New rules for hunting meteorites Options

[Woody]

Looks like the Feds are stepping up and placing restrictions on collecting meteorites. I recognize the interest and benefit science might have but the way I interpret this means more regulations placed on our public lands and activities. This might be a bit of a rant on my part but I hate all these rules and regulations on our public lands. I am reminded about the last time I was in the California N.F. I wanted to spend a couple of days in the back country camping. I found out that I needed a permit in order to even have a campfire. Here is another extreme, I was in Germany a few years ago and got an annual fishing license. It cost about 100$. However, if you actually wanted to use it you had to go down to the county court house before the last business day, and pay an additional cost for each and every day you planned on fishing. It was about 10$ extra per day.

This kind of suggest the same thing, you can’t go out hunting meteorites unless you buy a permit.



http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/15/...intcmp=features

[Gene Kooper]

Clay,

I must say that I am surprised by your unwillingness to support your bald assertions. I waited a while to respond in the hope that you would add some meat to those assertions.

You state that Barringer is THE mining law expert. I only challenged you because you failed to support your assertion. On other forums that I post to, it is customary to support one's opinion/assertions. I find your reply to not be supportive of your positions. Instead of including links to back up your assertions, you throw out red herrings like U.S. Presidents thinking that Mr. Barringer is THE expert because he and Teddy Roosevelt founded the Boone and Crocket club. GEEZ, how does that support him being annointed by you as THE legal expert in mining law? Also, you assert that he is CLEARLY THE expert on lodes vs. placers without any specific cites or links. Here are a couple of nice, succinct articles in "The Mining Reporter which was published weekly in Denver on what constitutes a placer. The authors must be incompetent or nitwits as they never once mention Barringer.

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It is usually customary to provide links and references that directly support one's opinion, not a general link to the library of a past President or Ivy League school. You may find this odd, but I have no interest in being your research assistant. If there is something in one of your links that supports your position then it is your task to provide it, not mine. Remember, I'm the one not buying your bald assertion. BTW....I'm shocked, shocked I say that you didn't include the link to the Library of Congress for completeness!

I did not state in my reply that I find Mr. Lindley to be THE legal expert in mining law. I provided him and several others as authors of mining law treatises, horn books, digests and mining reports. Each of those authors have their strengths and weaknesses.

Oh, and one other thing, it is obvious that you think highly of Barringer. I mean, according to your mostly fact free reply he was also an accomplished surveyor. I will call bull on your fable that, "he was also an accomplished surveyor....performing PLSS ground surveys in Arkansas". The term "PLSS ground surveys" is a fiction; there is no such thing!

Since this forum is predominately about prospecting in Colorado, may I suggest as a reference to others Robert Stewart Morrison's horn book on mining law. Several editions are available at Google Books. Mr. Morrison published 15 editions of his book from 1874 through 1917. His son and son-in-law published a 16th edition in 1936. Mr. Morrison began his legal practice in Georgetown, CO and later moved to Denver. His horn book on mining rights includes the local mining customs and state statutes for Colorado and show the evolution of the mining laws, regulations and customs (primarily for Colorado). Here are three editions available at Google Books.

Morrison's Mining Rights 1881 Editiion
Morrison's Mining Rights 1905 Edition
Morrison's Mining Rights 1910 Edition

Mr. Morrison also compiled 22 volumes of Mining Reports. The compilation is organized alphabetically, so it is not always easy to find particular cases. With a bit of patience one can find all 22 volumes of Morrison's Mining Reports on Google Books. Here is a link showing several of the volumes available for download.

Morrison's Mining Reports Volume List

Until recently, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation had free access to an index compiled by Don Sherwood on Morrison's Mining Reports. Don Sherwood is a retired mining attorney who I have worked with in the past. His index is very helpful. One thing that Mr. Sherwood mentioned to me is that R.S. Morrison usually listed what he regarded as the most important case first for each topic. Each volume has a "Table of Headings" for the topics included in that volume. Hopefully, the RMMLF will consider making those web pages available again in the near future.

Mr. Morrison was a respected mining law attorney. Here is an example of a letter he and his son-in-law, Emilio DeSoto wrote in, "The Mining Reporter". Folks may find it an interesting read regarding an old Land Office policy that was called an, "evil foisted upon the mining industry"!

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