[Rockhounds] "list where the knowledge of many is shared freely"

[Tim Fisher]

Not always. The Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta actually 
encourages fossil collectors to dig in some of their active research 
sites. They just don't publish the localities until they author a 
research paper. If it weren't for amateur collectors, many of the 
Cretaceous fossil sites on Vancouver Island (where I collected at an 
active RTM site) would be far less well understood. They even have 
Vancouver Island Paleo. Soc. members collecting, then making and 
staining thin sections from concretions to show the plant materials 
in them. The North Dakota School of Mines asks for help in collecting 
one of their research sites in Oregon every year. You just have to 
express genuine interest and you will sometimes be welcomed; in fact 
usually you can keep what you couldn't otherwise keep (not getting 
specific here because I don't know the BLM's take on that LOL) if it 
isn't important to their research. OTOH, if you sneak in and get 
caught, you can get arrested like these "collectors":

http://tinyurl.com/2lmfyx

And Dave, I challenge you to clearly demonstrate that people can 
collect a site until absolutely nothing is left. The only sites I 
know of that are truly gone are those that were constructed over/shot 
closed/intentionally buried. Others have been lost to floods and 
landslides, but I can't verify that any site that had worthwhile 
material to collect was truly and forever denuded of all material by 
rockhounds.

At 08:05 AM 12/21/2007, you wrote:



>? After reading all the posts thus far, what hasn't been mentioned is:
>some sites are sensitive areas that are still under research by the Geo
>Survey or an university. Those are kept secret until the research is done.
>Also, there is always the fear that someone will take everything available
>and leave none for the next collector. There are sites here in WV like that.
>Dave

Tim Fisher
Ore-ROCK-On!
Email address at http://OreRockOn.com