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St. Clair, Pa Fossil Site Help


bprzyw

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Does anyone here have any current news about this site? I would like to go, but do not know if there are any fees associated with it. I do not mind the money, as long as i know how much to bring.(My wife does not let me have toooo much at any time :( ) Thanks for any help!!!!

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Last I Heard you need to contact the Reading Anthracite Company and get a permit which allows you on their properties. It's $100, maybe a little more.

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

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Ok, thanks, found the website http://www.readinganthracite.com/access-permits/

seems its $125.00 for the year ending dec 31 2011. Per person, not per vehicle. So, i and my 6 yr old, would be $250. Wow, seems a bit high. Guess i could always just go and see if i get caught, but where would that lead me? and what would that teach my son?

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I went there earlier this summer, and did not pay a fee. i even had a chat with the owner of the property who was chasing dirt bikers off of his land. It seems that if you are safe and respectful to the site there should be no problems with find good stuff, which there is a lot of. there may be other places in the st. clare area which are on coal company property, and require a fee, but the best fossils are not found on coal company land, and are free as to my knowledge.

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i was there a month ago, and the only other person i saw was a guy from Virginia who collects there frequently. he told me that the property was owned by the Reading Anthracite company. he said they didn't enforce any no trespassing rules there, because they don't mine the property. you wont have any trouble there, other than trying to lug your finds back to your vehicle! :P

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as long as i know how much to bring.(My wife does not let me have toooo much at any time :(

Man, that must be tough to have your wife be the boss like that! hahahaa

I was interested in this site as well, let me know if you find anything...

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There are multiple property owners. You won't see any fences but a few property boundaries come together right there where most folks collect. I spoke a number of years back to a woman who owned part of it. She didn't mind the amateur collectors at all, but was ##### off because a commercial collector had come in one day with a back hoe and taken out several huge slabs. She checked with the other private owners and none had known about it. At that time, 6-8 years ago, the general advice was to NOT contact Reading because they had a blanket no access policy. Back then the main exposure was not on Reading's land but the access roads were(are).

Shamalama, Tell us more about this fee. Did you pay it to Reading or the local manager? Was it just for the St Clair exposure or their entire property? Very curious...

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Eric...i called Reading Anthracite about this 2 weeks ago. i was told by the nice lady, that the permit was good for any of their properties, as long as i stayed away from any open mining areas. i asked her how much material i could take with me, and she wasn't sure if there was a limit, but she would find out, and email me if there was. i haven't heard anything back yet.

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Eric...i called Reading Anthracite about this 2 weeks ago. i was told by the nice lady, that the permit was good for any of their properties, as long as i stayed away from any open mining areas. i asked her how much material i could take with me, and she wasn't sure if there was a limit, but she would find out, and email me if there was. i haven't heard anything back yet.

Don't know about any quantity restriction numbers at St Clair. It is however......16 tons on the Erie canal. :D Now how many of you just sang that statement. :D

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Don't know about any quantity restriction numbers at St Clair. It is however......16 tons on the Erie canal. :D Now how many of you just sang that statement. :D

and all this time i was thinkin it was only 15 tons! im such a fool! :P

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Actually, I just checked, it's 15 miles on the Erie canal. It's 16 tons and what a ya get another day older and deeper........ The fact that I can barely remember those songs, but do. Indicates that I'm old and my mind is feeble. :D

Although, it very well may have been 15 tons.......in Jersey. :o

Edited by flyguy784
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Thanks for the replies. The access permit is for all of reading anthracite's land, except for active mining sites for vehicle access. Nothing for hoofing it it and out. So now i feel better, and will make a trip there soon, and speak to a land owner. We ended up going to Carbondale,Pa. since its about 30 minutes from home. Spent about 2.5 hours there cracking rock. Have one nice sample to show for it.(sorry no pics yet). There is not much left there, as most of it was reclaimed, and finding fossils is getting harder and harder. We usually go during the weekdays, since i have Wednesdays off to be with my son. So its a fun day for us. Also went to see the wind turbines up close in waymart since the road was open, he enjoyed that. :)

CousinLarry, thanks!! hehehe, yea, if i have it,it usually goes quick!! Can't help from buying things. B) Maybe i can get my wife to swing the hammer next time. :o

Next week is his last day off for summer as school starts (1st grade). We are probably going to Promised Land state park fishing, and to see brother in law, he is at Whittakers lodge. Maybe swing by Bruce lake (??) Might have heard of some fossil deposits there.

B

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You could always wear a Ghillie Suit...wait a minute forget I said anything I dont want to be a bad example for the next generation. :P

PUBLICATIONS

Dallas Paleontology Society Occasional Papers Vol. 9 2011

"Pennsylvanian Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of Outcrops in Jacksboro, Texas"

Author

Texas Paleontology Society Feb, 2011

"Index Fossils and You" A primer on how to utilize fossils to assist in relative age dating strata"

Author

Quotes

"Beer, Bacon, and Bivalves!"

"Say NO to illegal fossil buying / selling"

"They belong in a museum."

Education

Associates of Science - 2011

Bachelors of Science (Geology & Biology) - 2012 est.

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bprzyw...where do you go in Carbondale?? Where I go, it's a mountain of tailing piles...lots of great stuff to be found there yet.

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bprzyw...where do you go in Carbondale?? Where I go, it's a mountain of tailing piles...lots of great stuff to be found there yet.

Sue,

I go behind the past the school, turn left, then left again, kinda puts me behind the school. Don't really know of anywhere else to go. I was thinking maybe the tailings piles you see on the right on the casey express way. Thanks

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