This
USA Today story has implications for every national park, including the one near you. Some of these national parks are vast spaces. On average, according to
the story, the park service has one law enforcement officer for every
56,000 acres:
Looting of fossils and archaeological
artifacts from national parks -- such as Native American pottery and
Civil War relics -- is increasing as demand for such items rises on the
Internet and the world market, U.S. National Park Service officials say.
Over the past decade, an average of 340
"significant" looting incidents have been reported annually at the 391
national parks, monuments, historic sites and battlefields -- probably
less than 25 percent of the actual number of thefts, says park service staff
ranger Greg Lawler. "The trends are up," he says.
What happens to many of those looted items? They're sold:
The most coveted items can cost "in the tens of thousands, sometimes
hundreds of thousands of dollars," (Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, manager of the FBI art theft program) says. Thieves caught last year
at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park sold a
Confederate belt buckle for $3,300 and buttons for $200 each.
The
story has a sobering ending:
Todd Swain, a National Park Service special agent, says the problem is
far worse than statistics show. In a report he wrote for the 2007 Yearbook of Cultural Property Law
he concluded, "The true scope of the looting problem is staggering. …
Our shared cultural heritage is disappearing before our eyes."
Read more
USA Today coverage
here.
