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Have Collecting Conditions Changed At St. Clair, Pa?


fossilcrazy

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I'm hearing reports from different sources that collecting fossil ferns at Burma Road near St. Clair is not allowed anymore.

Part of the "rumor" is a local woman was running paid field trips to the collecting site and got shut down. Now violators are being prosecuted for trespassing.

Can any fellow collectors shed some light of truth on the topic? I'm fearful of the expected reply; but need to know the truth.

IMG_0243R.JPG :(

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Oh no! :shake head::shake head::shake head::unsure: .

I can't find any info online about it.

Hmm, maybe a local would know?

Here's hoping it isn't true, or that they are talking about the opposite side of the road.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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I don't know anything about it but I'll be driving near there on a road trip next month and was hoping to prospect there

for a bit. I reiterate fossilcrazy's question, what's the deal?!

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Maybe try PMing member "fossilsofnj". He just found a great plate on April 11th. He may know.

This was on my bucket list.........:(

~Charlie~

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK
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I spent the morning looking for Schuylkill County/St. Clair Borough police logs/blotters about trespassing arrests, and didn't find anything. :unsure:

Hopefully, the rumors are just that.

Anyone try to contact the DVPS? I believe they run trips there once or twice a year.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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ARGH! Everytime there's a dustup over St. Clair it's because someone tries to cash-in on the site. This is less extreme than the commercial collectors who brought a back hoe in about 15(?) years back and basically stole a few tons of specimens. Although I haven't collected there in years i have followed it closely. When I wrote field guides for the NYPS I had to deal with some of these issues. Back then what we knew from the landowners (yes, there were several and the site is NOT owned by Reading) was that they were totally cool with amateur collectors, but very displeased with the commercial collecting being done without their consent, let alone knowledge.When it comes to fossil sites and rumors of closing, St. Clair is a leader. In the past all have faded and collecting continued. Hopefully this will once again be the case.

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When it comes to fossil sites and rumors of closing, St. Clair is a leader. In the past all have faded and collecting continued. Hopefully this will once again be the case.

Yes, that is certainly true. All the harder to pin down the truth and determine if traveling hundreds of miles to the site will be OK or skunked.

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I plan to drive several hours from DC on Wednesday. Somebody with current local knowledge PLEASE chime in! Thanks!! Dave

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The collecting area is definitely on Reading Anthracite Company property.

post-296-0-69963300-1431273193_thumb.jpg

The company website states their position.

post-296-0-71156000-1431273150_thumb.jpg

If you are familiar with the collecting area, the arrow on the map is pointing to this spot where people walk in the north path and start collecting.

post-296-0-61152400-1431273625_thumb.jpg

With the lack of information, things may have defaulted to the property owners rights.

I have had two different individuals say "I was on their land" and asked for a "donation"; even when I knew better, I still made a donation as a token of friendliness.

Until someone chimes in as to exactly what the state of collecting is, I guess Reading Anthracite Comp. permission is needed. I can just see it now; the company

getting bombarded with personal requests and just making it off limits to everyone to avoid all the hassles.

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The collecting area is definitely on Reading Anthracite Company property.

Very interesting. I wonder when they purchased the property? I haven't been there for 15 years so things certainly may have changed. Back then the way we understood it the access roads and paths crossed thu their property but the collecting area was owned by a local.

But we went in there multiple times without ever a problem, so go figure.

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OFFICIAL WORD...I just spoke with Donna at Reading Anthracite....YES they own the Burma Road site and have for several years. NO permit will get you there legally...ONLY access is to school groups. The permit referred to on their website does NOT APPLY to fossil hunting...access is TRESPASS. I can only WISH this was not the case!! End of story folks. Dave

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  • 1 month later...

I went there at the end of March of this year. No signs and no one questioned what I was doing. But perhaps things have changed.

So if you get a permit, can you collect fossils while riding your all-terain vehicle through there?

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.–Carl Sagan

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Doing a "drive by"??? Hey, let's go around one more time…I think I saw an Alethopteris under my front tire!! yeah right…...

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It might be worth buying an ATV just for fossil collecting.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.–Carl Sagan

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  • 6 months later...

Sadly, this site is now closed to fossil collecting, except by special permission from Reading Anthracite.

See This Thread.


Apparently, they are only allowing school groups in to collect at this time.

Contact Reading Anthracite via the provided link above, for any questions.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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The word I heard in July 2015 from a person very knowledgeable on the Reading Anthracite St. Clair site is that it is CLOSED to all collecting except for school groups with special permission. The company is supposedly prosecuting anyone they catch on the property. The reason it was closed was because a woman with a rock saw was charging folks for cutting slabs and hauling them out of the site for them. One of the collectors reportedly bragged on Facebook with very specific locale info about the cool slab specimens they paid some lady with a rock saw to cut and haul out for them, including photos of the slabs, saw, etc. Reading Anthracite heard/saw the Facebook post, went out and verified and then closed down the site.

I just confirmed this is still the case and and the reason for closure is accurate.

Don't know much about history

Don't know much biology

Don't know much about science books.........

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One more reason to "thank" ANTIsocial media……….

The problem isn't with social media, it's with people like that woman.

...I'm back.

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Here is a thread I started last Aug and basically the same results.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/56923-latest-info-on-st-clair-pa-as-of-aug-16-2015/

Great minds think alike, Ziggie!

I linked to that one in post # 16. ;)

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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