FLORIDA DETECTING/TREASUREHUNTING BAN.....UPDATES!

PLEASE CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE SENATORS AND STOP THIS!

[forum.treasurenet.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2012 01:18AM by seeker41.

[treasureworks.com]

Hi Folks. I have not posted in a while but got this article from my club forum and also from Dick Strouds forum. This looks like a real "suprise" legislation and appears to affect metal detectorists. Here in California a lot of small cities are starting to close parks. I'm not well versed in the move to close the parks as I am usually chasing gold nuggets. Hope this post at least alerts you guys to something that could have serious consequences. John

Cities are much happier with people that throw trash in parks than detectorists who pick up trash. Modern day political logic..gotta love it??

By reading what was posted at Tnet, I surmise that one can still detect in city parks, city owned lots, private property, and maybe schools unless local municipal laws prohibit this explicitly. If the beach is considered State property, then that will really be a bummer since it includes submersed land.

This situation already exists in Kansas and has for some time now. No hunting on state parks yet, hunting in or around state owned reservoirs seems to be ok.

Here is a e-mail cut-n-paste from Jerry Hitson (FMDAC):

Update from Alan Hayes:

The effects of SB 868 have been misunderstood. This bill simply extends current law to areas in which the State currently does not have jurisdiction. The extension is very small in scope in order to cover areas such as those depict. These are pictures of land owned by Lake County Water Authority, a political subdivision/special taxing district created by the legislature within my district. As current law is written, when this type of damage is done to the property, law enforcement’s hands are tied and they cannot take action to enforce preservation of the land or the artifacts recovered. As you can see from the pictures, the bill is addressing unauthorized excavation and exploration on these types of lands.

This bill does not impact private lands, the ability of individuals to use a metal detector on our beaches, or any of the activities these hobby enthusiasts legally enjoy now.

My office has been in contact with staff from detectingrights.com. and clarified what the bill actually addresses. Hopefully, if you belong to that organization, you will be receiving an email soon. I would also encourage you to visit the updated post on their website at detectingrights.com and look at the tab which states items requiring immediate attention.

I understand where some of the confusion on this bill may have originated. The original language of the bill had a drafting error that was caught and corrected during the first committee stop. The bill originally read “any lands” when it should have read “any state owned lands”, so it was never my intent to prohibit anyone from doing anything on their own land. It was never my intention to create overly burdensome regulations, and I do believe in keeping government small, but when I see in my own district where our shorelines are being washed away by someone with a “borrowed” garden hose, or holes are being dug deep enough for someone to stand in, and all this damage must be repaired, I need to take action.

I do appreciate the posts and your letting me know this concern was out there and that word was spreading regarding the potential impact of this bill. Hopefully, I have been able to address your concerns and create a better understanding of what this legislation is all about.


Staff Analysis for SB 868
[www.flsenate.gov]
/Fc8PqfZE=PL=7glAi5D5WcObC2RU74=%7C11/Public/Bills/
0800-0899/0868/Analysis/2012s0868.pre.bta.PDF
News updates from Task Force For Metal Detecting Rights Foundation
[detectingrights.com]

thanks tom. i still think the wording of the bill should be changed to clarify things and prevent it from being misinterpeted /misused and to protect all forms of treasurehunting, detectorists, bottle collectors, beachcombers, divers/salvors etc:
chuck.

Ambiguous wording may be a deliberate intent.

i CONCUR ?

I agree Tom. Ambiguous is always "subject to interpretation" and a bunch of courtrooms and money.

Ambigious wording is very deliberate intent......just from a non-straightfoward angle. That's why its set up as ambiguous.

The noose slowly tightens.

Correct.


................and once a precedence is set (initiated).................

Do any fellow forum members belong to this detectingrights.com . . . organization ???
I don't see but a few states listed and I am concerned about having my contact information
being put on someones spam mailing list.

