Isn't that the car that stalled way back when your grandpa and grandma were driving up to International Falls for Thanksgiving back in 1931? Didn't a big snowstorm move in later that day, and they had to take the train back home to Mankato, 'cause the Feds closed the roads due to snowfall? Didn't the roads wash out that following spring, and due to the Great Depression and lack of funds the Feds never rebuilt them, severely limiting access to the area? 'bout time you recovered that family heiloom, isn't it?
Geezzzz...when I read posts like this whole thread I'm happy that I live where I do. I don't blame people for saying you need to be SURE it isn't on private land...thats theft...but to be so afraid if its on unclaimed Government land is sad. In a park or protected land I can understand it too...but just lying in the middle of nowhere? The way I look at it is...some polluting bastard had the gall to just dump it there and screw up the scenery with an unwanted junk car...and YOU shouldn't have to fear removing it. Surely the Government isn't THAT anal about someone CLEANING UP! Up/over here you'd get a handshake and a thank you if someone in the Provincial or Federal Government heard you were pulling junk from the forest! As a 4 wheeler I've been involved in removal of wrecks from the path of new walking trails etc and the local "greenies" are pretty good people making an honest effort to clean things up that previous generations had no respect for. It blows my mind that people think you could get in trouble for cleaning up your world. Still...you guys know what your dealing with...I just wish you had it easier!
There's two different kinds of gov't land. The unclaimed, can be purchased and lived on free roaming type and the possible historic preservation, beit native american or civil war or trail related type land. If it were of something significant, then it's hands off. I used to live in TX and know of some ghost towns where it looks like everyone picked up and left. These places, while you can tell knowbody would care if something was missing, are usually the kind of situation in which it is technically illegal because of the historic significance. Kinda like those pretty places in NV or AZ that are abandoned but are still state protected, and also why there is no metal-detecting at Gettysburg. If it's literally in the middle of BFE and doesn't belong to someone or is on un-protected (preservation type) land then I wouldn't see any hassle.
Find a vin or serial number. donate $25 to a 501(c) 3 That woud have something to do with that land/area on your check write.. for auto # 1234etc... take copy of check then copy of receipt with you when you load it. Any hassle...produce papers. Then you can write it off at tax time.
With the attitude of this government administration, as soon as anything gets picked up, notice is taken that a crime has been commited. It was probably left there for some teabaggers to pick up. Just watch for cameras... LOL
Oh yes! Fully understand there are special circumstances for anything protected. Thats as it should be and is exactly the same here! Having a love for history, I think I'd go ape on anyone looting a preserved ghost town or the like! BFE...and not destroying nature to do it? Locally it would be fine, and I hope the same for this fella. His responsibility to be SURE though.
I used to work with the USFS on motorcycle trails, up until they wanted us to clear downed trees on a 40 mile trail system. On foot. Without a chainsaw unless we had been "certified". Considering that we cut and maintained those trails for 36 years, carrying chainsaws on ATV's, no one ever got hurt or even slightly killed. All because some bozo USFS guy went out on an ATV solo and managed to get himself killed. Naaaah, they arent anal, they cant see it when the ring is around their shoulders.
Just tell them bureaucrats that yo pappy left it there years ago and you're retrieving it. Make them PROVE it ain't yours. dj
Well if you get caught you could tell them you were just unloading it there because it would be out of sight. You'll get a ticket for littering and they will make you load it up and take it away.
Don't ask, just take your trailer and load it and go.PS if you get caught tell em you were appalled at this eyesore and just doing your civic duty by cleaning it up.
ALWAYS take a clip board with a bunch of old unrelated nonsense forms, act like your supposed to be there.... and that sierra club T shirt would be a nice touch.
Dude... just go grab that sumbitch before someone else does. LOL If you get caught, play dumb and say you were just trying to clean up the land you and your family hunt on. No harm no foul. Worst thing that I can realistically see happening is they tell you to take it back where it was. Chances of that happening are: 1 in 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 If you get in trouble over this, you should really consider playing the lotto that same day. And look out for lightning. -Chris
Make a little card to put in your wallet that says "Tree Hugging club of America" and if any body asks show them the card and tell them you are going to clean up the enviornment because the car has "lead paint" on it and you are doing mother earth a favor so their kids don't have to suffer for somebody not cleaning up a car. Also before you take the car check to make sure Jimmy Hoffa is not in the car. When you get to the car you have to take a picture of the way you found it and post it on this thread.
It is not illegal to clean up trash on federal land, provided it's legal to be on that land. Bring bags of trash with you, and if anyone asks anything tell them your cleaning up garbage, and these old, rusty junk car parts looked like trash to you.
We found a 29 or 30 sedan while we were hunting on gov. land by my dads house by the lake here in MO. He thought it was a bad idea to start taking it with out permission. That was 10 years ago, and to my knowledge it is still there and probably returning to the earth. When we started asking the neighbors that lived around the gov. land about it only one person even knew it was there and they some how had relation that owned the car 30 or so years ago. The owners donated the land to the dept of conservation when they died, and this relation of theirs threw a stink fit about us wanting the car. After about 6 months of trying to get permission from the conservation office they finally told us that we could not remove it or any part of the car. If I had it to do over I would have started to remove the car 1 or 2 peices at a time and it would not be rusting into the ground.
You can probably tell how many people know about the car by the number of bullet holes in it! Sticky situation, for sure.
A friend of mine here in Colorado found a trashed 37 Ford coupe on federal land in the mountains.He contacted the area forest ranger station and asked if he could haul the old junk car body out.They said go for it.It would cost a lot of hasstles for them to do it.They knew it was there . I personally would get permission first.Good luck.
As a county surveyor in Oregon, we often find bearing trees that were scribed by previous surveyors, sometimes 150+ years ago. To prove up on a potentially scribed tree (i.e, an 8" Oak in 1853 may now be 56" in diameter), we often use chain saws to 'box' out a small window to discover the scribing, for irrefutable proof of the survey corner. Well, the wonderful Antiquities Act folks now threaten us with large fines for doing this, since most of these trees are way older than 50 years. I'll keep cutting into them until I retire. If we get hit with a fine, I'll let our county legal counsel fight the buggers at the state and federal level.
The Jalopy Journal
