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Select Here to View the MDHTALK's March News Brief in Adobe .PDF
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| March 2019 | Metal Detecting Hobby Talk News Brief Volume 9 Number 108 |
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Support The Hobby I would like to point out to the News Brief readers that there are a number of organizations taking on the challenge against various types of legislation dealing with metal detecting and gold prospecting. MDHTALK's recommendation is to visit their website and give strong consideration to joining the fight. In some cases your support may be to send emails and / or write a letter to specific legislators or to provide funds to help with the fight. Here are the organizations and a link to their website. |
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MDHTALK News Pages U.S. & W.W. News U.K. News U.S. Archaeology U.S. Legislation W.W. Meteoritic Other Media MDHTALK Article Links Return Stories MDHTALK Find a Club Read Newsletters FaceBook Clubs MDHTALK Event Calendar March |
What is a News Brief? The news brief provides a brief look into any news event. The intent of the news brief is to provide you, the reader, with news clips on what was taking place in the hobby last month. To read the whole story select the Article Link or go to MDHTALK.org. There are more news stories placed on the MDHTALK website for February the news stories listed in the MDHTALK News Brief are just a portion of all the hobby related news reported the past month. The news Brief is now available in Adobe PDF format, there is a link at the top of this webpage. The news brief is no longer emailed; it is only available on the MDHTALK website and can be downloaded. The Website's featured article for this month is: Recreational Metal Detecting on the Endangered List Download to Read this Article Metal Detecting took form in the 1950-60s and the detectorists who were metal detecting at that time had very few restrictions and the finds were fabulous. Metal detecting during this period can be described similar to being in the old west with open ranges and anything goes. The finds stories from those in the hobby during that period are hard to believe against today’s detecting results. So is Metal detecting on the Endangered List? Let’s take a look at the barriers and variables that affect the hobby. Is Recreational Metal Detecting on the Endangered List? ---Next Step Download to Read This Article  Introduction.
This article is a follow up to Recreational Metal
Detecting on the Endangered List? YES
Each year there are more direct or indirect barriers to recreational metal detecting. The result is that these barriers make detecting more unlawful in the U.S. There probably are no silver bullets or break though solutions to change this environment; just hard work by those dedicated to preserving the hobby. This article (Next Step) will be centered on Figure #1 which highlights the Recreational Metal Detecting Community and the Metal Detecting Supply Chain. Try to keep Figure #1 in your thoughts and refer to it from time to time as you read this article. A very important negative aspect of the hobby is that the Recreational Metal Detecting Community is very fragmented. There are no cohesive alliances between the four major sections of the metal detecting community (Figure #1). Another important missing attribute is the lack of any outreach program to bring detectorist, clubs and associations together. There are a couple of cohesive detecting state associations but they are the exception. Developing a state association in any state should be a very high priority since they fill a communication vacuum and offer the best avenue to a cohesive strong and supportive state metal detecting community. Fragmentation is very apparent between area clubs and the individual detectorist. Clubs generally have no contact with other clubs except though an occasional metal detecting event. Most clubs have no outreach program to get individual detectorist to join their club. Individual detectorist feel that they do not need to be associated with any organization since they may prefer to metal detect alone. Belonging to a club or organization will not inhibit an individual detectorist desire to metal detect alone but club participation does offers many advantages and opens new opportunities for the detectorist. |
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General U.S. and World Wide Hobby News
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Other News Sources
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LINCOLN – Would you allow someone to hunt for metal on your property? The response from many people is “no,” says Nathan Matthews, of Lincoln. “I always ask permission, but it’s starting to seem like less and less people are OK with metal detecting,” he said. “It’s starting to become a major issue. More and more people look down on it now.” Matthews, who runs Rhode Island Relics, a licensed and insured metal detecting group running annual events in the area, feels squeezed out of the town and state that he calls home, no longer welcome to partake in the hobby even on public lands. He said he was first asked to stop metal detecting on the properties abutting the Chase Farm Park this fall, and was then booted from Lincoln Woods State Park shortly thereafter. Most recently, he said police officers asked him not to return to a spot he had been detecting near for years because he was passing through private property. Matthews believes that under state legislation, a “no trespassing” sign must be posted on public land not owned by a land trust, otherwise someone can metal detect there (excluding residential properties, which require the owner’s permission). For their part, members of the Lincoln Police Department say they have made no official directives regarding metal detecting. Capt. Philip Gould, the department’s public information officer, said there’s nothing on record prohibiting metal detecting on public property as long as detectorists obey local ordinances and avoid digging up the town’s sports complexes. “Unless they’re metal detecting after hours or damaging property, we have no problem with it,” he said. “I don’t see a public danger with metal detecting as long as you’re abiding by local ordinances and being respectful of private property.” The Lincoln Police Department doesn’t have jurisdiction over Lincoln Woods, which houses Rhode Island State Police barracks. When asked for comment, state police directed questions to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. A spokeswoman for RIDEM noted the law regarding metal detecting in state parks and management areas mandates that metal detectors or other location devices be “restricted to designated areas during specified time periods.” |
Matthews, who has been asked to cease detecting on certain lands by RIDEM, said
detectorists should be working with RIDEM, land trusts and local historical
societies to recover “the history in the ground.” Instead, “they want it to stay
lost in the ground forever,” he said. “We just want to find the history for them,” he said. “It’s not about making money or finding treasure. A one-cent piece isn’t even worth a penny at this rate. You may find a coin but the value is virtually worthless … but it has serious historical significance.” Matthews said the negative perception of metal detecting is not limited to Lincoln. While he noted that Cumberland’s former Mayor Bill Murray was welcoming and that managers of Franklin Farm never shut their doors to the metal detecting community, the rest of the town is not as welcoming. “Go anywhere else in Cumberland and see what they say about metal detecting,” he said. “It’s all over the state. Now, as a metal detector you’d better prepare to drive three to four hours to find a place to metal detect.” After his group hosted a “seeded hunt” at Franklin Farm last spring, a neighbor called to complain that they’d destroy the landscape. “The reality is, hundreds of people show up, dig proper holes, remove trash and provide a history of the area,” Matthews said. Rhode Island Relics is planning another “Pound the Ground” event at the farm in April. Matthews donates recovered relics to historical organizations or interested individuals. “I don’t need 5,000 buckles,” he said. “If someone allows me to search their property, I always say they can keep what I find. I just want to take pictures for our Facebook page to promote the history.” He said he also collects and properly disposes of bottles, trash and other urban waste in his travels, even disposing of heroin needles recovered from parks and playgrounds around the state. “The thing that’s starting to stress me out is that we’re not hurting anybody. If there was any sort of criminal activity to worry about, it certainly wasn’t metal detecting,” said Matthews. “For some reason people are considering a passion for finding history in the ground criminal activity. It doesn’t make sense to me.” |
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Metal Detecting & Gold Prospecting Events.
Now is the time to start planning and getting your club's 2018/19 hunt information on the web. The sooner it is out and available to the metal detecting community the greater the chance for people to see it and give your event some consideration. Select here to View the Complete Event Details for March Add Your Event Information Here
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