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Show V(f if r k I ! fif n ry , V T - O O I American antiquities act -unlawful to loot ruins The- Preservation of American Antiquities Act of June 8, 1906, provides for protection of Indian ruins, artifacts and "any object of antiquity" which you may find on national resource lands. The act states that a person may not, without permission, "appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity" on lands under federal government control. Protected are hieroglyphs, pottery and human remains, as well as ruins of dwellings or other structures. Fossilized remains of vertebrates such as dinosaur bones may not be taken from national resource lands except by permit. These permits are issued by the Secretary of the Interior only to properly accredited museums, universities and other institutions, in-stitutions, or their representatives. repre-sentatives. The Antiquities Act prohibits taking items from national resource lands which are of "historic or scientific interest." Paleontologists point out that removal of one "bone" may despoil a site in such a way that vital scientific - " A information is lot. Anyone discovering a "bone" should report it to the BLM and a university. FOSSILIZED TRILOBITES For the collection of petrified wood, the Department of the Interior has set a limit for any one person of 25 pounds plus one piece per day but not more than 250 pounds per calendar year. This is allowed without a permit, if the collection is made for personal, per-sonal, non-commercial purposes. However, some sites are completely closed cont page 21 JoAnn Patton as Adrians and David Anthony as Dromio of Ephesus in 1980 Festival production of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. antiquities cont from page 9 to collection. A permit from the agency administering the land must be obtained by a person collecting petrified wood in large quantities for sale. In general, a person may collect small amounts of gemstones and rocks from national resource lands for recreational purposes. If the rocks are primarily for resale, a permit must be obtained under provisions of the Materials Act. |