Welcome to the Riverside Treasure Hunter's Club!
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2010 MONTHLY FINDS
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NEXT CLUB HUNT
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SPECIAL REPORT: JERRY HOBBS, PUBLIC LANDS FOR THE PEOPLE
Club Historian Bob Crompton arranged a special presentation for our June 2010 general membership meeting. Bob invited Jerry Hobbs, founder and president of the rights-preservation group Public Lands for the People (PLP) to speak to our members.
Jerry began his presentation talking about how prospectors were thrown out of the East Fork by the United States Forest Service (USFS) despite their efforts to keep the area clean and to work with local officials in a positive manner. As a result of the way the prospectors were treated, Jerry said their efforts to help were then turned to fighting the USFS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and similar agencies to preserve the rights of the public to access and use public lands in a responsible manner. Currently, PLP has two attorneys on staff and various researchers in several states (including Washington and Nevada). The issues facing those living in the eastern side of the United States differ from those in the western side.
Most of the current issues faced by PLP relate to mining, but they have dealt with a number of metal detecting problems in the past which resulted in the re-establishment of access for metal detecting County parks in San Bernardino about 14 years ago, as well as more recently in Whittier and Culver City. One of the biggest challenges, he said, was reversing the closure of the entire city of San Augustine, FL by its city council.
Jerry said that about 90% time, people are actually not breaking the law and that agents are simply trying to impose their will upon the person, right or wrong. “People in authority have a tendency to impose their will, rather than the law, on people.”
PLP prints and hands out orange “challenge cards” to assist detectorists and prospectors with collecting information when they make contact with an agency official. These cards, which Jerry had with him, provide spaces for documenting the name and badge number of the agent, their affiliation, the rules claimed to be broken, and how the official treated the person. These cards are intended to be returned to PLP for inclusion in an active contact database.
Jerry then takes that information, determines whether a law was being broken, and contacts the agent and/or their supervisor in an attempt to educate them and straighten things out. According to Jerry, PLP only takes on legal cases that have a broad impact on “a whole lot of people.”
Jerry also said that his organization would also like to know about positive agency contacts. He said that if you have a good experience with an agent, they’ll call up that person’s boss and tell them “what a good job that person’s doing.”
The Antiquities Act in particular has been misused by agents. In particular, four things are clearly exempt from this Act: rocks, mineral (including gold), bullets, and coins. However, if agents see you with a metal detector, you might be bothered or have equipment confiscated. Jerry cited an example in which a lady stopped to ask a Forest Service officer if they could metal detect a certain area and was asked if she had a detector. When she said “yes” they confiscated the detector, impounded the car, and arrested her.
Others get tickets or get arrested when they accidentally walk into or even near a restricted area, without actually detecting. The Antiquities Act indicates that such areas are supposed to be clearly marked to prevent accidental violations. This is not done because agents claim posting signs would actually attract thieves.
PLP is supported by major manufacturers—including the Gold Prospector’s Association of America, White’s Electronics, and Fisher Electronics—memberships (clubs $100, individual $35, and family $50), and raffles.
During the Q&A session, Bob asked Jerry to explain what one should do if an agent “gets in your face.” Jerry’s response was that you should always deal with them tactfully and never argue or make them angry as they can arrest you if they order you to do something and you don’t they can then arrest you for “violating a lawful order” such as to get in your car and leave.
Jerry also discussed about how members have noted an increased number of school access closures (e.g. fences) primarily due to vandals and thefts, which punishes everyone in effect for the deeds of a few.
Finally, Jerry said he thought our club had the best display of metal detecting finds that he’s ever seen.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.plp1.org/
http://www.plp2.org/
ANNOUNCEMENT - WEBSITE $2 CHALLENGE [RESULTS]
In order to promote our website, President Jerry Myers issued a challenge to all members which has now concluded. Any member who went to the Find Blog page and submitted a photo of their finds for publication online won $2.00 worth of Ways & Means Raffle tickets, paid for out of Jerry's own pocket. At the conclusion of the challenge, 12 members (and 1 pair of non-members) had submitted photos.
