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Panel OKs overhaul of laws on artifacts
Divers favor proposal to ease restrictions on removing historical items from state waters
Thursday, February 17, 2005
By SALLIE OWEN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY -- An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday OK'd a controversial overhaul of state laws governing who can legally remove historical artifacts from beneath state waters.
More than 60 people attended a public hearing on the proposal in Montgomery, though only a handful were allowed to speak due to time constraints.
The bill's sponsor promised that he would not bring the measure to a floor vote until a compromise is reached. "If we can't come to some agreement," Sen. Jack Biddle, R-Gardendale, said, "it will just sit there."
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The debate pits trained, professional historians and archaeologists against relic and artifact hunters, who say they also want to preserve Alabama's history. Another theme of the controversy is profit from the lucrative artifact market.
"You can go on eBay and see these relics being sold," said Robert Thrower, tribal historic preservation officer for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, who said he battles looting constantly.
Under current law, people do not need a permit to scuba dive in state waters, said Brandon Brazil, a spokesman for the Alabama Historical Commission. A recreational diving permit is available but not required, he said.
Divers who are excavating, extracting artifacts or systematically looking for an object are required to obtain permits, he said. Since the current law was enacted in 1999, the state has granted permits for 14 of 15 applications, he said. For example, a permit was granted to search for the Pioneer 2, which preceded the Confederate submarine CSS H.L. Hunley and is thought by some to rest in Mobile Bay, he said.
Biddle, who said he is an amateur archaeologist, introduced the bill favored by divers, who say the current law is too strict.
Steve Phillips, who was arrested for removing a Civil War-era weapon from the Alabama River at Selma, complained that under the current law you have to hire a licensed archaeologist to legally visit many sites. The case against Phillips, who owns Southern Skin Diver Supply in Birmingham, is set for trial on March 21.
Phillips, who said he does not sell the relics he retrieves, called professional archaeologists "licensed grave robbers" and said the state is uncooperative about issuing permits.
Bob Cox, owner of Gulf Coast Divers in Mobile, agreed that the Historical Commission is difficult to work with. When regulations were being developed to enforce the existing law, Cox said he was told that changes would be made based on questions he raised. He was also asked to serve on an advisory board.
Cox told committee members Wednesday that the changes were not made and he never heard back from the commission.
Biddle's friend, Archie Phillips, who hosts a syndicated outdoor television show, said recreational divers and other amateur historians make significant contributions. "You archaeology people get my goat," Phillips said. "You think you've got a monopoly on brains."
The context of a find is just as important as the object, according to George Ewert, director of the Museum of Mobile. "Whatever you see down there you just can't bring up and cart off," he said.
Ewert said a strong law is needed to protect Alabama's underwater cultural resources, but there should be allowances for incidental finds. He also noted that the law only applies to items more than 50 years old.
Ewert, who is also chairman of the Historical Commission's Maritime Advisory Council, said there are more than 300 shipwrecks in and around Mobile Bay plus innumerable other underwater historic sites statewide.
If these things are looted or exploited, "it would create incalculable damage to an unrenewable resource," Ewert said. Discussions are already in progress between historians and "the more responsible members of the diving community," he said.
A bill on this subject was also introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives, where a small group is working on a compromise. The House bill is still in committee.
Thrower also opposed the bill on behalf of the Creek Indians and several other tribes. He said Creeks have lived in Alabama for 12,000 years, and many of their historic sites are now under water. "If anything is disturbed or removed without documentation, the site is destroyed," Thrower said.
Biddle said the 1999 law was passed during "baseball," a process where each senator gets to try to pass a non-controversial bill late in the session. Each senator gets a turn to call up a bill, and if opposition emerges, the senator can try to get a vote on another bill. Each senator gets to try up to three bills, similar to baseball's three strikes.
"In baseball, you don't have time to read the bill," Biddle said. "I never want to play that goofy game again."
He said the sponsor -- then-state Sen. George Callahan, R-Theodore -- promised that the bill only applied to shipwrecks in Mobile Bay. Callahan told the Mobile Register Wednesday afternoon that the bill was always designed to protect items in waterways all over the state, which he said belong to everyone -- not to a handful of divers.
State-owned river bottoms are just like state parks, said Brazil, noting that it's illegal for citizens to search the grounds of Fort Morgan with metal detectors.
Artifacts "are found on state property, so they belong to all of Alabama," Brazil said. "Too many people follow the finders-keepers rule.
