CompuServe Thread

Hi, Nathan– The new USFS chief (assuming the same address as was given for the previous one) is: Jack Ward Thomas Chief (5300), Forest Service, USDA, P.O. Box 95090, Washington, DC 20090-6090 Other than him, any and all Congressmen should hear about the proposed regulations that could stop all mineral collecting on vast lands, I figure. I wonder which has the most weight to an official receiving many letters: many copies of one particularly well-thought letter, or a lot of different letters all expressing the same concern about the regs? Anyway, for a starting point, here is what I have sent; any and all are invited to quote from or paraphrase it in writing the officials yourselves. Did I miss anything? I cribbed the NAS stuff from an ALAA newsletter. –Doug Dear Chief Ward: I am upset by and opposed to the regulations of mineral and fossil collecting on U.S. Forest Service lands proposed in the Federal Register (Vol. 59, No. 32, pp. 7880-7892, Feb. 16, 1994). These rules would effectively ban mineral and invertebrate fossil collecting on large amounts of land. There is no need for such a broad restriction, and it will harm the causes of science and education. While some specific sites and types of fossils may need protection, most types of fossil and mineral specimens are effectively inexhaustible and will be pulverized by the elements if not collected soon after they are exposed by the elements. Their removal by any but the largest-scale commercial operations rarely makes any significant change to the landscape. Amateur collectors help scientists by rescuing specimens from destruction by the elements, and often bring the more interesting ones to the attention of scientists. Paleontology, mineralogy and related sciences owe a great many of their discoveries to this unpaid army of finders and sorters. This army will shrink, and become less able to recognize the scientifically valuable finds, if too many collecting sites are taken from us. Amateur collectors often are happy to make their expertise and collections available to children, schools and anyone interested in learning about them. There will be fewer and poorer collections to show, and much less opportunity to obtain expertise, if too many restrictions are imposed on us. While commercial collectors may sometimes cause noticeable damage to public lands and sites of scientific interest, please remember that they make specimens available to those unable to collect (the aged, the infirm, those far from collecting sites, those who do not know where and what to look for). They made it possible for my grandfather to buy me a collection of minerals when I was young (he knew little about minerals himself), an important starting point in my lifelong interest in the sciences. That collection would have been more expensive and contained less variety (perhaps causing him to choose something else) if commercial collecting on public lands had been banned. Children learn more from specimens they can own or at least handle daily than from those behind glass in a museum visited maybe once a year. Push this matter too far, and you may find paleontologists and mineralogists on the endangered species list while depriving many children of something more worthwhile to do than watch TV. To require licenses be obtained is to hamper the collector and expend government manhours. Without rules specifying that a license must be issued under reasonable circumstances (and a clear definition of those circumstances) and/or a mechanism for appealing denied licenses, collectors are left to the whims of officials who may be overzealous about protecting the lands or unwilling to take chances with a vague law. An overly aggressive licensing law would sooner or later become as bad as a ban of collecting. Attached you will find excerpts from a National Academy of Sciences report concerning fossil collecting on public lands. These proposed regulations require substantial revision. I strongly recommend that non-commercial collecting be allowed to continue without licenses at almost all locations on public lands (vertebrate fossils and perhaps other special types excepted), and that reasonable conditions under which a license must be issued for commercial or special site/type collecting should be set forward. Yours truly, Doug Mitchell cc: USFS Chief Thomas, Senator Boxer (CA), Senator Feinstein (CA), Rep. Cox (CA), President Clinton <<continued>>

<<continued>> From the NAS REPORT "Paleontological Collecting" National Academy of Sciences Committee Report – 1987 Statement of Principle "In general, the science of paleontology* is best served by unimpeded access to fossils and fossil-bearing rocks in the field. Paleontology's need for unimpeded access is in sharp contrast to the prevailing situation in archaeology. In this report, 'access' is defined to include all collecting and removal of fossiliferous material for study and preservation. Generally, no scientific purpose is served by special systems of notification before collecting and reporting after collecting because these functions are performed well by existing mechanisms of scientific communication. From a scientific viewpoint, the role of the land manager should be to facilitate exploration for, and collection of, paleontological materials." ***** The recommendations section of the Committee's report ends with this statement: "By urging a simplification of routine regulatory procedures, the Committee hopes and expects that its recommendations will be an important step toward helping those charged with management of public lands. With the implementation of our recommendations, the land manager will be able to devote more time to those relatively few cases where regulation is both necessary and desirable. And the science of paleontology will be advanced by eliminating much of the unnecessary complexity of the present (and proposed) regulation of fossil collecting on public lands." * "Fossils have a broad geologic significance and their study is important to other subdisciplines of geology as well as to paleontology, e.g., stratigraphy, sedimentology, sedimentary geochemistry. Therefore, when this report speaks of the needs of paleontology and the best interests of paleontologists, the intent is to include all the disciplines and scientists who need and use fossils in their research." ***** TEN RECOMMENDATIONS From the 1987 National Academy of Sciences Committee Report titled: "Paleontological Collecting" Recommendation 1: A uniform national policy on paleontological collecting should be adopted by all federal agencies. Existing statutory authority is adequate for implementation of such a policy. Recommendation 2: Each state should adopt a uniform paleontological policy for state-owned lands. Recommendation 3: All public lands should be open to fossil collecting for scientific purposes. Except in cases involving quarrying and commercial collecting, collecting fossils on public land should not be subject to permit requirements or other regulation. [this recommendation would not apply to National Parks, where permits would still be required for collecting.] Recommendation 4: Fossils of scientific significance should deposited in institutions where there are established research and educational programs in paleontology. These repositories will ensure that specimens are accessioned, maintained, and remain available for study and education. There is no justification for requiring that fossils be deposited in an institution in the same state in which they were found; such requirements discourage paleontological research. Recommendation 5: Commercial collecting of fossils from public lands should be regulated to minimize the risk of losing fossils and data of importance to paleontology. Permit applications must be subject to review by paleontologists qualified to assess the projects' potential impact on related research programs. Applications must receive the endorsement of a paleontologist who is willing to supply guidance to the commercial operation. Specimens deemed to be of special scientific interest must be deposited in a public institution, such as a museum, college, or university. Recommendation 6: Private landowners should follow the guideline that commercial collecting of fossils be undertaken with thorough scientific oversight to ensure that the scientific usefulness of specimens is not impaired. Recommendation 7: Blanket paleontological inventories, mitigation, or salvage activities should not be undertaken, funded or required by government agencies as a routine part of environmental assessment, impact analysis, permitting, land management, or similar programs. Recommendation 8: Land managers or developers who require scientific guidance on perceived paleontological problems should initially seek advice from the U.S. Geological Survey, or appropriate state geological surveys, which in turn may wish to contact appropriate paleontological organizations. Recommendation 9: The Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the professional paleontological community, should identify and evaluate potential paleontological localities of national significance (both on public and private lands) for designation as National Natural Landmarks (NNLs), pursuant to the existing National Natural Landmark Program administered by the National Park Service (36 CFR 92) Recommendation 10: The paleontological societies of the nation should develop permanent and broadly based educational programs to inform landowners and commercial and amateur collectors of the research needs of professional paleontologists.