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There have been many well spoken comments on the subject of the U USA
editorial, and I would like to remark briefly on the situation at
Channel Islands National Park, where those "poor, innocent sport
divers" were caught looting and destroying.

All wrecks in the Park (and in the surrounding Sanctuary) are open to
sport diving.  The NPS encourages wreck diving, recognizes it as a
legitimate recreational activity, and through The Friends of the
Channel Islands sponsors dive trips specifically to visit wrecks.  In
view of our legislative mandate - " conserve the scenery, the natural
and historic objects, and the wildlife therein" - we do get a bit
grumpy when looters remove archeological and historical items (makes
no difference whether submerged or on land) and we tend to PROSECUTE
such bad behavior.

Amateurs, in terms of pay status only, not in terms of dedication and
interest, play a critical role in documenting and recording the wrecks
within the park.  Like most nautical archeology, my program would be
dead in the water without the help of these dedicated individuals, who
have organized themselves as Channel Islands Maritime Archeological
Resources (CMAR) and completed all sorts of tasks underwater, on land,
and in the archives.

We retain in our park collections some of the evidence from the
shipwreck case and it clearly shows that these individuals had little
regard even for the artifacts themselves - blocks from the Goldenhorn
were destroyed to get at brass, and drifts from Winfield Scott were
hacked apart to obtain a small souvenir.  These items would certainly
have been better off on the seabed than treated as they were.

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