Re: [meteorite-list] Canyon Diablo Hunting and Laws?

From: Alexander Seidel <gsac_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jun 28 17:39:44 2005
Message-ID: <26610.1119994782_at_www36.gmx.net>

> There are various people that are acitively hunting the strewn field.
> This is done mostly at night with ATV's and metal detectors.

Is this for sure? :-)

> John G. noted: There is also the possibility that some meteorite hunters
> are still working in the strewn field even though it is now illegal.

I?ve been at Meteor Crater for three times in the past 20 or so years, and I
found ever more increasing restrictions, as time went by. When I was there
in 1992, I could still make a complete roundtrip hike of the rim (...though
signs said something like "forbidden" even way back then - well, I admit, a
little red in the face now, I did not care, and they did not do me any harm
- nothing but good luck, maybe..). And when I returned a few years later,
the signs seemed to be much more threatening, clear and distinct, as far as
I remember, so I did not give it another try, both for circling the crater
at the rim or performing any searches nearby. But I have heard of people
searching the area, and the "Barringer police" or whatever they may be
called (I really don?t know) very carefully seems to observe everything that
is being performed there. Is this so, or do I have a wrong impression, which
may be outdated by now?

Don?t they observe the area at night? [...just to get back to the top of my
mail..]
 
> Arizona is an open grazing state and the property is checkerboard with
> state and private land blocks....or at least from my understanding. Has
> anyone tried to get a permit to search the state properties?

Hopping from one state square of the checkerboard to the other state square
crosstrackwise, with the help from a GPS reading, avoiding the private
squares? :-)

Almost unbelievable. Dear Arizonian meteorite folks on this list: some more
light shed on this would be welcome...

Best regards,
Alex
Berlin/Germany
Received on Tue 28 Jun 2005 05:39:42 PM PDT