Are you looking for a rockhound resource? Are you just getting into lapidary and want to join a club? Not sure about the legal or cultural aspects of rockhounding? The following are excellent resources for budding rockhounds and miners. Many people are self-taught, but getting involved with a local club if you’re planning to go digging is a quicker way to learn from seasoned pros.
Since digging for crystals is, by and far, an off-the-beaten-path activity, it is physically safer to go with a group who knows what they’re doing. Learning from people who are already passionate about digging will also help you avoid any legal missteps in the rockhounding community.
If you prefer to go solo, make sure you have good equipment, maps, and rock digging field books to help get you where you need to go, safely.
Rock & Gem Clubs and Lapidary Clubs in Washington State can be found on the NFMS site.
Friends of Mineralogy: The non-profit, Friends of Mineralogy, is a national organization that includes nearly a dozen chapters from coast to coast, whose members share a common love of minerals. Their objective is to promote, support, protect, and expand the collecting of mineral specimens, while furthering the recognition of the scientific, economic, and aesthetic value of minerals and mineral collecting. Membership includes collectors, museum curators, mineralogists, and earth science educators.
American Federation of Mineralogical Society: A non-profit education federation of seven similar regional organization of gem, mineral, and lapidary societies.
Northwest Federation of Mineralogical Society: The Northwest Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies, Inc. was organized in 1938 to bring about a closer association of Clubs and Societies devoted to the study of the Earth Sciences and the practice of the Lapidary Arts and related crafts in the northwest portion of the United States.
Washington State Mineral Council: The Washington State Mineral Council is dedicated to the location and conservation of rock and mineral sites of interest to the rockhounds of Washington state.
American Lands Access Association: Informational website for Rockhounds containing information on current and proposed legislation and regulations. It contains information of interest pertaining to the hobby of collecting of rocks, minerals and fossils. It is continually in a state of being revised and tries to maintain the latest information on subjects of interest to the Rockhounding Community.