• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

detector was confiscated

blacksambellamy

Full Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
189
Location
Hillsdale, NJ
With the use of my metal detector i was able to locate the former Camp Wellfleet within National Park Property. I went on to interview some of the old timers who were stationed there. It was from these interviews that i learned of the RCAT drones that were flown up and down the beach for target practice and with help from these men i was able to recover a 60 year old drone from the woods.

I then opened up a website called www.CampWellfleet.com displaying my research and dedicating the site to all who served there. I contacted the National Seashore VIA email and asked if there was a way to set up a small museum with the plane and other Camp Wellfleet artifacts. Their response was there was no funding. I also spoke with the curator of the National Seashore museum Hope Morrill and she expressed great interest with my research. She sent me a picture of the old camp and asked me if i could donate some of the photographs i obtained. I never did speak to her again because she stopped writing.

I traveled back to Cape Cod the other day and went metal detecting at Marconi to try and find more CW history. After 3 hours on the beach i was cold and wet and decided to go home. As i walked to my car two park rangers jumped out of the bushes and read me my rights. They confiscated my detector and issued me a summons for use of a metal detector on Government property and i now have to appear in federal court. They knew everything about me and my CW research because i sent them my website. Never oncedid they tell me i was doing something wrong. I was never hiding what i was doing and i even emailed them advising them of my finds so we could place them in their museum. What i find disturbing is the way they handled this. They had all my information and could have contacted me at any time if i was doing something wrong.

Im a police officer full time and i can tell you from experience this was handled poorly. I would have thought they would embraced my research. In the end the rangers said this will be the barter system "you give us our plane back and we will see about getting detector back to you. So what this comes down to is its all about the plane i found and they want it back. Im so confused because i tried to give it to them and now they do this to me.

can somebody give me advice? Im in the law field and this seems like a leaky bag of crap on their part. Im an honest guy who was doing the right thing,
 
Well you were breaking the law, I mean lots of well intentioned people have gotten in trouble for breaking the law......it isnt the their job to tell you the law it is their job to enforce it......sounds crummy but thats the breaks.......Maybe you should find a different place to detect, If it is research you are after then go to the library......
 
Sorry man. I'm new to detecting and would hate to have that happen to me. From these forums I have learned that National Parks are a big no, no, and I assume government property as well. In my State you can metal detect at many State Parks, but usually only certain areas, and you are supposed to register. At minimum, asking first for permission is the easy way to make sure nothing like this happens. I hope you have records of e-mail and witnesses about everyone you contacted etc.... Hopefully with that the judge will just give you a slap on the wrist and tell you to be more careful, and at least get your machine back. Good luck,

Todd
 
What a mess. I feel for you. It would have been nice if someone had told you what you were doing was wrong - before this. I'd talk with a lawyer quick. I wish you the best. Give them back their plane. If you don't get your machine back - forget about it. You know better than most how twisted the legal system can become. Guess it's time for everyone to lay-low. Watch what you post. Hope this doesn't effect your job.

Hope this all gets settled quickly and gently.
 
They were real nice and said they would be calling me so i can give them the plane and he said then they will dismiss the summons and return the detector. I just hope it all works out that way. The reason im confused is because i offered them the plane VIIA email after i found it so there was no reason for all of this. Im guilty of the detecting and now i know the law for that national park. I thought i was doing something good and in no way did i know i was breaking the law. After all i emailed them and they never advised me detecting was off limits.

Yes, i have emails saved so wewill see
 
Its a known fact that the Cape Cod National Seashore if off limits to detecting and they will take away your detector and can arrest you..
 
There was no arresest and a matter of fact they were real nice. Its just beyond me why they just didnt email me, call me or write me a letter. I had given them all my personal information when i wanted to advise them of my find so i could bring it to them. Anyway hopefully they will put this plane on display its great history.
 
Last time I visited Cape Cod I went to the furtherest point out on Cape Cod National Seashore and I read the rules and they stated no metal detecting the Cape Cod National Seashore.. I have also read it many times on many different boards.. Sorry about your troubles :)
 
I know now. I have never seen it posted and thats no excuse i should have asked. But my email to the park service advising them of my research should have been met with a response advising me to cease. Instead this is the email i recieved. To me this was a green light that everything was ok. This email is dated 2/4/2008. What your opnion on this now that you see the letter? Keep in mind i emailed the park rangers and they forwarded my email to the Museum. Im posting all this to you because i dont want you to think i was some reckless cowboy disregarding rules.