You can't even contact them without providing too much of your information ???

here are a few things that i have copied and pasted to keep this thread updated.

as a result of recent threats to the metal detecting and treasure hunting communities via SB 868, some good has resulted. One is that the public has become more aware. WFTV did an interview on the subject with some of our Treasure Coast fellows.

Here is that link.

[www.wftv.com]

Thanks to Mitch K., for the submission. He was one of the fellows interviewed.

As he mentioned, they edited out a lot of what he said.

But the big news is that the Florida legislature opened the Bill up for amendments. That would have never happened without all of you making your opinions known.

To sum it up, amendments were offered that would make for a more fair and sensible law. The revised version with the suggested amendments was submitted and will be reviewed next week. The State can then either veto it or make the revisions.

Personnel from the Mel Fisher organization, SEAREX Inc., The Historic Shipwreck Salvage Policy Council of Florida, and others all played key rolls in this, but I doubt this would have happened without the letters, phone calls and support of everyone of you.

This shows you can make a difference when you are informed and active.

######################################################################################################################################################################################


Looks like progress with this bill

Results of meeting:
Pat Cylne posted on FB this:

It was decided that we should have an alternative plan if the Governor refuses to VETO the Bill. A NO VETO from the Governor puts us exactly nowhere. So a plan B was devised. Since a lot of the Bill’s verbiage was based on pre-existing law that could not be changed anyhow, we decided to take advantage of the fact that they, the State, opened this back up to include new amendme...nts. That meant that we also had the opportunity to do the same. However, in this case our amendments would change or strengthen the private sectors role in our industry. We went over every single line of the Bill and revised every word possible that would give us an equal say in the law and how it was administered without the fear of relinquishing due-process. Basically, what we are interjecting is that ‘fair play’ under the State’s pre-existing law (however egregious it already is) should not be denied us.

This revised version was sent to the State just before closing today. They have most of next week to consider it. The State’s options have now become twofold, VETO it or revise it with OUR added amendments. So actually by them opening up these pre-existing laws for amendment it gave us the opportunity to do the same with verbiage that otherwise we could never have included.

The bottom line is that it looks like we have created a win-win situation. First, the State now realizes that WE DO have strength in numbers thanks to all of your contributions, which once again proves that Democracy works when “WE The People” work it. And second, that sometimes even what may look like doom and gloom can be turned into a positive if enough of us believe in what we are doing. Your support has been overwhelming, necessary and much appreciated. Let’s not forget what we can do when we all stick together. More info will follow as it comes in.

Credit for this approach goes to:
Taffi Fisher-Abt, President, Mel Fisher Center, Sebastian, Fl
Jim Sinclair. Archaeologist, VP SEAREX Inc.
Gary Randolph, VP and operations manager Mel Fisher’s Treasure, Key West
John Brandon, Director of the Historic Shipwreck Salvage Policy Council of Florida
Attorney Marlowe White, Tallahassee, Fl.
Special thanks to Jim Smith, who without his political connections, these revised amendments would never had been submitted on time.

Very good..... and informative.

heres the latest good news...............

Pat ClyneThe USSR of FLORIDA

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY...... THEY DROPPED THE BILL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies & Gents, it was through no small effort on ALL of you that Senator Hayes has decided to PULL the Bill.

I just got off of a conference call with the Senator and members of HSSPC. The Senator acknowledged the mass mailings, and said he was grateful that he heard from so many of us and that he would drop not only the bill but he would like to come down to KW for a meeting with our group so that the next time we will be included in any legislation that concerns our interest. I also invited him out for a dive on the Atocha site which he handedly accepted. Stay tuned for more info….. lots more I need to tell ya.

Like · · 58 minutes ago ·

Hey... Alex... the fat lady hasn't quite sung yet!

We have a few more "surprises" in store for the socialist arkeologie community!

P. S. We see the Spains has told the poor Peruvians to "piss off"...
Next they will be telling the heirs - who actually owned most of the cargo
the same thing!....

Ha. ha, yes, the rats are guarding the cheese...
and it appears the Honorable Judge Clarence Thomas is one of them...

This is good news.