Hi Mike and Adam,
great article and info mate's. I can say from an Australian point of view that
we have plenty of areas perfect for hunting but we have the problem of land
owners not wanting hunters roaming around due to public liability issues. Some
farmers/land owners are just simply difficult. We have private and public lands
that have semi or full protection laws inorder to keep plants, animals and
sacred sites protected. For example the Henbury craters, the NT museum in their
wisdom decided that they don't want people hunting around there to find what
little material remains. This has a negative and positive result. Positive
being visitors wont find (hopefully) the craters and rims destroyed by more
digging, the negative being any masses that remain wont be found so quick. When
I vitited the site last year I found areas damaged by hunters. Also the ejecta
array was partially destroyed by the creation of the carpark/road. This damage
was mentioned in Svends and Don McColls Book on Henbury.
Private ownership and owners rights are an extremely important issue and are
the foundation for personal liberty and justice, so I can most certainly see
the concerns people have.
Isn't it funny that big business always manages to get away with what they want
also, guess $$$ talks
A balance and pragmatic approach needs to be found, in all reality if
Meteorites were on BLM land would removing them be a huge impact to the local
environment - offcourse not. Most would be surface or subsurface finds making
up little of the many km's playa.
I am planning on hunting in a national park soon, the local museum and two
scientist already know my intentions. Now if I find something it will be
submitted to the Museum (according to law, another issue) but finding a
meteorite on public land here is not an issue, its actually getting people to
submit these finds. I laugh when the museum says they have had only three
actual finds turned in to SAM and two were well known irons from another
territory. Obviously the people who know what they are looking for don't turn
them in.
So on a positive in the USA you can keep your find but they are saying don't
hunt on BLM land, this will just lead to people fudging find locations and off
setting strewn fields by 50km :) Leading to less accurate scientific data. Is
BLM land off limits to hunting and digging or just human's travelling on in
general?
NWA seems to be one of the last final frontiers for the commoner to obtain a
meteorite to own, so I say to everyone while the going is good buy what you can
from people with lunars and rare types.
I personally can see all western governments becoming more restrictive in
scientific items/ownership. It seems inevitable
Cheers from the soviet socialist republic of Australia
Ian
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