Hi Steve,

We are very interested in the material you have on Camp Wellfleet. We have
gathered some photos and memorabilia, and the Army Corps of Engineers has
done several ordnance clearing projects over the past few years.
Unfortunately, we are unable to commit to any type of museum or exhibit.
That is not to say it will never be done but we have very limited exhibit
space and many different areas to cover. As you must know, the Camp
Wellfleet area is the site where Marconi worked on wireless transmission
and from there he sent the first wireless message across the Atlantic in
1903. The site of Marconi's wireless is a National Landmark.

We do often get visitors asking about Camp Wellfleet, and just last year we
began a ranger led walk/talk in the area of Camp Wellfleet. The ranger
who does the program did a good amount of research on Camp Wellfleet, and
he often had visitors on his walk who were stationed there. We also did
and archeological excavation of a dump site in the Camp Wellfleet area and
recovered several interesting artifacts.

Please let me know if your contact is willing to donate his photos or let
us scan copies of his photos. They would be a valuable asset to our
documentation of Camp Wellfleet. I have attached a photograph of Camp
Wellfleet that you and your contact might be interested in seeing. Thank
you for writing us, and I will look forward to hearing from you.

Hope Morrill
Curator

(See attached file: Camp Wellfleet 1.jpg)
 
When I read National Landmark and archeologists I cringed lol.. as a matter of fact all I see them asking for is pictures.. Did you mention in your letter you wanted to metal detect it? You may have gotten a response from someone further down the food chain as well ;)

Let me ask you this did you give them a date when you were there? If not then it probably didn't have anything to do with the letter and more to the fact that the National Seashore is off limits.. they do have a rather large Ranger Station up there..
 
I dont believe in my letter metal detecting was mentioned. But my letter was to advise them of my research and direct them to my website. On the website it clearly states im metal detecting. The ranger mentioned my email and he was aware of the response i got. He also said the person who sent the email was really not authorized to do so. He mentioned he fully believes i had good intentions and that the rangers really didn't know what to do about me. In the end he said he believes they just want the relic plane i found back. I do believe him but after i return the plane i hope they dont slap me w/ charges.
 
I figured the person emailing you had no authority.. Hopefully you will get off with a warning..
 
I'm impressed with your honestly to post this.
In the past on another site a fellow posted he was going to go detect Padre Island. Folks warned him ahead of time, he went and got caught. Detector was taken away and he had a court appearance to go to. Never heard the end results of it.
 
Yep, if this story hits the press it could be a very sticky situation. I think they're going to keep it as quiet as possible.
 
Yes because metal detecting is not allowed in National Parks. So they are really scrambling to figure out what to do.

If they announce that a drone was found the media will want to know who found it and how, and they're not going to be able to say that a metal detectorist found it.
 
Your story represents what I think is wrong with the whole "NO METAL DETECTING" logic. No one can enjoy the items if they don't know they are there.

Seems to me a little questioning on thier part would have cleared it up that you were not a person trying to sneak stuff out to sell on Ebay. I have been given a break by a police officer when he realized I had made an honest mistake, and was 100% guilty but did not know it until he told me. If I made the mistake again I am sure he would not of been so nice. I think like Epi said they will want to get this cleaned up quickly. I am sure the press would like a big story on how public saftey was compromised by having this drone out there that no one knew about (does not matter if there really was a saftey issue, danger sells!).

On my original comment. I had a Colorado State Park ranger tell me I could not hunt even on BLM land or even in the river next to people panning because I was disturbing the soil anytime I recoverd a target?????. She went on to tell me if she finds an arrowhead she looks at it then puts it back and covers it with dirt for someone else to discover and enjoy (seems like disturbing the soil to bury it, but arguing will never help in these situations). I think controlled digs of old battle fields helps to understand what happened there, and gets the stuff out of the dirt so everyone can enjoy it. A civil war buckle in the ground is not being seen by anyone, so if it can be dug, and put in a museum or memorial for everyone to see I am all for it. If you had been hiking and found it you would be a local hero.

just my nickles worth,
cb
 
Blacksambellamy, sorry to hear of your problems. Thank you for posting so that we can all learn from this. Your problems show us how important it is to get written permission before we hunt an area, especially state or federal property. You can't trust the word of some underling down on the totem pole. Thanks for sharing your experience, and I hope you can clear it up. Good luck
Ed
 
Back
Top Bottom