As he explained when announcing this challenge at our April meeting, its purpose is to help increase member usage of the website and to promote the activities of the club and its members by showing more of the interesting items we find. Anyone who has not yet received their tickets can pick them up the next time they come to a general meeting.
Please feel free to continue post messages on the Finds Forum about your latest finds, places to hunt or items for sale, and to check out the latest photographs from our Monthly Finds competitions and Club Hunts.
Special thanks to the following members who uploaded at least one photo and qualified for free Ways & Means tickets (♦ = received):
- Leo Aranza
- Wayne Burke ♦
- Chris Moore ♦
- Bob Bowes
- Rick Aveni ♦
- Richard Alaniz ♦
- Bob Crompton ♦
- Ken Vargas ♦
- Pete Petrzilek
- Rob Fabry ♦
- Kara Jones ♦
- Sabrina Myers ♦
CURRENT EVENTS
Bay State Coin Summer Show, August 6-8, 2010 (the weekend before the 2010 ANA in Boston, MA (the largest coin show in New England for the last 40 years). The National Collectors Association of Die Doubling (NCADD) member Tom Kalantzis will host the NCADD table during this show. Location: Radisson Hotel Park Square, 200 Stuart Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA.
North County Monthly Coin Show 2010 Schedule: 2/14, 3/7, 4/18, 5/2, 6/13, 7/11, 8/1, 9/12, 10/10, 11/7, 12/5 (all Sundays), 9 am - 4 pm each day Embassy Suites Hotel, 3100 Frontera Street, Anaheim CA Info/Questions: Jerry Atkinson (562) 225-2166 free admission, free parking, free gift for all Juniors (16 and under), free prize drawings, 30+ coin/currency/exonumia dealers
Snyder's 37th Annual Valley Springs Pow Wow September 2, 3, 4 & 5, 2011 (Labor Day Weekend) Valley Springs, CA in Calaveras County see www.valleyspringspowwow.comfor details or contact Diana, Betty, Jeannene and Shirley at snyderspowwow@sbcglobal.net
Please send announcements for publication to jerrymyers@aol.com.
ONE PERSON'S TRASH...
...IS ANOTHER PERSON'S TREASURE
The purpose of this section is to list club members that are interested in items other members find and may not want, besides the obviously valuable coins and jewelry we find. Whether you show your finds or not, the following members would appreciate you donating the following items to them with no strings attached if you would like. If more than one member collects a particular type of item, please consider alternating or splitting finds so that everyone benefits.
| Item Description |
Member Name(s) |
Auto Parts/Emblems, License Plates
& Corner Tags |
Chris Moore |
| Balls (sports) |
< OPEN > |
| Bullets/Shells/Cartridges (not live) |
Richard Alaniz |
| Buttons (all) |
< OPEN > |
| Costume Jewelry (NOTE 1) |
Rick Schramm |
| Foreign Coins: Danish (Denmark) |
Alan Combs |
| Foreign Coins: Irish (Ireland) |
Alan Combs |
| Foreign Coins: Mexican (Mexico) |
Jerry Myers |
| Foreign Coins: any |
Jerry Myers (for his brother-in-law) |
| Indian Artifacts |
Alan Combs |
| Keys |
Twila Ives |
| Lead |
Carl Johnson (ON HOLD per his wife) |
| Marbles |
Ken Vargas
Alan Combs |
| Old Bottles |
< OPEN > |
| Pressed Pennies (or any pressed coins) |
Korry Myers |
| Scale-Model Farm Equipment |
Jim Fuller |
| Square Nails (old nails) |
< OPEN > |
| Tokens |
Jerry Myers (for his brother-in-law) |
| Toy Cars (all) |
Chris Moore |
| Toys, not otherwise listed |
< OPEN > |
| Tweety Bird items |
Twila Ives |
(1) Any jewelry or like items that do not have sharp points. These are for my daughter's 1st grade class treasure chest.
NOTE: This list was last updated on 07/05/10 to include additional information from members collected at the July 2010 general membership meeting.
Please send updates to jerrymyers@aol.com.