I read the bill and was VERY offended by it, they paint us as theifs and uneducated morons. The bill was also very carefully worded, the top portion of the bill seems very limited in scope, "certain prehistoric sites". I bet most senators and assembly persons read only the top and figured well this seems reasonable. But if you read further down clearly the intent is to make all public lands off limits and the penalties are quite severe.
Here's the email I sent to both of this bill's sponsors. I represent only my own personal views though I speak in terms of a larger group else the letter would get round filed in short order.
This letter is designed to challenge the assumptions in the bill, to make their plan look stupid by comparison to alternatives I suggest. It challenges the stereotyping of relic hunters and it drags into the daylight that fact that by and large archeologists just don't like us and they would rather the relics rotted away to nothing than for us to recover them.
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Dear Sir,
I am writing to you regarding bill A1930 which you sponsored that provides for the "protection of certain publicy-owned archaeological sites".
The key question is will this bill work? The fact is that relics this bill hopes to preserve are quickly being destroyed in the ground by modern chemicals, acid rain, and environmental damage. It is a well known fact that many revolutionary and civil war era relics are already in an advanced state of decay, pewter relics (pewter was the modern day equivalent of aluminum and plastic in the 1600-1800's) are decomposing the quickest, followed by copper and bronze. By closing off virtually all public lands to relic hunting this bill unfortunately assures their destruction, there simply are not enough archaeologists to cover the thousands of square miles in time.
Other states and countries are now recognizing this and seeking alternative solutions. The United Kingdom adopted a very good national model that deserves study. In the United Kingdom the most significant historic sites are off limits as they should be however they have adopted laws governing the recovery of relics on all public lands. All relics, coins, and artifacts recovered are presented to the government for review. If the item is of historic significance the government retains the item and pays the finder a fair market value, non-significant items are returned to the finder.
Think about this for a moment, the government gains a volunteer work-force to help it recover and preserve these important items before they decay and are lost forever and the most significant finds are retained and preserved for the publics enjoyment. Isn't that a more logical solution?
Further, if a significant site is discovered by a volunteer, a cache of coins or ancient relic for example, excavation is halted and the local archeologist is contacted. The archeologist will assess the site and may schedule a scientific excavation. This has lead to many significant previously unknown site discoveries. This is a win/win solution and local archaeologists in the UK are thrilled, they now have a small volunteer army of relic hunters working for them rather than in competition. The archeologists also published a book to help educate the relic hunter on proper recovery and preservation techniques.
Some states are adopting a similar approach, relic hunters are now teaming up with local archeologists volunteering their time, expertise, and thousands of dollars in equipment to assist them in their research and the recovery of artifacts so that they might be preserved for the generations to come.
Common misconceptions about our relic hunting members...
We are aware that by and large archeologists have a negative opinion of our members which is both unfortunate and inaccurate. We share the same interest in American history, how our ancestors lived and worked. As a group we also support the protection of significant archaeological sites and other sites of historical significance.
We feel this bill unfairly labels all relic hunters as bad people who pillage, lack technical training, rarely conduct legitimate research, dig without permission, and conduct illicit diggings. We would like to know how you arrived at these conclusions. Was this the result of a study and/or review of documented cases (none are sited in the bill) or are these charges merely the personal "opinion" of the bill's proponents?
We do not deny that a few bad apples exist, you will find them in any group of people. Would you feel offended if the public labeled all senators and assembly persons corrupt due to the actions of a few bad apples? We feel no less offended by the language in this bill. We are not a group of uneducated scoundrels, our members include doctors and lawyers, accountants, electronics engineers and business executives, etc. We enjoy American history and learning about the times in which our ancestors lived, we research the sites that we hunt and the items we recover. Most experienced relic hunters could easily hold their own in a discussion with local historians and archeologists.
The vast majority of our members never sell their finds, we carefully research, document and preserve them in display cases for future enjoyment. And we would gladly loan our finds to local museums and historical societies for public display if provided the opportunity.
It is clear that our representatives in state government lack an understanding of our group. Had you reached out to us for the other side of the story the bill may have demonstrated more balance and fairness. We urge you to reconsider this bill, we feel the State of New Jersey has an opportunity to lead and set an example for other states to follow.
We are eager to partner with state and local government and work with you however we can no longer stand by while such bills are passed into law. As a group we number in the tens of thousands and if we have to elect new representatives who share our views to initiate change then we will, that's the American way.
Respectfully,
Charles Keith
