In fact, the rules might even be more strict.

"We don't even want you leaving footprints any more," said Canyonlands National Park's Paul Henderson, referring to rules against going off trail to protect fragile ecosystems.

Many public land agencies are cracking down on collecting to protect natural and historical resources.

The stricter rules and stepped up enforcement - especially on Bureau of Land Management lands - are catching many collectors by surprise. "People think they can go on public lands and collect whatever they want. So they do," said Rick Dalrymple, a rock collector and owner of Rock Pick Legend in Salt Lake City.

Rocks are only one of the things people like to collect. Among the other popular items: firewood, mushrooms, Christmas trees, wildflowers, pine nuts and autumn leaves. Some are collected legally when a permit, free in many cases, is acquired, but many people break the law without even bothering to check for rules.

Part of the confusion stems from the varying policies among the land agencies.

Collecting regulations on BLM lands, for example, can vary from area to area and have become more difficult to understand in recent years.

Meghan Crandall of the BLM's Utah State Office said that collectors who want to take such things as decorative rock or plant specimens need to contact the agency office closest to where they are going to do the collecting to see what permits might be needed and what is allowed. The same advice comes from officials with the Forest Service.

There is one blanket rule, Crandall said, that applies not only to BLM lands but to all publicly owned state and federal lands in Utah: No one is allowed to remove any cultural resource, such as pieces of ancient pottery or arrowheads, or take any paleontological resource, such as dinosaur bones.

"Unless you are specifically permitted to take something, the best rule of thumb is to leave it there," she said.

While a child collecting a rock, a guy collecting a bouquet of wildflowers to impress his girl or a grandmother taking a few autumn leaves home for decoration from a national forest will likely not be prosecuted, these common practices are technically illegal.

"Our primary goal is to educate forest visitors and help them learn why we have these types of rules to protect them and the forests," said Loyal Clark of the Uinta and Wasatch-Cache National Forests.

She said a Forest Service law enforcement officer would be unlikely to issue a ticket to a child or autumn leaf collector but might stop to explain why it is illegal. When a citation is written, the fine could vary between $75 to $150, depending on the resource illegally collected and the situation.

If an officer determines the illegal activity - like collecting firewood without a permit - involved resource damage and that the suspect intentionally ignored the law, the citation could come with a mandatory court appearance, a fine up to $5,000 and up to five years in jail.

"We want visitors to explore and enjoy their 42 state parks but we also want to educate them about how to protect park resources so that their children and grandchildren may enjoy them," said Mary Tulius, director of Utah State Parks.

That doesn't mean that some items can't be collected.

Antlers shed from wild animals, for example, can be removed during certain times and it's OK to take a gallon of water containing brine shrimp from the Great Salt Lake.

With a permit, firewood and Christmas trees can be collected. It is possible for hobbyists to obtain permits from some U.S. Forest Service, BLM and state lands to collect rocks. Free permits are required for some collecting simply to provide a means of educating people about the resource and limiting the take. Christmas tree permits, probably the most popular public land collecting request in the state, are $10 on Forest Service lands.

Firewood permits run $7 to $10, with limits ranging from two to four chords annually.

"Our standard policy is that nothing is to be removed unless you have a permit," said the forest service's Loyal Clark. "We advocate just leaving with photos as your memory of a visit."

One alternative is to get permission to collect on private land, something a number of hobbyists are doing.

TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.