WESTERN SHORE - After two years of waiting, Dan Blankenship and his partnership group have finally received a treasure trove licence.

 Not that it's going to do them much good, the longtime treasure hunter said.

 The licence was one of five granted by the province late last week. Each licence expires on December 31, 2010, about five months from now.

 "They hold us up for two years and then they give us five months?" Mr. Blankenship said. "After that who knows what they are meaning to do? I don't know if they know what it means."

 Just days before the province granted the licence it announced it was repealing the Treasure Trove Act, meaning these five licences are the last to be granted by the province under that legislation.

 Any licences to be granted in the future will be under an amended act and will be for heritage purposes only, with all materials found becoming property of the province.

 As for Oak Island, the province also announced it would be governed under the new Oak Island Act, which the province hopes to table in the fall.

 All of this makes Mr. Blankenship a little apprehensive.

 "I don't feel gung-ho," he said. "Five months. They don't have a clue as to what it takes to get the process started. This isn't going to help us at all."

 As far as the province is concerned, there is no more information to give at this time.

 "It's a little too early to go get into details like that," said Michael Noonan, communications director with the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "My understanding is the new legislation will deal specifically with the circumstances surrounding Oak Island."

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 For his part, Mr. Blankenship said the fact there will be legislation specifically for the island is a positive.

 However, he said he's been in this game far too long, since 1965, to take anything for granted.

 "It's an act they envision. But it's nothing for government to take a year to make an act they can live with," the 87 year old said. "A year is nothing to them. But a year to me at my age means a lot."

 The Treasure Trove Act was enacted in 1954 to govern treasure hunting activities on Oak Island. Its scope was later expanded to cover licencing of salvage operations involving shipwrecks off Nova Scotia's coast.

 The creation of the Oak Island Act, reads a government media release, will ensure protection for the heritage resources in that area.

 The Friends of Oak Island Society, based in Western Shore, has been monitoring the situation closely.

 They are a little more optimistic about the proposed Oak Island Act.

 "Although the Oak Island Act details have yet to be established, we feel that the purpose of creating a unique act for the island will probably be to ensure that any new historical sites and archeological finds are preserved during the course of any treasure troving that takes place on the island," said society chairwoman Carolyn Ekins.

 "Theoretically, anything that ensures that historical sites and finds are preserved has to be a positive thing, although it will remain to be seen whether the new Oak Island Act will restrict any treasure hunting on the island. Oak Island is unique, therefore it hasn't surprised the Friends of Oak Island Society that the new act has been created."

 In a perfect world, the legislation would be tabled in the fall, as expected, and approved before December 31, so Mr. Blankenship and his partners could continue their searching without any disruption.

 But, Mr. Blankenship admits it's not a perfect world.

 "We'll just have to wait and see," he said. "I'm not expecting any miracles."

posted on 07/20/10