The next ALAA Meeting is being scheduled for January 2014 in Quartzsite, AZ.  It is Friday, Jan 24th, 7pm  Quartzsite Alliance Church, 720 W. Desert Vista. TheSecond Annual ALAA-BLM Clean Up Day is also being scheduled.  Let's see if we can break our record of 3 tons of garbage removed from Our Public Lands. 

• Latest Information on USFS Use/Parking Pass.
• USFS - High Impact Recreation Areas (HIRA)
• Standard Amenity Recreation Fee Area Implementation
• Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act
• (Decision in Adams v USFS)

START GETING READY FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL QUARTZSITE ALAA-BLM CLEAN-UP IN JANUARY 2014.  ALL ROCKHOUNDS WELCOME TO ATTEND!

The 2nd Annual BLM Sunday morning Clean-up is being scheduled for January 26, 2014 I-10 and Gold Nugget Road, Exit 26 going east out of Quartzsite. 8:00 am to 12 noon.

The first Annual ALAA Sponsored BLM Trash clean up was held this year in Quartzsite, Arizona.  Rockhounds from around the area came to help clean up trash along the Gold Nugget Road just east of Quartzsite.   The clean up activity is going to be a yearly  activity by ALAA Members and Rockhounds visiting the Quartzsite area during the month of January.

ARE YOU WILLING TO DO A BLM/FORESTRY CLEAN-UP by Shirley Leeson ALAA President

ALAA  introduces clean up bag during the meeting  in Visaila, CA. November 12, 2011. The bags are used for  campsite and collecting site clean up.  "Pack out more than you Pack In!"  The bags will be available for Clubs and Societies usage in the next several months.

•    ALAA's Quartzsite BLM Clean Up makes BLM Arizona Facebook
•    BLM Timeline Photos

Several pick-up loads of trash totaling 3 tons were  collected by  ALAA Members and Rockhounds visiting Quartzsite.  The trash Pile was removed  from the BLM managed Public Land by Rangers from the Yuma BLM Field Office.  Keeping our public lands clean of trash and litter helps to keep our public lands open to all recreational activities.  ALAA and the Rockhounds would like to thank the BLM Yuma Field Office for their support in this year's Clean-up effort.

NEW TRAFFIC LAW - 2010 If a patrol car (In some states this includes any emergency or DOT vehicle with flashing lights) is pulled over to the side of the road, you have to change to the next lane (away from the stopped vehicle) OR slow down to at least 20 mph under the posted speed limit.  Every state except Hawaii and  Maryland and the D.C. has this law. In California, the Move-over law became operative on January 1, 2010 ..
 http://www.moveoveramerica.com/

Links to Rockhounding and Lapidary Sites

• New CA State Law AB1595 for ROV Goes in Effect Jan 1st 2013
• Travel Management Plans will change forever how you use the national forests and BLM land
• New Threat to Rockhounding on Public Lands - Desert Crust - Learn More
• Arizona Page - Click Here     NEW: Proposed USFS Rule could affect Rockhounding
• Fee Free Days at National Parks, Other Public Lands for 2013

• Latest Information on the Endangered Species Act for 2012
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announce Efforts to List Lesser Prairie-Chicken as a Threatened Species   Read More
• How the Endangered Species Act Changed Everything      June 2013
• The Road to Recovery    June 2013

• According to the National Mining Association, every American uses an average of nearly 40,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year. Learn more about the importance of minerals in our everyday lives here.

• "New rules for meteorite hunters unveiled" (Space.com, 10/11/12)
  BLM Instruction Memorandum No. 2012-182. "provides guidance to the BLM’s field office managers for administering the collection of meteorites on public lands in three 'use categories,' said Derrick Henry, a public affairs specialist for BLM in Washington, D.C. ... 'The policy recognizes that there is interest in collecting meteorites by hobbyists … but it also is recognition that there are science and commercial interests as well' ... It is the first time the BLM has formally addressed rules regarding collection of meteorites on public lands".
• Rear More................
• BLM Instruction Memorandum No. 2012-182
• FAQ - Meteorite Collecting on Public Land

This Website is an informational website for Rockhounds containing information on current and proposed legislation and regulations.  It contains information of interest pertaining to the hobby of  collecting of rocks, minerals and fossils. It is continually in a state of being revised and tries to maintain the latest information on subjects of interest to the Rockhounding Community. If you, the user, know of any legislation, regulation or points of interest to Rockhounding. Please contact us with the information you feel is of interest and it will be investigated for posting.  Contact can be made though the following email addresses. webmaster@amlands or info@amlands Enjoy the Website and Thank You for your support.

