Code of Ethics

As members of the Bay Area Metal Detecting Association:

1. We will always check federal, state, county, and local laws before searching. It is our responsibility to know the law.
2. We appreciate and protect our inheritance of natural resources, wildlife, and will not enter private property without the owner’s permission.
3. We will always leave locations better than we found them which includes filling and repairing all holes whether we made them ourselves or not, removing trash and litter, and using the proper tools to avoid creating damage.
4. As ambassadors of the hobby, we will use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy at all times.
5. We will work to help bring unity to our hobby by working with any organization of geographic area that may have problems that will limit their ability to peacefully pursue the hobby.
6. When an object’s owner is known, we will do our part and make a good effort to return the object to the owner. Under California Penal Code Section 485[i], it is illegal to take lost property when you have knowledge of the identity of the true owner or the ability to seek information about who the property belongs to. Wrongful appropriation of lost property is considered a form of “theft” or “larceny” under PC 485.*