I have held my tongue / finger for a while but I want to vent.
First about ten per cent of the pothunters do the most damage.
I was the president of the state society and we made a concentrated effort to
get more involvement with avocationals before and well after my term ....
state "do it right group" is losing members by the day and "look what I dug up"
group getting bigger.
I Involved hunters at sites and got back:
>The novices learned where to find more stuff....
> Learned better digging techniques so don't damage / break stuff as often...
> "Crew " came back and looted sites we were trying to preserve on private
land....
> Local guys with high tech equipment were caught looting CW site on State
property the biggest fear was that a felony conviction could cause them to lose
the rights to go on organized digs here and in the UK... more worry than
losing money and boat......
> Biggest hunter in area is a drug dealer......covicted in another state and
warrants out here....
>Land owners letting hunters on land to get rid of the buarials and
artifacts so they do not have to worry about the resources when applying for permits
or dealing with the state burial law......
>Law enforcement has borrowed surface and non associated finds from
unidentified sites to use to gain access to groups of both drugs trafficers and game
poachers.
I can remember days with the NPS when they would come on sites at night with
black out tents.
I can also remember when some parks were hit so staffs would be pulled off
and busy and a second group would come in and get enough stuff to pay all fines
and make a profit.
Hunting is about as old as antiquity itself. The archaeological community
will not stop it, it will continue as long as the US "I got mine " mentality
exists. Only when there is an onus placed by society in addition to the law will
there be changes.
Jim Parker