What may I collect on BLM land, and how much?

On land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), you may collect "reasonable amounts" of rocks, mineral specimens and semiprecious gemstones for noncommercial purposes, without a permit, using hand tools and metal detectors [1][2]. There is no national pound limit for rocks and minerals; the regulation sets none and the BLM's own FAQ gives none [1][2]. The daily and yearly pound limits often quoted online belong to the separate federal rule for petrified wood. Collecting is generally off limits at developed recreation sites, on active mining claims, where the minerals are privately owned, and in areas the BLM has closed [2][3]. This page explains each part of the rule and how to apply it before you go.

The regulation in plain language

The rule is 43 CFR 8365.1-5, part of the BLM's visitor regulations. It has three paragraphs that matter to a rockhound.

Paragraph (b): what you may take

The permission reads: "Except on developed recreation sites and areas, or where otherwise prohibited and posted, it is permissible to collect from the public lands reasonable amounts of the following for noncommercial purposes:" [1]. The list that follows includes:

• "Nonrenewable resources such as rocks, mineral specimens, and semiprecious gemstones;"
• "Petrified wood as provided under subpart 3622 of this title;"
• mineral materials under subpart 3604, and common invertebrate and plant fossils under 43 CFR Part 49 [1].

The BLM explains noncommercial as meaning "the collector is not selling the items for a business or financial gain" [2][3].

Paragraph (a)(3): no machines

You may not use "explosive, motorized or mechanical devices, except metal detectors, to aid in the collection of specimens permitted under paragraph (b) or (c) of this paragraph" [1]. Hand tools are the norm. A full comparison of tools across land managers is on which tools you may use on public land.

Paragraph (c): collecting for sale

"The collection of renewable or nonrenewable resources from the public lands for sale or barter to commercial dealers may be done only after obtaining a contract or permit from an authorized officer in accordance with part 3600 or 5400 of this chapter" [1]. What you take under the reasonable-amounts allowance is for your own collection. The selling rules are on selling material collected on public land.

Why there is no national pound limit for rocks

"Reasonable amounts" is the whole quantity standard. The BLM's FAQ (file dated February 28, 2024; the document itself prints no date) asks "May members of the public collect rocks, mineral specimens, and semiprecious gemstones on public lands managed by the BLM?" and answers "Generally, yes," citing the reasonable-amounts language, with no figure [2]. The BLM's national rockhounding page also gives none [3].

The pound figures that circulate online come from a different regulation, 43 CFR 3622.4, which applies only to petrified wood and sets a daily and a yearly limit for it [4]. Those figures and the conditions attached to them are on petrified wood on public land.

State-office guidelines

A BLM state office can publish its own guidance for what it considers reasonable. BLM Arizona's brochure (BLM/AZ/GI-14/009) says: "BLM sets the 'reasonable' limits for personal use as up to 25 pounds per day, with a total limit of 250 pounds per year," and applies those figures to "mineral specimens, common invertebrate fossils, semiprecious gemstones, rock, and petrified wood" [5]. That is BLM Arizona's guideline for Arizona, not a national rule. The brochure carries no printed date; its file name suggests a 2014 publication posted in a 2018 web version. The BLM's national rockhounding page still links an Arizona rockhounding guide as of October 2026 [3], but this page could not confirm that the brochure is current, so ask the Arizona state office before relying on it. The Arizona details, including state trust land, are on rockhounding in Arizona.

Judging a reasonable amount without a number

Without a number, use the purpose test the rule gives you. Noncommercial, personal use, and amounts that fit a hobby collection are inside it. A truckload of landscape rock is not: the BLM sells common materials such as "sand, gravel, topsoil, landscaping rocks" under a permit or contract [6]. The rockhound's code of ethics many clubs follow puts the same idea in one line: "I will cause no damage to collecting material and will take home only what I can reasonably use" (point 10, Washington State Mineral Council text) [7]. If you are unsure whether your plans are reasonable, ask the field office and write down the answer.

Where the allowance does not apply

Collecting where it is prohibited can bring criminal or civil penalties under 43 CFR 8360.0-7, according to the BLM's FAQ [2].

Two rows in that table cause most trouble. Mining claims are often unmarked or marked only with old posts, and they cover a great deal of good collecting ground; how to check is on mining claims: how to check and what they mean for you. Private mineral estate under federal surface does not show on most recreation maps; ask the field office. Monuments are covered on national parks and national monuments.

What is not covered by the rock rule

The reasonable-amounts allowance is for rocks, mineral specimens and semiprecious gemstones. Other things you find on the same ground have different rules:

• Petrified wood: its own daily and yearly weight limits, no sale [4]; see petrified wood on public land.
• Fossils: common invertebrate fossils for personal use, which "may not be bartered or sold"; vertebrate fossils only by researchers under permit [6]; see collecting fossils on public land.
• Arrowheads and artifacts: "Cultural materials on public lands may not be removed, damaged, disturbed, excavated, or transferred without a BLM permit" [6]; see arrowheads and other artifacts.
• Meteorites: a separate BLM policy with its own history; see meteorites on public land.

Designated rockhound areas

Some BLM offices manage sites specifically for collectors, with signs, maps and sometimes their own rules. The BLM's national rockhounding page links, among others, the Black Hills and Round Mountain rockhound areas in Arizona, the Wiley Well geode beds and the Chambless and Savahia Peak collecting areas in California, Garnet Hill in Nevada, the Sunstone Collection Area in Oregon, and the Dugway Geode Beds and Topaz Mountain in Utah [3]. These are good first trips: the land status is settled, and the local rules are posted. Read each site's page before you go, since a site's rules can be narrower than the general regulation.

Checking before a trip

1. Confirm the spot is BLM land and not a park, state section or private parcel (how to find out).
2. Call or visit the BLM field office. The BLM directs collectors to their "local BLM office" for restrictions and closures [2]. Ask about closures, monument objects, wilderness, and known claims.
3. Check for mining claims in the sections you plan to visit.
4. Pack hand tools and, if you like, a metal detector.
5. Record what you collected, where and when, in your field notes. The record supports the specimen's label and shows it was collected lawfully.

Before you dig: claims

The single most common way a careful rockhound ends up collecting someone else's minerals on BLM land is an unnoticed mining claim. The check takes a few minutes online: mining claims: how to check and what they mean for you.

References

1. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 8365.1-5 Property and resources (as amended through 87 FR 47329, Aug. 2, 2022), read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/8365.1-5
2. Bureau of Land Management, *Public Collection of Rocks, Mineral Specimens, and Semiprecious Gemstones on Public Lands for Noncommercial Purposes: FAQ*, file dated February 28, 2024. https://muleapi.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2024-02/BLM-Rock-Collection-FAQs_2-28-24.pdf
3. Bureau of Land Management, *Rockhounding on Public Lands*, read October 22, 2026. https://blm.gov/programs/recreation/rockhounding
4. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 43 CFR 3622.4 Collection rules, read October 22, 2026. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/43/3622.4
5. Bureau of Land Management, Arizona, *Rockhounding in Arizona*, BLM/AZ/GI-14/009 (no printed date; web file dated 2018). https://BLM.GOV/sites/default/files/documents/files/2014%20Rockhounding_14_web_2018.pdf
6. Bureau of Land Management, *Can I Keep This? A Guide to Collecting on Public Lands*, BLM/MT/GI-11/007, revised 2021. https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2021-10/Can%20I%20Keep%20This%202021%20-%20508%20Final%20Version.pdf
7. Washington State Mineral Council, *The Rockhound's Code of Ethics*, as reproduced by GeoNord. https://geonord.org/ethics/rockhound.shtml