Divers favor proposal to ease restrictions on removing historical items from state waters
Thursday, February 17, 2005
By SALLIE OWEN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY -- An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday OK'd a controversial overhaul of state laws governing who can legally remove historical artifacts from beneath state waters.
More than 60 people attended a public hearing on the proposal in Montgomery, though only a handful were allowed to speak due to time constraints.
The bill's sponsor promised that he would not bring the measure to a floor vote until a compromise is reached. "If we can't come to some agreement," Sen. Jack Biddle, R-Gardendale, said, "it will just sit there."
Advertisement
The debate pits trained, professional historians and archaeologists against relic and artifact hunters, who say they also want to preserve Alabama's history. Another theme of the controversy is profit from the lucrative artifact market.
"You can go on eBay and see these relics being sold," said Robert Thrower, tribal historic preservation officer for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, who said he battles looting constantly.
Under current law, people do not need a permit to scuba dive in state waters, said Brandon Brazil, a spokesman for the Alabama Historical Commission. A recreational diving permit is available but not required, he said.
Divers who are excavating, extracting artifacts or systematically looking for an object are required to obtain permits, he said. Since the current law was enacted in 1999, the state has granted permits for 14 of 15 applications, he said. For example, a permit was granted to search for the Pioneer 2, which preceded the Confederate submarine CSS H.L. Hunley and is thought by some to rest in Mobile Bay, he said.
Biddle, who said he is an amateur archaeologist, introduced the bill favored by divers, who say the current law is too strict.
Steve Phillips, who was arrested for removing a Civil War-era weapon from the Alabama River at Selma, complained that under the current law you have to hire a licensed archaeologist to legally visit many sites. The case against Phillips, who owns Southern Skin Diver Supply in Birmingham, is set for trial on March 21.
Phillips, who said he does not sell the relics he retrieves, called professional archaeologists "licensed grave robbers" and said the state is uncooperative about issuing permits.
Bob Cox, owner of Gulf Coast Divers in Mobile, agreed that the Historical Commission is difficult to work with. When regulations were being developed to enforce the existing law, Cox said he was told that changes would be made based on questions he raised. He was also asked to serve on an advisory board.
Cox told committee members Wednesday that the changes were not made and he never heard back from the commission.
Biddle's friend, Archie Phillips, who hosts a syndicated outdoor television show, said recreational divers and other amateur historians make significant contributions. "You archaeology people get my goat," Phillips said. "You think you've got a monopoly on brains."
The context of a find is just as important as the object, according to George Ewert, director of the Museum of Mobile. "Whatever you see down there you just can't bring up and cart off," he said.
Ewert said a strong law is needed to protect Alabama's underwater cultural resources, but there should be allowances for incidental finds. He also noted that the law only applies to items more than 50 years old.
Ewert, who is also chairman of the Historical Commission's Maritime Advisory Council, said there are more than 300 shipwrecks in and around Mobile Bay plus innumerable other underwater historic sites statewide.
If these things are looted or exploited, "it would create incalculable damage to an unrenewable resource," Ewert said. Discussions are already in progress between historians and "the more responsible members of the diving community," he said.
A bill on this subject was also introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives, where a small group is working on a compromise. The House bill is still in committee.
Thrower also opposed the bill on behalf of the Creek Indians and several other tribes. He said Creeks have lived in Alabama for 12,000 years, and many of their historic sites are now under water. "If anything is disturbed or removed without documentation, the site is destroyed," Thrower said.
Biddle said the 1999 law was passed during "baseball," a process where each senator gets to try to pass a non-controversial bill late in the session. Each senator gets a turn to call up a bill, and if opposition emerges, the senator can try to get a vote on another bill. Each senator gets to try up to three bills, similar to baseball's three strikes.
"In baseball, you don't have time to read the bill," Biddle said. "I never want to play that goofy game again."
He said the sponsor -- then-state Sen. George Callahan, R-Theodore -- promised that the bill only applied to shipwrecks in Mobile Bay. Callahan told the Mobile Register Wednesday afternoon that the bill was always designed to protect items in waterways all over the state, which he said belong to everyone -- not to a handful of divers.
State-owned river bottoms are just like state parks, said Brazil, noting that it's illegal for citizens to search the grounds of Fort Morgan with metal detectors.
Artifacts "are found on state property, so they belong to all of Alabama," Brazil said. "Too many people follow the finders-keepers rule.