WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- If you’re one of the many people with a metal detector that likes to find buried treasures at the park, or you’ve considered panning for gold, you’re not supposed to do that on public property. Marathon County Parks Director Bill Duncanson says the county is looking at modifying its ordinances to more closely mirror the language in Department of Natural Resources rules for state parks, because the existing ordinance isn’t complete enough. “In our current ordinance, the language is not specific enough so that somebody that wanted to, for example, participate in recreational gold panning, going into a river or stream and digging up the bottom and then panning or sluicing, the ordinance isn’t specific enough to cover that.”
Duncanson says there are already guidelines. You cannot deface, destroy, molest, or remove items that are non-renewable on public lands. He says the easiest way to understand the rules for public land is, if you can see it on the surface, that’s ok. If you would have to dig to get to it, then you have to leave it in the ground. “Go and take a look at it. Don’t dig stuff up. Look at it, appreciate it, but leave it. We don’t think it would be a good policy to allow the general public to be taking things away from the park because eventually, you’re not going to have much of why the park was created in the first place.”
The Director says there is also a federal law that regulates digging or disturbing land or water on public lands. “What many people don’t understand is that there’s a higher law. The United States has the Antiquities Act, which actually restricts digging and removing many materials from public lands.”
The Marathon County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the ordinance modifications Tuesday.