[meteorite-list] US States & Fed Govt Laws regarding prospecting, hiking, ...

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2009 09:43:00 -0500
Message-ID: <e51421550904050743o67e6da4cg80736f9a77f13a3d_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Geozay,

True. I have to agree. It's a pity we don't have a "respectful
naturalist permit" that would allow the people with common sense to
access these areas. Four-wheelers, throngs of hole-digging hunters,
and litter-tossing gawkers would be a bad thing. One can legally go
into some of these areas with a firearm and slay a living creature
with the blessing of the law, but one can't bend down and pick up an
oxidizing piece of natural iron because large numbers of selfish
people ruined it for all of us.

I guess I'll just keep beating my head against the table trying to
make it seem logical. ;)

It's a no-win situation. Either it would be too tightly-controlled or
it would be too loosely-controlled. Each outcome would not be ideal.
The current state of affairs is far from ideal as well, so I don't see
the harm in allowing some change. Perhaps opening up the area for
prospecting by permit only and issue a limited number of permits - as
opposed to the zero permits issued now.

And besides, how many meteorite hunters would come crawling out of the
woodworks and crowd the desert looking for irons around the crater? I
seriously doubt people are knocking down the doors to get out into the
desert and walk around for hours under the pummeling sun looking for
pieces for rust. There are only so many of us crazy enough to find
that idea enticing. I'd doubt we'd see another situation like the one
in our biggest national parks where people are lined up 20 deep by the
hundreds every day to watch a geyser erupt.

Best regards,

MikeG




On 4/5/09, GeoZay at aol.com <GeoZay at aol.com> wrote:
>>>I have to agree with you on Meteor Crater not being accessible for
> prospecting. A person or business should not be able to own a major
> geological feature and deny access and/or use rights to everyone else.
> It's wrong on a deep level. <<
>
> It would be even more wrong for everyone having use rights to something I
> view as being a National Treasure at least. Meteor Crater is just that
> unique
> to be protected from that never ending stream of meteorite hunters. After
> seeing how things that are run by governments get runned down, I'm glad to
> see a
> private enterprise is doing the overseeing. If folks were allowed to search
> for meteorites in and around Meteor Crater, it probably wouldn't take too
> many
> years for the place to look a mess. Trails and dirt roads coming from all
> directions leading to dug out holes all over the place.
>
>>> I guess someone will be purchasing the
> Mississippi River next and telling the rest of us to get our boats out
> of it. ;)<<
>
> Probably not, but if someone did, most likely you'll still be paying the
> same boating fees as before. But I'm sure the government has this river
> regulated already. So we now have inadequate levees, dikes and what have
> you to take
> care of flooding.
>
> GeoZay
>
> **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10
> or
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-- 
.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Louisiana, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Member of the Bayou Region Stargazers Network.
Websites - http://www.galactic-stone.com and http://www.glassthrower.com
..........................................................

Received on Sun 05 Apr 2009 10:43:00 AM PDT