Tuesday, June 29, 2021

AFMS & RMFMS ANNUAL SHOW AND CONVENTION, BIG PINEY, WYOMING, JUNE 2021: PART TWO

 This second blurb represents my annual report to:

ROCKY MOUNTAIN FEDERATION OF MINERALOGICAL SOCIETIES PUBLIC LANDS (PLAC) REPORTS 2020-21

MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS IS OFTEN A CONTENTIOUS ISSUE.  THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BELOW IS MY PERSONAL OPINION AND REPORT AS A COMMITTEE/STATE CHAIR.  IT DOES NOT NECESSARLY REPRESENT THE OPINION OF CSMS NOR THE RMFMS.

This his has been an interesting year to say the least. All rockhounds have probably suffered from the effects of the pandemic, perhaps not being ill but suffering due to cancellation of club meetings, shows, other monthly events.  I suspect club memberships have declined and certainly the lack of shows has hurt the budgets.  However, clubs have become quite innovative in trying to keep the members together.  CSMS dropped the membership fees for returning members in 2021, as have several other clubs.  Then amazingly a computer program called Zoom suddenly appeared on the market and not only were companies signing in to Zoom in lieu of business travel, rock and mineral clubs found a way to hold monthly meetings and symposia.  My first attended symposium was in October 2020 when I Zoomed into the annual Desaultels Micromount Symposium held in Baltimore, Maryland; one Hall of Fame awardee gave his talk from a computer in Italy.  I also listened, via cell phone when traveling, to the 2020 AFMS meeting.   Now “Zooming” seems a standard mode of operation.

However, trying to interpret what is going on in the public land arena is much more difficult than Zooming to a club meeting!  This difficulty is more due to a change in administration on the national level than the pandemic. In 2020 it appeared that the energy industry was in charge of public lands while rockhounds and small claim owners were drawing the short straw. One never really knew who had authority over parcels of Federal land!  Was it being “claimed” by the energy industry or could rockhounds actually get on the land and collect?  It was really tough to locate the truth and fully understand what was going on with USFS and the BLM. In addition, the hard working, local, federal employees simply were not getting appropriate information coming down the line. Currently land managers are waiting to learn how a new administration handles public lands.  In my humble opinion there will be less emphasis on opening lands to mineral and energy exploration, and more emphasis on preserving public lands for the people.  Now the big question: what is the place of public recreation on federally managed, and to a lesser extent, state lands?  I view the glass as half full while some of my colleagues view it as half empty and note that rockhounding on federal lands will disappear.  As an optimist I believe rockhounds now have a great opportunity to convince land managers that we are the “good persons” and will be thrilled to work on developing land use policies with a conservation ethos.  Instead of declaring rockhounding on the verge of extinction, I have written the Secretary of Interior, and some of her ranking subordinates, explaining what rockhounds really do when collecting on federal lands.  We are not the persons destroying landscapes, knocking down fences, leaving tire tracks in the mountain tundra, and digging unfilled holes.  Yes, those sorts of things occur with renegade rock and mineral collectors, those looking for a quick profit in the selling of minerals; however, most destruction is caused by persons who have little regard for public lands and view such lands as their personal playground to desecrate in whatever manner they chose.  I have fixed broken fences, and our local club (and most others) are constantly filling holes dug by claim jumpers.  Most clubs have a rule---fill a hole left behind before prospecting.  Shirley Leeson (CA) was a leader in working with BLM to clear trash near Quartzite. And importantly, rockhounds must stay on approved BLM and USFS roads.  Write your congressional members and local federal land managers.  Volunteer to help with decision making about the appropriate land usage.

