The Prospecting Trip

There is a gentleman prospector who is a retired school teacher and lives in Nevada. We shall call him Ed. Ed is a soft-spoken, elderly gentleman and some may even say he is rather meek. In 1995, Ed was to find out just how threatening and unjust a government agency could be.

On November 30, Ed decided to take his metal detector up into the Sierra Nevada range and do some prospecting for gold. He stopped his pickup at a wide spot on the road . He could hear chain saws and could see heavy equipment dragging uprooted trees (and tearing deep furrows in the ground). The area seemed to be a prime spot to try out his metal detector.

having had no luck, Ed walked back to his truck and he noticed a U.S. Forest Service vehicle parked a short distance behind his pickup. He walked back and during the conversation, Ed mentioned that he had been looking for gold. One of the occupants of the government vehicle, a lady, asked if he had any luck. Ed told her that he hadn't found anything except some junk and he displayed a 7-Up can (which he had planned to later dispose of properly) and a small, thumbnail sized, piece of pink glass. The lady suddenly became surly and she asked if he knew that is was felony to pick up anything near a historical site. Ed told her that he didn't know that and asked, "What historical site?" She told him that he was near one right now. He asked

She didn't answer his question but told him that he would have to put the glass back, which he did immediately and asked about the can. She talked quietly to the second passenger in the vehicle, a man, (Ed later found out that he was an archaeologist) and then told Ed that he could keep the can. Ed got into his truck and the man waved as Ed drove by.

Ed received a certified letter containing a citation stating that he had attempted to remove and had disturbed archaeological resources on National Forest land and that a court date was being set for him. Ed had never had any type of trouble with the law in his life and he became very frightened. He contacted the Tahoe District Ranger office to see if something could be worked out. Instead of being the public servant that he should have been, the person at USFS law enforcement proceeded to tell Ed that he was is "bad trouble" and would have to take his chances in court.

It was also mentioned that the Administrative Law Judge in Truce, CA. had recently fined someone $800.00 for picking up a pine cone. Naturally, this frightened Ed even further.

of the statements made by the USFS, Ed really believed that he might be sent to jail. His primary concern was what his own grown children and all the children that he had taught through his many years in Nevada would think of him. He had always believed in the fairness and justice of the government but now he was

Ed attended a gold show in hope of finding someone who could give him some help. At that show, one of the vendors gave him the phone number of Mother Lode Research Center, a non-profit research & data organization that works with public land users who are having problems with the government. He contacted Ron Stockman, who in turn, alerted an organization that tried to assist those in the hobby of metal detecting . It took very little reasoning to figure out that Ed had really done nothing and the archaeologists in the USFS were pushing for conviction of Ed "to set an example".

A nation wide phone/fax blitz be imposed to the Tahoe National Forest Supervisor, John Skinner, stating that it was felt that Ed was being maliciously treated and the whole episode was blown out of proportion. The organization sent it's own representatives to Washington, DC to talk to the USFS people about Ed. Then working through the organization's nation wide network, the word was put out. The response was overwhelming. The phones rang constantly at the Tahoe NF Office and the fax was tied up day after day as people kept the pressure on. Meanwhile MLRC walked Ed through the steps of how to appear at his arraignment and instructed him to plead not guilty. It was at this arraignment that Ed met Maureen (last name withheld.)

Maureen was a "USFS legal volunteer" and was not a licensed attorney, but she would be handling the case for the Forest Service. She turned out to be a particularly nasty individual. She made it clear to Ed (and to others later) that she thought Ed was a criminal and she wanted to have him prosecuted to "the full extent of the law." (Now remember, we're talking about a shard of pink glass, here.)

Although Ed was angry about how he was being treated, he was still frightened and he didn't know how to fight back.

MLRC suggested that he hire an attorney from Reno, which he did. Meantime, the public pressure on Supervisor Skinner was taking its toll. He decided that a meeting between Ed, his attorney, MLRC and the USFS people should take place. MLRC and the national detecting organization were in agreement that a major battle should take place to expose just how radical the USFS and its archaeologists are. But the strain was taking its toll on Ed. He was emotionally and physically drained. One of his daughters expressed her worry about her father's health so his followers acquiesced to Ed's pleas to "Just get this over with".

during the meeting. The USFS's attitude was one of arrogance and Maurene played the role to the hilt. However, when it got out of hand, Ed's attorney made it clear that there was a limit. Skinner then displayed a large stack of faxes and acknowledged an equal number of phone calls that had been received in Ed's behalf, but said that they had nothing to do with the fact that the USFS had "decided to go easy on Ed". The defense merely smiled.

an agreement was reached that Ed was to plead No Contest and do some volunteer work on USFS archaeological sites in return for no fine and no probation. An agreement was asked for and received that in consideration of Ed's concerns of his former pupil's thoughts, there would be no press release issued. Ed was relieved.

The court hearing was held, Ed had to pay a small court administration fee. Happy and relieved that it was all over, Ed issued his grateful thanks to all the people and organizations who had swung behind him their support. It was all over.

A short time later Ed's attorney received a phone call from Maureen to "discuss agreement about a press release". Stunned, Ed's attorney reminded Maureen that an agreement for no release had been reached. She denied any such agreement so MLRC contacted USFS officials in Washington, DC to inform them of this new development.

Shortly thereafter, Celeice Stockman, a director of MLRC, answered the phone. It was Maureen and she was again threatening. Celeice had had enough. She informed Maureen that the USFS should go ahead with its release and in the meantime MLRC would also do a press release of its own and "Expose the whole dirty nasty story". Celeice capped it by stating, "You do what you have to do and then we'll do what we have to do".

was ever issued and Ed is once again happy. He was afraid to enter USFS managed lands again in the beginning but he joined the a metal detecting club and now he's enjoying the sport of detecting in the company of friends.

For some reason never secured a permanent position with the Forest Service, at least according to the latest information.

What have we learned here? First, the government agencies will do anything they can to make a point and they don't seen to care who they hurt. We also learned that by working together and being willing to write, phone and fax public land users can put a halt to gross injustice and serve notice that there is only so far we will let an agency go. This was not a fight won by any one organization or individual but by everyone who got involved.