President Clinton established the Canyons of the
Ancients National Monument in southwestern Colorado to protect an
estimated 20,000 archaeological sites, ranging from scattered
potsherds to intact cliff dwellings (HCN, 4/23/01: Monuments caught
in the crosshairs). Monument officials, however, are having a hard
time fending off looters and vandals.
Since the monument
was created in June 2000, eight incidents of pothunting and
numerous episodes of vandalism have been reported in the rugged,
164,000-acre area. Monument signs are frequently torn or shot up,
and graffiti was recently spray-painted on a trailhead bulletin
board, sandstone walls and a nearby road. Partiers pulled apart a
stone wall in a cliff dwelling to make seats, and built a campfire
within a room.
It’s difficult to say whether the
area’s high-visibility monument status has attracted more
lawbreakers, says monument manager LouAnn Jacobson. Over 40
volunteers now patrol the area under a new site-stewardship
program, so crime reporting has increased, she says: “I
suspect we’ve always had this level of stuff going on and we
just hadn’t known about it.” Jacobson says the troubled
economy may have prompted some recent looting. “One theory is
that, when times are hard, the incidences of pothunting go up,
because people are trying to supplement their income.”
Monument archaeologist Laura Kochanski says education is
the key to reducing crime — especially since the area has
only one full-time law-enforcement ranger. So far, no arrests have
been made.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Looters sneak into monument.
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