Two years ago then President Trump signed into law the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S.47, the Dingell Act). The Act was heralded as the single most important and wide-ranging public lands management law to be passed with bipartisan support in over a decade. The Act: • Encompassed more than 100 individual bills; • Permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund; • Created new Federal authorities to assist the Department in managing endangered and invasive species; • Called for increasing access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting; and • Advanced a wide variety of conservation and recreation initiatives for the American people. I had great hopes that the Act would at least rank rockhounding up there with recreational shooting; however, rockhounding did not even get a mention anywhere in the Act (we do not have a strong congressional lobby).  In addition, Interior found ways to skirt certain portions of the Act to benefit persons/companies other than rockhounds. But there may be a ray of light in the Act---it noted that the Secretary shall administer [certain Federal areas] in accordance with the laws generally applicable to the National Forest System. I believe, at last count, that the USFS allows collecting of rocks and minerals with a free use permit, or sometimes without a permit. The big problem is that the USFS (in my opinion) has not formalized any sort of National Forest collecting regulations.  The National and Regional offices, as best I can determine, have left regulations to individual Forests and that has left a state of confusion among collectors.  So, it is critical that rockhounds contact individual Forests for information about collecting. 

Rockhounds first need to examine Forest websites and if they disagree with  regulations, have this information in hand before a personal visit to the office. Collecting fossils is another area of confusion. Collecting of vertebrate fossils on any Federal land is not allowed without a formal permit (essentially you work for a museum and will deposit such collected fossils in a federally approved repository).  Collecting invertebrate fossils on USFS land is, as my mother used to say, a bag of worms.  I have written several articles on collecting of invertebrate fossils and I don’t need to repeat such words in this report.  A fossil collector really needs to visit with the USFS local office to understand what they consider critical fossils or common fossils, and ground disturbance, and shovel size, and the need for a permit, etc.  Formalized regulations of collecting invertebrates on BLM land is essentially “on hold.”  However, make certain to visit BLM websites since many/most offices have decided to construct their own rules but most are not as onerous as the USFS regulations.  Just be nice to the local offices since most workers are as confused as the collectors.  But, you should know details about federal laws and be able to present such if questioned by personnel. 

Last year I spent much time trying to decipher the Dingell Act (try reading the Federal Register before bedtime!!!). This year I am still trying to understand The National Defense Authorization Act that was passed in December 2020 over a then President Trump veto (this bill was mostly in the news due to renaming of military bases). At first glance I was interested in the section on money laundering and antiquities but then decided that the government’s definition of antiquities does not include fossils.  The bill originally included some important proposals regarding public lands. One of these land prioriites was found in Senate 823, the "Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act," which would guarantee the state about 73,000 acres in newly designated wilderness and around 80,000 acres of new recreation and conservation management areas. This section failed to pass due to concerns about the bill's prohibition on new oil and gas development on Colorado's Thompson Divide.

Another conservation priority, the "Protecting America's Wilderness Act," was also not included in the NDAA final bill. The legislation, House Resolution 2546, was a package of six individual bills crafted to protect nearly 1.3 million acres of wilderness and designate more than 1,000 miles of rivers across Colorado, California, and Washington state.  Negotiators also did not approve a House provision that would have permanently banned new mining claims around Grand Canyon National Park.  However, President Biden has endorsed the continued ban on the mining (uranium).Then there is the continued confusion about Grand Staircase Escalante & Bears Ears National Monuments.  Most remember that former President Trump greatly reduced the size of both monuments and created a firestorm. Currently, President Biden has commissioned a committee to examine the issue, and in my opinion, will probably restore the monuments to near the original size. About a year ago a new BLM management plan restored the public’s right to collect rocks, minerals and common non-vertebrate fossils in the land removed from the Grand Staircase Monument (essentially what collecting is normal for BLM land).  If the monument is restored to original size, will these collecting rights disappear?  I suspect they will fall by the wayside. Collecting has never been allowed on Bears Ears National Monument.

In my personal opinion, the collecting of rocks and minerals in this area of the country, call it Four Corners Region, (mostly varieties of silica) has been confused with collecting of Native American artifacts---everything has been lumped together.  If a rockhound was out collecting jasper would they pick up an “arrowhead”?  I can’t answer that question; therefore, it is much easier to simply ban all collecting.  Rockhounds are also often lumped with renegade OHV riders and get blamed for creating new trails.  Rockhounds do not have any sort of a congressional/land manager lobby and therefore, very few decision makers know much about our hobby, nor do they really care.  I certainly don’t have answers to my many questions.  But again, I suggest rockhounds continue to contact land managers and congressional delegations

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