Friday, May 23, 2014

5/23/14 Report - PSL Parks Halts Metal Detecting - Will You Let Our Hobby Be Banned


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

14K Ring Find
Mentioned
Yesterday.

Yesterday I talked about tracking down gold.  Here is the ring that I mentioned being found after following a path of older worn and crusted clad coins.


If we are not careful, metal detecting will not exist as a hobby in the future.  It seems it is always under attack somewhere.  Without a concerted effort by all involved, it will go extinct.

I understand that Brad Keen, Assistant Director of the City of Port St. Lucie Parks and Recreation, recently sent out an email to city park personnel indicating that metal detecting is no longer permitted in any area of the city parks.

One detectorists has been detecting the PSL city parks regularly for some time and is well known to many park personnel but Thursday was suddenly told that he could no longer metal detect in the city parks.  He was allowed to stay but was not allowed to detect.  It seems that there is either a new ordnance or they just decided to start enforcing an old ordnance.

I can not imagine why the city parks would not allow the recreational activity of metal detecting.  It can't be a safety issue because the parks not only allow but provide expensive facilities specifically for much more active and dangerous recreational activities.  Detecting is a favorite recreational activity of many law-abiding mature members of the community who provide many, perhaps unrecognized, benefits by their presence in the parks.

I hope that the city will learn more about metal detecting and the hobbyist who practice it and reevaluate their recent decision. 

Let them know what you think and how important this is to you.  Our governments need to be educated about the extent of the hobby and its many benefits to the "Treasure Coast" area and the state of Florida.   Always be kind, considerate and present and excellent image, if not for yourself, for the hobby.

If the treasure hunting/metal detecting groups can't come together, we'll be watching as our hobby disappears.

While looking into this a little, I ran across crime statistics for the PSL City Parks.  It isn't real up to date, but just a few of the parks were responsible for the majority of incidents.  (See chart.)  Always be aware of your surroundings while detecting.

You might remember the murder that occurred at Sportsman's Park back in 2012.

The last time I was at the beach I noticed broken auto glass on the ground.  Could have been a break in.  I haven't talked about that problem for a while, but as always, be careful.
























Here is an article about a pre Inca site in Peru.



On the Treasure Coast we're going to have a few days one foot surf.  That will make water hunting easy.   Beach conditions will remain poor during that time.  Still, with the holiday and nice weather there will be some new losses on the beaches.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net