[meteorite-list] Links to BLM meteorite rules

From: hall at meteorhall.com <hall_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:23:35 -0400
Message-ID: <8d4e4bce15cab29ca14749dba2846776.squirrel_at_emailmg.ipage.com>

Wang, well stated! Thank you.
   It would have been better for the new meteorite collecting rules to
match that of collecting fossil (petrified) wood, which gives a limit
of 25 pounds plus one piece per day, per person (the one piece can
weigh quite a bit) up to 250 pounds per year, per person. Still,
petrified wood collected in this manner and on Federal Land cannot be
sold or traded, which means if I put a little piece of pet wood that I
have polished into a mineral club auction, I'm breaking the law. I'm
quite sure that this silly law gets broken many thousands of times a
year by rock club members all over the USA, as most love to trade
pieces for their collection, and they see nothing wrong with putting a
little polished piece into a club auction where much of the money
generated goes to the club fund, where some of it is used to help out
geology students in college. At least that is what the rock clubs I
belong to do with club funds.
   This new regulation will just make criminals out of meteorite hunters,
if their find is a gram over 10 pounds (hey, I'd love to find an 11
pound meteorite, as I've never found a meteorite anywhere near ten
pounds!) or if they someday decide to sell the find, say when they are
near the end of their life and want to spare family members from having
to clear out a lifetime of rock collecting, and they have a BLM found
meteorite or petrified wood piece in the collection.
   So, another poorly thought out law is "SET IN STONE", pun intended.
Wang is correct! Call and e-mail the BLM to express your dislike of the
new regs. POLITELY ask the BLM to loosen up the regulations, as we
don't need our meteorite, gold, or rock collecting Americans being
fined or going to jail because of a love for their hobby.
Regards, Fred Hall

> Hi List,
>
> Disclaimer: I'm going to play the middle ground on this topic. I don't
> go out and hunt meteorites so it doesn't affect me directly, but other
> similar BLM rule changes have affected me in the past.
>
> Here are the BLM new rules:
> http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/regulations/Instruction_Memos_and_Bulletins/national_instruction/2012/IM_2012-182.html
>
> Here is their FAQ, including why they're doing this:
> http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Information_Resources_Management/policy/im_attachments/2012.Par.65264.File.dat/IM2012-182_att1.pdf
>
> The following is my opinion, having seen similar things happen in
> other collecting areas in the past decade:
>
> -The new BLM rules are essentially a modification of similar rules
> regarding petrified wood and paleontology. They took the weight limit,
> non-selling/non-bartering concept from petrified wood collecting laws.
> -They seem to base some of it on past issues with major meteorite
> finds on BLM land.
> -They are significantly less strict than some other laws, such as
> fossil collecting (absolutely no vertebrate fossil collecting
> allowed).
> -They give people the option of getting a commercial permit (not
> allowed in paleontology at all).
>
> If you want things changed, lobby someone! Most rule change occurs
> because an interested party put the right amount of political pressure
> on (or schmooze) the right people.
>
> Write and talk to your elected representatives. Or better yet, a
> society of meteorite collectors should start a fund to hire a lobbying
> firm with clout.
>
> - Yinan
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Received on Thu 20 Sep 2012 02:23:35 PM PDT