We don't do Wik here. It's left wing, eh?
Here's the entire section on the law. I'm looking,but I don't see an exception made for drilling rigs. May be in the actual law, if you want to check it out.
APPLICABLE LAWS
The role of law enforcers has expanded recently; enforcement of laws relating to the preservation of history has become a key responsibility in some jurisdictions. These agencies have realized that law enforcement, in addition to protecting life and property, must preserve the past as well. While federal law has prohibited looting from federal or Native American properties since the beginning of the 20th century, enforcement of those laws rarely occurred until about 20 years ago. The Archeological Resources Protection Act, which became law in 1979, was strengthened in 1988, mainly to overcome obstacles encountered during prosecutions. A general-intent law, ARPA prohibits people from excavating, damaging, defacing, altering, or removing archeological resources (or attempting these acts) from public or Native American lands without a permit.6
To be protected resources under ARPA, looted objects must constitute evidence of past human existence, possess archeological interest (not necessarilynsignifi-cance), and be over 100 years old. Objects, or resources, are defined broadly to include not only such relics as pottery, tools, and shipwrecks but also rock art, skeletal remains, features of houses or other construction, and even vegetal remains or organic waste.
Of particular interest to state and local law enforcement, however, is ARPA's commercial provision. No one may sell, purchase, exchange, or transport resources (or offer to do the same) in violation of ARPA, any other federal law, or any state or local law. Thus, looters who dig up Native American relics on private property without permission and traffic those relics across state lines violate ARPA.
The 1988 amendments to ARPA included a felony threshold of $500. If the cost to repair a damaged resource plus either the commercial value of the stolen artifacts or the archeological value (usually measured as the cost of retrieving archeological information from the site through scientific investigation) exceeds $500, then the crime is a felony. Under this definition of value, then, most ARPA cases are felony investigations. The law also prohibits attempts to destroy, damage, or remove protected resources, so that officers do not have to idly stand by and watch while looters destroy those resources.7
As a result of over a decade of prosecutions, ARPA "is well ensconced in the legal landscape."8 Indeed, formidable and inventive challenges to ARPA in the courts have affirmed the law's utility and effectiveness. In the late 1980s, for example, Bradley Owen Austin was convicted for looting in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. He challenged the constitutionality of ARPA, claiming vagueness, and also argued that he had the right to hunt relics to further his education. The court ruled against him, reinforcing the notion that public lands are held in the public trust. Another more recent case affirmed ARPA's jurisdiction over interstate trafficking in antiquities stolen in violation of state law.
ARPA contains other features that make it attractive to law enforcement. In addition to calling for criminal penalties, ARPA permits civil recourse through an administrative law judge. Also, relic hunters convicted under ARPA forfeit their assets, including vehicles, equipment or tools, contraband, and clothing. |
