sportsmen" (same as some DA detectorist) that do not abide by using common sense habits and go about creating bad situations to be attended to by the"authorities". Most hunters/fishermen in my area do much/most of their "thing" on Wildlife Management Areas, and the hunters especially. That land/areas is positively off limits to metal detectors.I like to see new folks come into and enjoy our great hobby, but times are changing. I believe it is best to get permission with as little attention as possible,if possible, if not, stay out, and wherever you are able to hunt, above all else, Keep a LOW Profile and our mouths shut. Sad state of affirs but that's the way it is. HH Charlie
I just went through the entire TVA website, and found this particular interesting FAQ page. You'll see md'ing addressed mid-way down. And this must be a quite recent addition to their FAQ page, because ironically, other places in their TVA website still allude to the availability of a "permit" to metal detect! They haven't even removed those citations yet! Which is why it appears this "no" answer is the latest thing for them:
http://www.tva.gov/river/landandshore/culturalresources/faq.htm
See there? Enough people asking questions, and by-golly, they must answer it. And what did you expect the easy answer to be? Doh. Oh well, put enough archies on ANY staff, ANYWHERE, and direct enough of these type Q's to them, well ...... then as you can see, it's better that they don't get asked to address this, think of us, etc... The less they see and hear of us, the better. So long as you didn't meet them while they're working on their 4x4 pits, odds are, they were probably desk-bound in some office somewhere anyhow.
http://www.tva.gov/river/landandshore/culturalresources/faq.htm
See there? Enough people asking questions, and by-golly, they must answer it. And what did you expect the easy answer to be? Doh. Oh well, put enough archies on ANY staff, ANYWHERE, and direct enough of these type Q's to them, well ...... then as you can see, it's better that they don't get asked to address this, think of us, etc... The less they see and hear of us, the better. So long as you didn't meet them while they're working on their 4x4 pits, odds are, they were probably desk-bound in some office somewhere anyhow.
TVA land is govt land and is covered by the ARPA law. If you get caught digging on TVA land you can be charged with the same penalty as if you went to Gettysburg and and started metal detecting on Little Round Top.
It was only by their being nice, that they issued detecting permits for swimming and camping areas...but they made sure to note that it didn't give you permission to relic hunt and such on TVA land. In Tennessee they practically own every waterway and the land on the banks of the rivers. Under ARPA, you can't dig or dive for relics...meaning ferry crossings are off limits, and sifting sand bars are off limits, and basically anything else is too.
The reason they stopped issuing permits was because the TVA police division is whom was issuing them. TVA police division is no more....budget cuts forced them to do away with it. TVA now contracts out the guard jobs to Murry Guard company.
It is actually the TWRA that you have to worry about now. They have banned gold dredging in the entire state of TN...effective as of July 27th, 2012.
BTW...under ARPA law, you can't dig for relics on govt land but it clearly says that it does not include relics found on the surface via erosion or whatever. So print out a copy of the ARPA law and highlight that portion of it...if you walk the Riverbank when they drop the water and spot an arrowhead....you can legally pick it up and keep it. Some try to say you can't do that but it is very clear in ARPA that you CAN just as long as you weren't Diggin for them.
It was only by their being nice, that they issued detecting permits for swimming and camping areas...but they made sure to note that it didn't give you permission to relic hunt and such on TVA land. In Tennessee they practically own every waterway and the land on the banks of the rivers. Under ARPA, you can't dig or dive for relics...meaning ferry crossings are off limits, and sifting sand bars are off limits, and basically anything else is too.
The reason they stopped issuing permits was because the TVA police division is whom was issuing them. TVA police division is no more....budget cuts forced them to do away with it. TVA now contracts out the guard jobs to Murry Guard company.
It is actually the TWRA that you have to worry about now. They have banned gold dredging in the entire state of TN...effective as of July 27th, 2012.
BTW...under ARPA law, you can't dig for relics on govt land but it clearly says that it does not include relics found on the surface via erosion or whatever. So print out a copy of the ARPA law and highlight that portion of it...if you walk the Riverbank when they drop the water and spot an arrowhead....you can legally pick it up and keep it. Some try to say you can't do that but it is very clear in ARPA that you CAN just as long as you weren't Diggin for them.