HikeArizona.COM

http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/cr ... 13d37.html

Trent gets a $10,000 fine but does no jail time. Restoration of the panel expected to run about $9,000. Not much in the way of punitive damages then.

At least the vandal was caught, and hopefully the $10k penalty will be a deterrent to him (and possibly other vandals) doing more damage.

Did you read the "comments" page? There were 3 posted and the first was a classic.

"This article does not say if the Anasazi police caught the vandals who defaced the rocks between 700 and 2,000 years ago:)
By cleaning Trenton’s name off of the rock, are they not depriving people 2000 years in the future of the ability to be able to appreciate todays history and culture?"

You gotta admit, the writer does have a (somewhat shallow) point...

Back then the ancient cave person could handle taggers in a manner more likely to keep them from tagging again. :bdh: (imagine the horse is a caveman tagger)

29 year old North Carolina Resident?

Why am I thinking of Ricky Bobby, Baby Jesus, and well, you know.

What would you vandalize in North Carolina, a Church's Fried Chicken?

It's truly amazing just how many of these people get away with this kind of thing. About three weeks ago the rangers at Saguaro East stumbled (By chance) upon a group digging pottery out of an archeological site. While the parents were busy filling a 5-gallon bucket with sherds, their kid was shooting at who-knows-what with his pellet gun. When arrested, they said they had been at this for almost eleven years in various state parks and protected sites and that this is the first time they had ever been caught. I pose this question - Is our system of deterrance working?

kingsnake wrote:What would you vandalize in North Carolina, a Church's Fried Chicken?

Having been in NC, I can say there really isn't much there east of the mountains (if you can call them that). I use to take my bike with me back and forth between FL and NJ and stop over in NC for the night. The thing I remember most, was trash. Trash everywhere. The roadside drainage ditches were filled with it. It gave me the impression the entire state is populated with figurative trash and sees the place as giant dumpster.

jeffmacewen wrote:I pose this question - Is our system of deterrance working?

The answer is no.

@PageRob what do you suggest

jeffmacewen wrote:When arrested, they said they had been at this for almost eleven years in various state parks and protected sites and that this is the first time they had ever been caught. I pose this question - Is our system of deterrance working?

Obviously not if they're going as far as to fess up to 11 years of this crap. BTW, what's the going rate for a bucket of sherds? Do people buy small sherds or does this family have a garage full of it? Another way to deter this is to find out, if any, what little touristy junk shop their selling these things to and put the hurt on them. Destroy the market. This is all making me think about Craig Childs' Finders Keepers.

I think people make those "shadow boxes" with sherds and arrowheads, and sell them.

joe bartels wrote:@PageRob what do you suggest

Well I think the problem will continue until the general public realizes not only the archaeological value of sites (and that is tough - some abstract pie-in-the-sky scientist stuff), but also the recreation and aesthetic values of sites left undamaged. Only then will people be able to take pride in a past that is part of our continent's history, but not their own per say(se?). In the interim, increased stewardship - be it federal, state, local, private, or volunteer.
I think that AAI can be part of the solution, if enough people are involved. By tracking damage across the state through volunteers we can have a database that allows us to notify local law enforcement when any vandalism is noted. If people know that their fellow citizens are out there and take pride in these sites, hopefully it will decrease the damage at these sites.

Tough_Boots wrote:

jeffmacewen wrote:When arrested, they said they had been at this for almost eleven years in various state parks and protected sites and that this is the first time they had ever been caught. I pose this question - Is our system of deterrance working?

Obviously not if they're going as far as to fess up to 11 years of this crap. BTW, what's the going rate for a bucket of sherds? Do people buy small sherds or does this family have a garage full of it? Another way to deter this is to find out, if any, what little touristy junk shop their selling these things to and put the hurt on them. Destroy the market. This is all making me think about Craig Childs' Finders Keepers.

The Ranger in posession of the bucket said the stuff in it was worth about $25.

kingsnake wrote:What would you vandalize in North Carolina, a Church's Fried Chicken?

We could put air purifiers in the Smokey Mts.!

Jeff

only 10k.. not enough.