Fort Peck Lake

[Brian W.]

Is it legal for a person to search for fossils in and around the state parks located on Fort Peck Lake?  Can a person take a boat and hunt for fossils in some of the more remote regions of the lake?  It's technically the Missouri River, so as long as you don't go above the high water mark you're not trespassing as far as I know.  In the book "Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs" the author said you can find several T Rex teeth in a day just walking around the Hell Creek formation.

[rfarrar]

As far as I know, most of the Fort Peck shoreline is off limits to any non-academic fossil collecting. Most of the shoreline is C. M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. As such, collecting of vertebrate fossils is strictly forbidden by federal law, except under permit. I believe that the invertebrate fossil collecting is also restricted there.

 

Bob

[Brian W.]

1 hour ago, rfarrar said:

As far as I know, most of the Fort Peck shoreline is off limits to any non-academic fossil collecting. Most of the shoreline is C. M. Russell Wildlife Refuge. As such, collecting of vertebrate fossils is strictly forbidden by federal law, except under permit. I believe that the invertebrate fossil collecting is also restricted there.

 

Bob

I didn't know all of it was inside the CMR refuge, but looking at my atlas it is.  Thanks for the reply.

[jpc]

It is owned by the Nation Wildlife refuge, but managed by the Bureau of Reclamation.  They, just like Fish and Wildlife, do not allow fossil hunting on their lands.  Most of the land away from the shoreline is BLM where it also illegal to collect vertebrate fossils.  It is a tough place to legally find fossils.

[jpc]

15 hours ago, jpc said:

It is owned by the Nation Wildlife refuge, but managed by the Bureau of Reclamation.  They, just like Fish and Wildlife, do not allow fossil hunting on their lands.  Most of the land away from the shoreline is BLM where it also illegal to collect vertebrate fossils.  It is a tough place to legally find fossils.

Additionally, while the BLM allows collecting invertebrates for personal use, the Bureau of Rec does not, which is shame because there ammonites in the Bearpaw Shale around the lake as well.  I lived in Glasgow, MT one winter and I looked into all of this stuff.  

 

Also, you could argue that it is technically the Missouri River, but the fact that it is dammed means that that assumption is incorrect... it is now Fort Peck Reservoir... new rules apply.  

[RJB]

 You can go into the Core of Engineers building and get a pamplet on the lake.  It states in there that "No Fossil Hunting is allowed".    Many places to hunt for fossils south and east of there. 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

On 12/3/2019 at 3:59 PM, Brian W. said:

Is it legal for a person to search for fossils in and around the state parks located on Fort Peck Lake?

Technically, there is nothing illegal here. You can search to your heart's content. You simply can't collect anything you find without a permit.