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