National Monuments & Rockhounds

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Question:  May I collect specimens inside National Monuments?

Answer:  No.  Rockhounding inside National Monuments (e.g., Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument; John Day Fossil Beds; Hagerman Horse Fossil Beds; Agate Fossil Beds; Florissant Fossil Beds) is prohibited.
Again, t
his seems so basic that it doesn't need to be said.  Nonetheless, in 2011, a Washington State resident was fined and banned from national parks for a year for digging up a fossil skull in 2007 from the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in eastern Oregon. 

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The fossil oredont skull that a Washington State resident removed from John Day Fossil Beds

John Day 16 Fossil Thieves 12-16-2007 8IC9C3T t210

Sign at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument


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