Permits & rules
BLM vs Forest Service collecting in Utah
Both can be “federal public land.” That does not mean the same collecting memo.
BLM (typical casual use)
On many ordinary BLM tracts: personal collecting of common rocks and specimens, hand tools, no sale, inside the 25/250 weight story — unless a monument, ACEC, or local order says no.
National Forest (USFS)
Many forests allow limited personal collecting of common rocks and minerals, but the forest and ranger district set the details. Some require a free personal-use permit. Some close collecting in research natural areas, wilderness, or developed sites. Wilderness often means surface collection only — or none.
Do not paste the BLM 25-pound sentence onto a Forest Service slope and call it done.
How to tell which you’re on
- Ownership / agency layer: BLM vs Forest Service.
- If Forest Service, read that forest’s rock and mineral page (Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache, Ashley — they are not one rule).
- Wilderness and special orders override the brochure.
Informational only. Call the ranger district. A forest name on a trail sign is not a collecting permit.