The Democrats are trying to pass a public lands bill here. Besides, fossil enthusiasts are too small a group to be worth any consideration past the minimum. From CQ (no link, sorry):
A public lands bill on its way to the House floor is meeting resistance from an unlikely constituency: amateur fossil hunters.
The bill (S 22), which encompasses dozens of measures to expand national park and wilderness areas, includes language that would impose criminal and civil penalties on people who take fossils from federal lands. But Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, opposes the provision so much that he is rallying opposition to the bill.
“I’m only asking that this section be stripped out,” said Culberson, who is concerned about its impact on casual collectors. Culberson himself is an amateur fossil hound who once discovered a wolf jaw from the Ice Age. “They’re going to destroy the hobby of fossil collecting,” he said.
Continue reading Well, so *what* if kids can’t hunt for fossils?