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We just got home from our trip west invertebrate collecting. The forestr service very quietly passed this new regulation in April this year. https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/04/17/2015-08483/paleontological-resources-preservation Hope the link works. The Department considers that Federal ownership of paleontological resources is effectively severed if those resources were legally collected in accordance with provisions for casual collection. Specimens that were casually collected with the intent of personal use may be donated to a repository at a later time; however, collection with the intent to donate to a repository would not constitute casual collection and would require a permit. The Department does not expect this to be a commonplace scenario. The title of specimens that are legally collected in accordance with casual collection requirements is a matter to be decided by the parties to a transfer of ownership. It is the responsibility of the donating party to demonstrate to the receiving party that specimens were collected legally. Owners of casually collected specimens may attempt to return such specimens to the Forest Service, but the Forest Service is under no obligation to accept them. This is dangerous toward research-oriented amateurs, as research and casual collecting are not mutually exclusive. Well over half of the time I'm collecting, I have the notion that I will donate the specimens to a research collection someday. These regulations imply that you would need a research permit for that, simply because of an ambiguously defined notion of intent. I think they'll find that enforcement of "intent to donate" to be problematic, as it comes with innumerable edge cases. However, in the cases that they do address in the comments, they seem to err on the side of impermissibility. Hypothetical examples: Case 1: While collecting common brachiopods, you find a nice chunk of packstone with lots of brachs and a rare starfish, which is clearly an undescribed species and belongs in a museum. Your brachiopods fall under the aegis of casual collection, but the very fact that you think about donating the starfish means that it requires a research permit to pick up. They seem incredulous that this type of thing could even happen: The respondents' suggestion that common and rare species are intermingled in many cases is conjectural and not substantiated. Case 2: While collecting common brachiopods, you pick up a nice chunk of packstone with lots of brachs. When you get home and wash it off, you find a rare starfish, which is clearly an undescribed species and belongs in a museum. In this scenario, they explicitly state that you would need to return the specimen to the Forest Service: Specimens that could represent new species that were inadvertently collected during casual collection should be returned to the Forest Service for appropriate disposition. Presumably, you would not be able to donate the specimen to a museum of your choosing without first gaining federal permission. I should also say that while the research permit rules don't prohibit amateurs in any way, they certainly make it difficult: § 291.14 Application process. Applicants for permits must provide the following records and information to the Authorized Officer in support of an application. (a) The name, titles, academic or professional affiliations, and business contact information of the applicant and all persons who would be named on the permit; ( The applicant's current resume, curriculum vita, or other documents that support an applicant's qualifications; © A detailed scope of work or research plan for the proposed activity. This must include maps, field methods, associated records, estimated time and duration of field season, proposed field party size, and specific information regarding storage, stabilization, and curatorial arrangements for collected specimens and data; (d) Information regarding previous or currently held Federal paleontological permits including the issuing agency, permit number, and name of the Authorized Officer; (e) Identification of a proposed repository for collected specimens, including written verification that the proposed repository agrees to receive the collection of paleontological resources and associated records and acknowledges that all costs will be borne by the applicant and/or approved repository, unless otherwise addressed in a separate written document; and (f) Other records or information identified by the Authorized Officer as necessary to support an application for a permit. § 291.15 Application qualifications and eligibility. (a) Qualified applicant. The information submitted by applicants under § 291.14 must demonstrate qualifications for carrying out the proposed activities, as follows: (1) The applicant has a graduate degree in paleontology or a related field of study with a major emphasis in paleontology from an accredited institution, or can demonstrate training and/or experience commensurate to the nature and scope of the proposed activities; and (2) The applicant has experience in collecting, analyzing, summarizing, and reporting paleontological data and experience in planning, equipping, staffing, organizing, and supervising field crews on projects commensurate to the type, nature and scope of work proposed in the application; and (3) The applicant meets any additional qualifications as may be required by the Authorized Officer that are considered necessary to undertake the proposed project in the context of the project location. ( Eligibility. The information submitted by applicants under § 291.14 must demonstrate that the proposed work is eligible for a permit in accordance with § 291.13(a)(2) through (4).