[Rockhounds] Fossil Cycad National Monument held America’s richest deposit of petrified cycadeoid plants, until it didn’t.

[Alan Silverstein]

> The story of a similar problem at Petrified Forest had a happier
> ending.
> https://www.the-journal.com/articles/national-park-rethinks-its-message-about-theft/

Intriguing, thanks.  Behavioral psychology is often surprising, even
paradoxical.

FYI, anecdotal story:  Several times in the Petrified Forest area over a
decade ago, I found a few legal places to collect small amounts of
similar material for tumble-polishing.  I even looked up and contacted
one landowner about permission to hop their barbed wire fence (from the
highway) to do more on their private pasture, where small colorful
chunks were rampant; and was diplomatically told no, it's under contract
to someone who removes and sells what they care about.  (Too bad, I'm
sure they didn't want the fist-sized and smaller pieces of interest to
me.)

This paradigm (claims, restrictions, suspicion) seems to be normal for
"famous" places that gather the majority of casual attention.  Those of
us who wander around doing legal surface collecting realize that you
mostly don't have to work that hard to get "good enough" stuff,
petrified wood or otherwise, simply by going to offbeat locations, doing
your own prospecting on remote public lands, occasionally getting
permission from (mostly apathetic) private landowners (see my page on
this subject:  https://silgro.com/RockhoundAccess.htm)

Anyway back in Arizona, one time after collecting a few pounds of
petrified wood legally, I drove through the park.  At the entrance I'd
already put my stash in clear plastic bags, declared it, they didn't
miss a beat, just sealed the bags with special tape to indicate it was
imported and not stolen, and I was on my way.  They didn't even stop me
to inquire when I left the other end of the park.

You know about landlocked public parcels?  Thanks to the stupid old
railroad checkboard grants, there are thousands of square miles of our
public lands in the western US that you can't access from the ground.
("Corner crossing" is a hot topic in Wyoming right now.)  I did some BLM
map studies around PFNP and found lots of sections that are probably
covered in petrified wood -- but landlocked.  Almost makes me want to
learn to fly a helicopter, and rent one for a day.  :-)

Cheers,
Alan Silverstein