California Law

According to the Office of Historic Preservation, California Public Resources code 5097.5 governs the removal of artifacts on state lands. The law prohibits a person from excavating, removing or destroying an artifact of historic or prehistoric importance. This includes removing any ruins or artifacts from native burial grounds and fossilized vertebrate paleontological remains. This law was enacted to protect sites from being stripped by looters. If you plan to use a metal detector on state land you must obtain a permit.

Native American Artifacts

California Public Resource Code 5097.9 protects Native American artifacts. This law restricts a person from tampering or removing objects from a Native American burial site on state property by any means, including metal detecting.

Federal Laws

Three federal statutes protect artifacts from removal from federal lands according to the site Metal-Detecting---Ghost-Towns-of-The-East. They are the American Antiquities Act of 1906, The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. The first act states you need a permit to remove artifacts from federal land. The second law reiterates the first and then defines who can get the permits, usually trained archeologists. The third statute redefines archeological resource to further protect Native American sites.

California State Parks and National Parks

California State Parks and National Parks also regulate the removal of historical artifacts or in some cases ban metal detecting. The state does not specifically outlaw metal detection but bans the removal of historical artifacts in section 4308 of the general provisions. The National Parks system prohibits metal detecting in all national parks in their rules section 2.1, paragraph 7.