One of the “fun” things about being a rockhound is the
opportunity to join with like-minded persons in a local rock and mineral
club(s). Upon moving to Colorado Springs nearly
ten years ago I attended a meeting of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical
Society (www.csms.us) (CSMS), was greeted
warmly, and shelled out a few bucks to join.
The club usually meets on the third Thursday of the month at the
Colorado Springs Senior Center; see the web site for additional
information. In addition to the monthly
meetings, the club has a number of satellite groups that hold regular or
semi-regular meetings, numerous field trips are scheduled for the summer
months, and an informative newsletter is published ten times per year.
Most rock and mineral clubs in the U.S. belong to one
of the seven regional federations that span the country. CSMS belongs to the Rocky Mountain Federation
of Mineralogical Societies (RMFMS) as do other clubs in Colorado (20), Arkansas
(1), Oklahoma (10), Kansas (7), Nebraska (1), South Dakota (1), North Dakota
(1), Nevada (1), Texas (1) Utah (7), Wyoming (6), New Mexico (7) and Arizona
(17). The Federation holds yearly
meetings with field trips, publishes a newsletter, and a number of committees
works on projects between meetings. See
the website at www.rmfms.org.
In turn, the regional federations belong to the “mother”
federation, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (www.amfed.org).
Their structure is similar to the regional federations—hold a yearly
meeting, publish a newsletter, and support committees working on a variety of
projects.
In the RMFMS I chair the International Relations
Committee, not because of any great expertise in the area but because volunteering
to fill a vacant position seemed a decent thing to do. It has turned out to be an interesting assignment
since I get to correspond with international rockhounds and sometimes am able
to offer valuable (I hope) advice. Last
year I was able to connect a person living in Germany (via Yahoo interpretation
program) desiring Arkansas Novaculite with a dealer in that state. I also was able to help a rockhound planning
a commercial geology trip to the western U.S.
The majority of the questions received are from European
visitors (15 this year) requesting information on collecting rocks, minerals
and fossils in the United States---where to collect. Most people who contact me
have noted my collecting interests shared on these Blog Postings. A few have seen the specimens of amazonite and
smoky quartz at a rock and mineral show and are interested in digging. One
North African wanted to sell me “giant” barite roses. I am somewhat able to
converse with persons requesting information on collecting in the Midwest and
Rocky Mountain states but am generally lost on collecting east of the Mississippi
River. Often the various state geological surveys have collecting information
that I relay to requesters, or perhaps I know of books such as the roadside
series. It is not an onerous job and I sort of like conversing with these
visitors. At any one time 10-20 percent of my Blog readers are international
residents. What that means---I don’t have the slightest idea!
 |
| Fantastic specimens of cephalopods displaying a gemmy finish called ammolite. Collected from Cretaceous rocks of Alberta, Canada (legally). |
The short answer to the collecting question is “no,”
visitors to Alberta may not collect fossils since they are protected under the
Historical Resource Act (HRA). But visitors may purchase fossil leaf
impressions, petrified wood, oyster shell and ammonite shell under some circumstances.
Visitors may purchase these fossils from First Nation
(Native Americans in the states) sellers who collected such fossils on their
Reserves (Reservations). The fossils may then be brought to the U.S. and sold
or whatever. But it would be wise to ask the seller for a copy of their letter authorizing
them to collect, as well as a written invoice. This documentation is great for
getting through Customs.
Visitors may also purchase these fossils from vendors
at trade shows or retail shops. But again, ask for documentation: get a copy
(best) of their disposition certificate received from the Government of
Alberta, or at least record the number of the certificate (not as good).
Most of us have seen ammolite on display and for sale
at major rock and mineral shows here in the U.S. (and probably elsewhere);
therefore, it must be “legal” to purchase---and it is. But I add a small
disclaimer (news to me): ask the vendor for their disposition number (an OK to sell),
their export documents (an OK to export out of Canada) and get a copy of your
receipt. With the purchase and the documents buyers may do what they want with
their specimen.
OK, back to collecting. Neither visitors, or nor even
Canadians, may collect ammonite shells
(baculites, scaphites, belemnites, ammonites [I presume also nautiloids and
ammonoids]) on private land or Crown land without a permit. Canadians may
surface collect other fossils, including petrified wood, on both private and
Crown land [I presume invertebrates only but remain uncertain]; however, they
cannot export or sell such fossils without a permit. It also is my
understanding that visitors to Canada may not collect fossils of any sort, and
one certainly does not want to offer explanations to Customs. And if visitors
do purchase, they must make certain to declare such items at the border. So, my
suggestion is to go sightseeing or fishing in Canada but not to pick up rocks
or fossils or other natural items.
I also found that Alberta does have a number of rock
and mineral clubs:
www.afrc.ca/calgaryfacetersguild.htm
Calgary Faceter’s Guild
www.crlc.ca/ Calgary Rock
& lapidary Club
www.edmontonlapidary.ca/
Edmonton Tumblewood Lapidary Club
www.afrc.ca/lacombe.htm
Lancombe Handicraft & Lapidary Club
www.afrc.ca/medicinehat.htm
Medicine Hat Rock & Lapidary Club
www.rockhounds.ca/
Southern Alberta Rockhounds
A couple of final comments. Last year in Tucson I
noticed ammolite on large cephalopods collected in Montana. This year I saw a
very nice ammonite (with ammolite) collected in South Dakota. In the early1980s
I had an opportunity to participate in a couple of Canadian field trips and distinctly
remember picking up and examining a few baculites scattered across the
landscape. The leader reminded me that I could look but not take them out of
the country. In the late 1980s I flew to Saskatoon for a conference on musk
oxen and reindeer (at that time I was working on fossil musk oxen). At the
Calgary airport cute little furry toy seals were selling like hotcakes in the
gift shop. However, when going through American Customs all of these cute
little guys were confiscated since the original fur bearing animals were on the
endangered or threatened or marine mammals species act in the U.S. And finally,
during my recent fishing trip to Ontario, Canada, two 70+ year old guys with a
week’s growth of beard and traveling in a 15-year-old pickup were detained for
1.5 hours by Customs. The drug sniffing dogs went through the vehicle not once
but twice. The agents had a good look at at our used undergarments and
stinky fishing clothes. They did find a 10-inch piece of a dead fir tree that
was being taken home to be used to turn a custom fishing rod handle. It had not
been declared and was a natural item so was confiscated. Luckily my two pieces
of Precambrian rocks went unnoticed! So, don’t collect the fossils when you
visit the great and interesting country to the north.
 |
| A nice cephalopod from South Dakota displaying color hues of ammolite. |
Disclaimer: the interpretations of Canadian collecting
laws are just that---my interpretations and understandings. Those
interpretations and a couple of bucks would buy you a cup of coffee but would
not stand up in a court of law.
For additional information contact the Alberta Federation of rock clubs at: www.afrc.ca
For additional information contact the Alberta Federation of rock clubs at: www.afrc.ca