As a non-profit, grassroots organization funded primarily by membership dues and donations, we greatly appreciate your support. Visit the Membership Page to fund our efforts to help preserve your collecting areas!

USFS and BLM Begin Sage-Grouse Planning Efforts for Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Carson City and Battle Mountain Districts...  Learn More Here

Click here to learn more on the Greater Saqe-grouse! (Update as of November 2013)

ALAA - Rockhound Activist - Stickers are now available. Contact alaastore@amlands.org for more information and to place your order.                  

"ALAA advocates accessible and sustainable consumption of natural resources that comply with current laws and regulations on Federal and State Managed Public Lands by Amateur Rock, Mineral and Fossil collectors."

• To BLM Page
• To USFS Page

BLM ADVISORY COUNCILS - No Scheded meetings have been brought to our attention at this time.  Future meetings will be posted when available.                            Thank you for attending and keeping informed.

• What Legislation is hot in your State? Find out here!
• Public Lands Access Fees - Forest Service and BLM - Interactive Map
• MineCache & Google Earth for Mapping Gold Prospecting Locations
• Colorado - Boggy-Glade Travel Management Plan November 1, 2011

Airzona - California - Colorado - Nevada - New Mexico - Utah

Government Websites of Interest to Rockhounding  ** NEW **

"Speak Your Mind" - Let the world know what you know!

• US Radiation Map with Links to Japan and Alaska and Hawaii  - Added March 17, 2011 
• Editorials on Land Use Issues by Guest and Select Authors   NEW LINK

• Read Guest Editorials by Amy Granat - New articles November 2011

Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view most documents on this website.  Use the Adobe image at the left to download the free current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website.

This Corporation is organized and shall be operated as a nonprofit corporation exclusively for the promotion of social welfare as that term is used in section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provisions of any future federal income tax laws, with the specific purpose to promote and ensure the right of amateur collecting and recreational mining, and the use of public and private lands for educational and recreational purposes.

ALAA’s goal is to provide current information to the Rockhound Community on issues affecting access to existing and potential collecting sites. To provide advice and means to contact Public Land Managers and Legislators on actions affecting Recreational Collecting Activities of interest to the Rockhound Community.       ALAA has become an organization that is present wherever there are hobbyists and recreational users of our public lands whose interests and concerns are not being heard or are being jeopardized by proposed policy, regulation or legislation at the local, state and federal level.

                                                A SAD STORY
                            DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR TOWN
                                               Shirley Leeson
                                         president@amlands.org 

         Recently some folks in Dorris, CA contacted ALAA and CORVA for help.

The Klamath Forest in their area was implementing closures.  The local people wanted to make changes. Amy Granat of CORVA really tried to help but found it was TOO LATE.  No one had done the early homework of attending Forest Service meeting and sending in their ‘comments.’  Is there any help? Not unless the county wasn’t included in the earlier meetings as an equal partner of the forest service.        BEWARE, if you don’t get involved, YOU will find yourself in the same pickle as the people in Dorris, California.  When the Forest Service and/or BLM make noises about meetings and ask for comments, unless you actually do something….you won’t be able to come in at the last minute and change the end results.

ALAA – A NEW YEAR – 2013  by Shirley  Leeson

• AFMS Land Use Policy Statement 
• AFMS Code of Ethics

 ALAA, the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the 7 Regional Federations do not condone the collecting  of any type of specimens where collecting is against Federal, State or local laws, regulations, statues or ordnances.   Federation Members adhere to the AFMS Land Use Polices and the AFMS Code of Ethics while engaged in collecting of rocks, minerals or fossils.  The collecting of any vertebrae fossils on any federal lands is against federal law. The following is an account of one such incident. Read the Story