A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF WWATS
As president of WWATS (World Wide Association of Treasure Seekers), my resolution is to make a major difference for the treasure hunter and prospector in America. Already we have traveled to Washington D.C. to speak with the Forest Service and have many new ideas for our common past times. More trips to Washington will be made to strengthen our recreational detecting and prospecting relations.
WWATS is a new organization and is not only nationwide, but worldwide. There are already over 1800 members in WWATS. The membership ratio between prospectors and detectorists/collectors is about equal with a few other hobbyists joining in.
Membership is FREE and is good for 3 years. We have an annual open hunt which is also FREE to all members each year. For such an organization to survive, it must rely on the good and dedicated hearts of it's members. Some of the manufacturers are now supporting WWATS.
The Focus of WWATS is to be an information center, providing special training as necessary to understand our relationships with, and to openly approach, our government agencies, seeking ways our hobby can co-exist within the rules and regulations used to govern public lands today. WWATS shall be a proactive organization, not a reactive one.
We will NOT oppose existing state and national organizations in our hobby. We are here to provide a service to all detectorists and prospectors. It has taken us over a year now to find the best of the best people in our hobby to serve on our board-of-directors. Each of the board members are executive material, finest in their field and very dedicated to solving the problems that exist within our hobby. We feel we have the finest Washington based lobbyist, several very intelligent attorneys, an outstanding legislative liaison, several major publishers, the best of the diver/prospector/detectorist community and several CEO's of major manufacturers on our board. As I said before, each of them are very dedicated to our cause and will be the best in intelligent problem solving in the future.
The recent visit to Washington proved one very important thing, we have not met with those officials on a one-to-one basis and presented to them an organized and proposal for co-existence. WWATS will be the one organization taking those necessary steps for us all to continue to enjoy the hobby we so dearly love.
Hopefully, you will join us in that effort. Become an active member of WWATS today.
Keith Wills, President
