[meteorite-list] Roadside Hunting and Ownership

[Brian Burrer]

Greetings List,

I have been following with interest the recent chatter concerning BLM
regulations; questions arise in my mind concerning roadside
recoveries.
I would guess that ownership of the find could vary widely depending
on what roadside it was found on.
Rural county roads in Texas are typically privately owned; the land
under the road is owned by individuals who pay taxes on it just like
the rest of their land.  The road is public but the bar-ditch is
private; ownership clearly falls to the landowner.
But what about state and federal highway margins; this is not
typically (maybe ever) BLM land so what rules apply?