Thanks to all 251 people who signed the petition to restore metal detecting in New Orleans City Park! Ever since the ban was quietly implemented in April, several detectorists have been seeking an official explanation. I reached out to City Park administrators with three separate emails, requesting a reason for the ban to share with everyone. Sixty-four days later, on July 1, I received the response below. Please review the following for the park's rationale for the metal detecting ban:

Dear Mr. Rayner,

Thank you for reaching out and we apologize in any delay to your inquiry. Denise shared your message regarding the Park's implementation of a policy prohibiting metal detecting and digging within City Park.

This was due to a combination of safety and operational concerns. Several departments across the Park reported repeated issues with holes being dug and left unfilled near high-traffic areas such as swing sets, playgrounds, flower beds, and open green spaces. This created safety hazards for other Park users and increased the maintenance burden on our staff. Additionally, the Park contains numerous underground utilities, such as electrical lines and water pipes, which pose a significant risk to individuals digging, as well as to the Park’s infrastructure.

We consulted with the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, including Dr. Rachel Watson with the Department of Cultural Development, who advised of the below statutes and recommended we adhere to State Law regarding metal detecting and digging in City Park.

We understand this may be disappointing news to the detecting community, and we appreciate your willingness to help clarify the reasons behind the policy change. We hope this information will help answer the outstanding questions circulating within your networks.

Please feel free to reach out if we can provide any further information.

§1605. Archaeological finds on state land; state property

A. All sunken or abandoned pre-twentieth century ships and wrecks of the sea and any part of the contents thereof and all archaeological treasure located in, on or under the surface of lands belonging to the state of Louisiana, including its tidelands, submerged lands and beds of its rivers, and the sea within the jurisdiction of this state are hereby declared to be the sole property of the state of Louisiana, under the administration and protection of the secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, hereinafter in this Chapter referred to as the "secretary".

B. It shall be unlawful for any agency, political subdivision, group, or person to take, alter, damage, destroy, or excavate on state-owned lands as herein described without first obtaining a permit or contract from the secretary. Permits shall be issued for purely scientific and educational projects and only when all recovered materials are to remain the property of the state and when there is to be no compensation to the permittee based on the value of the recovered remains. Contracts shall be entered into for recovery of materials when compensation is to be made to the contract holder based on the value of the recovered remains.

Acts 1989, No. 291, §1.

§1610. Prohibited excavations

A. No person, not being the owner thereof, shall without the consent of the owner enter or attempt to enter upon the lands of another and intentionally injure, disfigure, remove, excavate, damage, take, dig into, or destroy any sites or artifacts addressed by R.S. 41:1604(1).

B.(1) No person may excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface any archaeological resource located on state lands unless such activity is approved by the agency with ownership responsibilities over the lands and is authorized under a permit issued pursuant to R.S. 41:1606.

(2) No person may sell, purchase, exchange, transport, or receive or offer to sell, purchase, or exchange any archaeological resource if such resource was excavated or removed from state lands in violation of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.

(3) Any person who knowingly violates or counsels, procures, solicits, or employs any other person to violate any prohibition contained in Paragraph (1) or (2) of this Subsection shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. However, if the commercial value of the archaeological resources involved and the cost of restoration and repair of such resources exceeds the sum of five hundred dollars, such person shall be fined not more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. In the case of a second or subsequent violation, upon conviction, such person shall be fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(4) All archaeological resources collected, transferred, or sold in violation of this Subsection shall be forfeited to the state.

(5) All vehicles and equipment of any person that were used in connection with the violation of this Subsection may be forfeited to the state.

(6) Nothing contained in this Subsection shall apply to any person with respect to any archaeological resource that was in the lawful possession of such person prior to June 26, 2001.

(7) For the purpose of this Subsection, "archaeological resource" shall mean any material remains of past human life or activities that are of archaeological interest which shall include but not be limited to pottery, basketry, bottles, weapon projectiles, tools, structures or portions of structures, human skeletal remains, Civil War artifacts, or any portion or piece of the foregoing items.

Acts 1989, No. 291, §1; Acts 2001, No. 938, §1, eff. June 26, 2001.

Thank you,

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Casie Duplechain 

Chief External Relations Officer