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If I come across a rather large cache of various fossils in an undocumented area, do I need to report it? More context. They are all "parts and pieces". Scutes, teeth (no sharks), jaws, bones, fins, crushing teeth etc. They were in a branch of a stream that also held the first unearthed Hadrosaurus about a mile away. They were all on the surface within about 1/2 mile from one another. Most are pretty river worn but there are also a lot of keepers and even a few potentially museum-quality pieces. Should I report my findings or quietly open up a new web store- Thagomizers, etc.® (It's mostly osteoderms) Thanks in advance for your help.

I was wondering what the Texas law is for fossil hunting in a creek bed? I have been hunting in a creek and properties are fenced off above the creek. I have no interest in going onto the properties. I stay in the creek beds while I'm hunting. I just don't want to get myself in a pickle. I park near a bridge on the side of the road. This weekend I ran into a situation where the police came out to inspect why my car was there. Some of the people was understandably concerned since my car was there a couple of hours. Would it be a good idea to put a sign "fossil hunting" in my window to keep this type of thing from happening. I don't want my car to be towed while I'm hunting for fossil's. lol..

Should Peter Larson be pardoned by the president?

Hello everybody, I'm looking for the official excerpts of laws that stipulate that a fossil found on a private land in USA is the property of the landowner who can legally keep it, sell it or export it. Do you know where can I find these documents ? If I'm right, the fossils found in US are not considered as cultural heritage. It that right ? Thanks for your help, BR, Yann

Last fall the state of Illinois purchased over 2,600 acres near the town of Oglesby from Lone Star Industries, including former quarries, with the goal of making it into state park land. It is near the site of the popular Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Parks, and the state said it would take a few years to assess and prepare the site before it would be open to the public. http://www.newstrib.com/free/matthiessen-and-starved-rock-just-got-a-lot-bigger-video/article_203e37f8-d89a-11e8-9a7e-e72ef52ec0d6.html The quarry exposes the highly fossiliferous LaSalle Limestone, as well as a black shale that produces fossils too, so a number of scientists and fossil enthusiasts proposed that a portion of the new protected land should be made into a public fossil park- here is their proposal: https://www.esconi.org/files/proposal-for-a-fossil-park-at-the-former-lone-star-quarry-site-final.pdf Now a state legislator representing the area has introduced a bill to do just that- the synopsis reads: "Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall designate a portion of the former Lone Star Quarry site near Oglesby as a fossil park to allow for the collection of fossils. Provides that Department by rule may designate which portion of the land shall constitute the fossil park and any requirements for admittance or permits for entry into the fossil park. Provides that the Department may collaborate with any State university to establish educational opportunities or events at the fossil park." Hopefully this will become a law and this park can join the famous Mazonia-Braidwood as Illinois's second park for fossil collecting. If you are an Illinois resident, please contact your state representative and tell them to sign on as co-sponsor or support this bill!

Does anybody know about fossil laws in Germany?

This is not a rant or venting; just a mild exclamation of surprise and bemusement. So...I listed a few fossil shark teeth on LetGo and lo and behold, the listing was pulled and I was directed to the site rules where sho 'nuff: no fossils! Fossils fall under LetGo's Prohibited agAinst selling Animal products which (besides fossils) includes live animals and fur, skin, etc. of endangered species. What's strange to me is that 'only' the fur, skins, etc. of endangered animals are prohibited. I say that's "strange" because it doesn't seem the site bans other animal products since -besides leather shoes and clothing- goat skins and cow hides are offered; so it doesn't seem to be a case of "The Vegan Mafia" fighting "the rampant exploitation of animals, living and dead, modern and ancient" blah, blah, blah... And Indian Arrowheads and other antiquities are allowed so it doesn't seem to be a case of one of the misguided souls who mew "Don't nobody be robbing us of our heritage!" So why the ban against fossils-? What did a fossil ever do to LetGo? LOL

I am sure many of you are buyers as well as collectors, and one issue we would hate to face would be to have your legal fossils impounded by the customs, whether it be during delivery from overseas, or when you travel aboard with fossils. Personally, I've faced this situation twice. The first was when I imported a meg tooth from North Carolina. I was summoned to the customs office for smuggling in shark products. Thankfully, I managed to convince them that the megalodon was in fact extinct and not heavily endangered(glad the officer wasn't a living-meg conspiracist). Two years later, I had a Judith River theropod tooth seized mid-delivery, and I had to go to the customs again. This time, I had the misfortune of facing a paranoid officer who was determined that dinosaur fossils did not belong in personal collections. I did not have official papers with me declaring that the fossil was legal, and the officer grilled me for an hour on why I was smuggling precious dinosaur fossils. I challenged him to prove my Judith River fossil was illegal. He couldn't. Finally, after his higher-up was involved, they admitted my dinosaur tooth wasn't illegal after all, and I was allowed to keep it. It isn't always a happy ending however. My friend who was travelling overseas had bought common fossils like a Moroccan mosasaur jaw and some ammonites. In Paris, they seized his fossils, saying they had to check for the legality of the specimens. As he was in mid-travel, he had no choice but to leave his fossils behind. He never saw his fossils again, not even after negotiating with them for months. All this because he couldn't produce legal papers. Buyers and diggers would understand - most of the time you wouldn't be getting documentation from museums for your fossils... unless they are important specimens, in which case you shouldn't be trading them at all. But if you lack the papers, the customs can seize your fossil at any time if you can't prove it is legal. Do you see the logical fallacy here? Imagine say, you dug up your own tyrannosaur tooth in USA, stopped by Canada for a holiday, only to have the customs seize your fossil because you are unable to proof it isn't found in Canada. How would you feel? So to everyone who buys fossils, or bring them across countries, how would you ensure that your legal fossils can get through the customs?

Hello Fossil Forum! I just moved to western TN north of Memphis. I want to get into collecting the Coon Creek formation as well as some of the Paleozoic deposits in the area. I am completely ignorant of the laws surrounding fossil collecting in TN, and a google search hasn't gotten me anywhere. What are the laws about state land? Thank you, Jarm