[Rockhounds] help w/BLM policy and practices for access to collecting sites

[DonH]

Tim wrote:
> Just a couple quick observations based on my own experience. I ran across a
> similar situation on mixed private/BLM land near Vantage WA. 


Wow, that is very similar to my experience--a wind farm, "guards," and 
attempts to block access.  Thanks for the advice about calling the county.

The blocked side roads look like they had been gated or cattle-guarded 
at one time,  but had recently been blocked with crude wooden fence 
posts bound by barbed wire, and hooked to the existing fence by loops of 
barbed wire.  I considered doing a "right of way transit," in BLM 
landscape tradition, by cutting the wire and closing the fence with a 
piece of chain and a lock when I left, but something didn't seem right 
about the situation and I wasn't sure I'd be justified.

I'll make some phone calls tomorrow.

I found some neat specimens and was toying with the idea of claiming it 
long enough to take a load of material (there were abundant crusts of 
green and blue weathered copper secondaries, which justifies exploring 
it for disseminated copper as a locatable resource), but given all the 
hub-bub around the area, I'm not sure I want the hassle.


Thanks,
Don