before you leave town
packing notes
the boring stuff that keeps a district from shutting casual use down. water and shade are on you. this list is about the law-shaped habits.
fill the holes
Casual use on BLM means you put the dirt back. A grid of open pits is how districts shut this down for everyone.
hand tools, not a tractor
43 CFR 3809: metal detector, pan, shovel, pick. Mechanized earth moving is not casual use. Suction dredge is not casual use.
dry washer under 10 hp
BLM Arizona IM AZ-2015-008: a dry washer with an engine under 10 horsepower, fed by hand, may still count as casual use. That is Arizona-specific. Confirm before you haul one.
14-day camping
Most BLM land: 14 days in a 28-day period, then move. This is not a claim cabin.
no artifacts
ARPA and the Arizona Antiquities Act: do not take items of human origin ~100+ years old from public land. No pots, no points, no buttons from a grave, no “just one nail.” If it looks like a person made it a long time ago, leave it.
shafts kill people
If you find a hole in the ground with timber or a black mouth, do not enter it. Do not lean over it. Report emergencies 911.