[CPProt.net] Raids net thousands of artifacts in Oregon; two-year effort that results in seizures of archeological and native relics from 22 sites points to the scope of the illegal market

[MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet]

Raids net thousands of artifacts in Oregon
A two-year effort that results in seizures of archeological and native
relics from 22 sites points to the scope of the illegal market
Saturday, January 29, 2005
MICHAEL MILSTEIN

Federal agents executing 22 search warrants this week across Central and
Southeast Oregon seized thousands of archaeological artifacts thought to
have been stolen from public lands in what they said is the largest case of
its kind in the region. 

The seizures cap a two-year federal investigation into the suspected theft
and sale of artifacts looted from sites that may date back thousands of
years. Robbery of the native treasures is increasingly fueled by a wealthy,
worldwide collectors market willing to pay top dollar for rare remnants of
the past, experts said.

Researchers say it's all but impossible to visit an ancient dwelling site in
Oregon that has not been rifled for pot shards, stone tools or other relics.

Federal law strictly protects artifacts on public lands, which cover more
than half the state. Taking them not only defiles the deep cultural value of
early Native American sites, experts said, but removal also undermines any
scientific hope of learning about those who once lived there.

"It's not getting any better, and that's probably because of the increasing
international aspect and the money involved," said Richard Hanes, who leads
historic preservation programs for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and
U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Washington.

No arrests have been made related to the artifacts. The confiscated
artifacts will be analyzed, and evidence will be turned over to federal
prosecutors before any suspects would be charged.

But other crimes leading to arrests were detected in this week's searches.
Officers looking for pilfered artifacts at a home in Terrebonne, north of
Redmond, uncovered a methamphetamine laboratory, an elaborately concealed
marijuana-growing operation with 64 plants, and numerous guns, including an
assault-style rifle.

Three people who lived at the home were arrested and charged with
manufacture and possession of illegal drugs in connection with the find, and
two more were charged with frequenting places where controlled substances
are used or sold. They were decontaminated by the Redmond Fire Department
because of the chemicals used in making methamphetamine and held in the
Deschutes County Jail.

"If they're manufacturing both methamphetamine and marijuana, they're not
your run-of-the-mill operation," said Lt. Jim Porter of the Bend Police
Department. He heads the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, which made
the drug arrests.

Federal authorities remained tight-lipped about the specific artifacts they
recovered during their searches of 21 homes and one business in far-flung
towns from Redmond to Lakeview. But they said the case is their largest in
the Pacific Northwest based on the quantity of evidence recovered, the
number of investigators involved, the geographic area covered and the number
of search warrants issued.

Recovered artifacts include items common to ancient sites in Oregon, said
Margot Bucholtz, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman. She said such items may
include arrowheads, pot shards or other evidence of human habitation.

All are protected on federal land. Their theft can carry federal fines of as
much as $10,000 and sentences as long as a year in prison; penalties
multiply if the artifacts are highly valued and according to the cost of
repairing damage. Second offenses carry fines of as much as $100,000 and
five years in prison.

The value of the artifacts has not been determined, Bucholtz said. Agents
also found illegal wildlife parts such as eagle feathers and talons, she
said.

The probe began when BLM officials received information about the suspected
theft of artifacts, she said. The artifacts are believed to have come from
BLM and Forest Service land. The two agencies manage more than 31 million
acres in Oregon, more than half the state's total land area.

It's such a vast area the agencies commonly rely on citizen volunteers to
monitor archaeological sites for signs of illegal digging. The instant a
site is disturbed, much of its scientific value is lost, said Hanes, an
archaeologist who aided in the case.

"The whole value is in the context," he said. "What we learn comes from
putting all the pieces together. You need all the pieces to tell the story.
When it's stirred up, they've completely disrupted the picture."

He said Oregon is especially rich in archaeological sites because of its
long human history and the arid environment east of the Cascade Range, which
helps preserve them.

But thieves know that, and they spend great time and energy searching out
and pillaging such sites. In some cases heavy equipment, including a
bulldozer, has been used to illegally uncover artifacts or scoop up dirt to
be hauled away and sifted for valuable rarities, Hanes said.

He said relics from Western states often bring the highest prices in distant
regions such as Europe and Asia, where they are considered exotic.

"It's a very pervasive problem," he said. "There's evolving sort of an
antiquities market that's international in scope that really furthers the
damage that's being done on the public lands."

Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein at news.oregonian.com 

http://www.oregonlive.com/







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