[Rockhounds] Court Rules Fossils are Minerals

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

I got this from a local geology professor tonight who asked me to share
it...

I'm sure you heard of this already, the 9th circuit court ruled that all
fossils in
Montana are now minerals. The AAAPS is working with Peter Larson and an
attorney to
file an Amicus Brief. The goal being to ask the court for an en banc
hearing by a
larger panel of judges and get this decision overturned.

I added a little pop up on my webpage for the next 20 days, linking to the
main
article which has thee gofundme page from the AAAPS.

I'm not sure if you want to do an email blast to membership, but if so, I
clipped
some info from the main article:


________________

A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision reclassified fossils as
minerals.
Fossils now fall under the purview of Mineral Rights, taking their legal
ownership
from the land or property owner and placing them under the domain of the
property's
"Mineral Rights" holder.

This ruling applies to all fossils; vertebrates, invertebrates and plants.
The
drastic change in established law now puts academic and commercial
paleontologist as
well as the casual fossil collector and museum collections in great peril.

If this ruling stands, mineral right holders will be able to file lawsuits
to take
possession of any fossils collected on land that is privately held. Many
museums are
in jeopardy of losing important type specimens, and many wonderful fossil
specimens
that had been legally collected, prepared and sold could be seized and
forfeited.

A court ruling like this can easily spill from Montana to rest of the
states.

There are appeals to the decision being drafted, and AAPS, among other
groups and
museums want to fight this decision. AAPS has created a Go Fund Me page to
raise
funds to have an attorney produce and file an Amicus Brief. The goal being
to ask the
court for an en banc hearing by a larger panel of judges and get this
decision
overturned.

To read more about this and help donate to the cause to save fossils and
preserve
land owners rights, follow this link:

https://www.aaps.net/newsletter-index.html

I would note that...

*Mineral* - *Wikipedia* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral>
https://*en.wikipedia.org <http://en.wikipedia.org>*/wiki/*Mineral*
<https://www.bing.com/search?q=mineral&form=EDGTCT&qs=PF&cvid=a11a590c7bcd4037afec42d6420726ac&refig=ed86998bcbc34fb48696e01094d66fee&cc=US&setlang=en-US&PC=MSE1#>

A *mineral* is a naturally occurring chemical compound, usually of
crystalline form and not produced by life processes.A *mineral* has one
specific chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of
different minerals or mineraloids.The study of minerals is called
mineralogy.. Minerals are classified by variety, species, series and group,
in order of increasing generality.

If you have any interest in fossils you should be concerned about this
ruling. If you have any interest in science you should be concerned about
this ruling. Fossils are not minerals by scientific definition. Just saying.

You might want to speak up appropriately and become politically active on
this issue that threatens our hobby. As List Owner I don't like politics,
but when politics threaten the hobby it is a valid topic. And I hope some
of you can find a way to weigh in on the topic effectively with your
elected officials and the courts.

Fossils are not minerals.

Kreigh