When considering the legalities of rock, mineral, or fossil collecting, the foremost principle is that a collector cannot legally take rocks, minerals, or fossils without the permission or consent of whoever has a legal right to those rocks, mineral, or fossils. Admittedly, this framework may seem overly technical and complicated when applied to small, loose, easily-taken stones located on the surface of land. Surely, it might appear, there would be no real harm or illegality in taking a few loose stones for personal use from unused, natural land when out on a brief hike. Nonetheless, this framework is the one in which questions of the legality of collecting even small, loose stones would be answered if such legal questions are raised. In every state taking the property of another, which would ostensibly extend even to rocks and other specimens, could violate criminal theft or larceny laws and serve as the basis for a lawsuit for civil liability against the person collecting the rocks from the land of another without permission. Many criminal laws are written in terms of wrongfully taking or exercising control or possession over property belonging to someone else.8 With such broad language, it becomes easy to see how property owners and law enforcement officials could interpret and apply these criminal laws to rocks and other specimens located on private property. One man from Michigan, who was arrested for taking stones placed in a road median for his garden and ended up paying in excess of $1,000.00 in fines and fees, provides one such example. Another Michigan man who took landscaping rocks from restaurant property was similarly charged with larceny and fined. The three people charged with stealing rocks from a levee in Arkansas are yet another example. There is no shortage of instances where people have been criminally or civilly charged for taking rocks and other specimens from the property of others.
