Editorial Guides

BLM Personal-Use Collecting Rules: Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils

Bureau of Land Management land covers 245 million acres across the American West — and most of it allows casual collecting of rocks, minerals, and common invertebrate fossils for personal use without a permit. The 25-pounds-per-day rule, what counts as personal use, and the one hard exception that catches people off guard: vertebrate fossils are federally prohibited regardless of where you are on BLM land.

Verified 2026-05-04

Florida's 50-Year Antiquities Rule Explained

Florida Statutes Chapter 267 makes any object over 50 years old on public land the legal property of the state — not the finder. Here is what that means in practice for metal detectorists, what you must do if you find something old, and what the penalties are for removing state-owned material.

Verified 2026-04-20

USFS Personal-Use Foraging Rules: What You Can Pick in National Forests

The US Forest Service manages 193 million acres of national forest land, and personal-use foraging of mushrooms, berries, nuts, and greens is allowed on most of it without a permit. The framework comes from 36 CFR § 261.10(a), but each forest sets its own quantity thresholds — and there are real exceptions that catch foragers off guard, from wilderness area bans to the Florida saw palmetto felony that applies even on federal land.

Verified 2026-05-06