2012 – SB81, HB54 and 2011’s HB104
SB81 / HB54 (2012) and HB104 (2011) are virtually the same bills – thus the same talking points apply.
Key Talking points.
1) Where is the controversy or confusion with the current law? Who exactly is confused?
a. SB81 attempts to fix a problem that does not exist. In the 13 years since the 1999 passage of Alabama Underwater Cultural Resources Act there has been only 1 arrest and conviction for the theft of underwater cultural resources – Mr. Steve Phillips, the key proponent of SB81. There is no negative impact from the current law on the law abiding people of Alabama.
b. If there was real controversy or confusion with the current law we would see an increase in arrests and prosecutions. This has not happened.
2) The current law and management plan are very clear on what “is” and “is not” considered a underwater “Cultural Resource”.
a. From the AHC’s management plan and open letter to the dive community in 2006 - To be considered a underwater “Cultural Resource” an artifact or relic MUST meet 4 simple tests:
i. Made by the hand of man - not fossils gold or wildlife.
ii. Contained on or in the submerged lands within the jurisdiction of the state.
iii. Unclaimed for more than 50 years.
iv. Listed or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or Alabama Register of History and landmarks.
3) Isolated Finds. Isolated finds by divers and individuals are anticipated in the current law and management plan, and are perfectly legal if they do NOT meet the 4 tests. This issue was formally settled in 2006 after a long series of open public hearings held across the State. These hearings resulted in the Alabama Historic Commission drafting the current management plan for submerged cultural resources and issuing an open letter to the diving and artifact collection community stating that the recovery of such isolated finds from non-historic sites is perfectly legal.
a. From the AHC 2006 letter: “It is safe to say that dropped, discarded items you would likely find – bottles, tools, old pocketknives, fishing lures etc. – aren’t and never have been cultural resources under this law. Care should be taken with shipwrecks or “treasure troves,” as their removal could violate other state laws.”
b. The key argument from SB81's proponents states that "you can go to jail for picking up an arrowhead, old bottle or rusty pocketknife from an Alabama waterway - that is why SB81 must pass". This emotional argument is a red herring and easily proven false and without merit by reading the AHC’s 2006 open letter to the diving community. The fact is: No one has ever been arrested and convicted for randomly picking up an arrowhead, old bottle or rusty pocketknife from an Alabama waterway.
4) SB81’s dangerous blanket definition of only “Shipwrecks” as underwater “Cultural Resources” reflects a poor understanding of human history and historic preservation, and is a recipe for the loss of potentially incalculable knowledge of our past.
a. The idea that “Shipwrecks” constitute the ONLY things of cultural value beneath Alabama’s rivers, lakes, bays and waterways is narrow minded and completely unrealistic on its face.
b. Alabama has over 77,000 miles of inland waterways, bays and state lands beneath the Gulf of Mexico. These thousands of miles of underwater lands contain the largest unexplored area in the State. Current research points to human habitation in Alabama going back to at least 12,000 years BC – much of it centered around waterways as a source of both food and commerce. The twisted concept that “Shipwrecks” are the only things of historical significance to be found beneath Alabama’s unexplored waters is derisory.
5) Why are we considering allowing the unlimited, unregulated, digging and recovery of artifacts and relics from Alabama’s important, irreplaceable historic sites and State lands simply because the land is underwater?
a. We protect our important historic sites to learn from our past and to preserve them for future generations. Thus, we don't allow the indiscriminate digging up of our state parks, forests, historic sites or cemeteries with a shovel or backhoe simply because a few people want to dig up and sell artifacts and relics. SB81 would allow and sanction this activity simply because the land was underwater.
6) Under SB81 all known historic sites containing any underwater lands will be subject to looting simply because the land is underwater.
a. Under SB81, ALL Alabama historic sites with any underwater component such as Fort Morgan, Africa Town, Blakeley, Fort Toulouse, Selma etc., will be unprotected and open to looting. All protections will stop at the waters edge.
b. Under SB81, if you are standing in ankle deep water at a historic site such as Fort Morgan, Blakeley or Selma, you can dig to your heart's content and keep and sell whatever you find - simply because it's "underwater" - while 5 feet away on dry land this activity remains highly illegal.
7) Under SB81 there will be no mechanism to protect or regulate NEWLY discovered underwater historic sites that are not Shipwrecks.
a. The vast majority of Alabama’s over 77,000 miles of underwater lands remain unexplored. Humans have inhabited Alabama for over 14,000 years. Who knows what lost history remains to be discovered beneath Alabama’s waterways? Under SB81 these will be no way to protect these new discoveries – unless they are “shipwrecks”.
8) SB81 amends other laws dealing with the theft of antiquities from state lands. In addition to amending the Alabama Underwater Cultural Resources Act, SB81 also amends other laws dealing with the theft of state property which were successfully used in both Selma and Baldwin County to prosecute the theft of Civil War artifacts and relics from the historic old Selma Armory and Battery Huger at Blakeley State Park. Under SB81 these important prosecutions and convictions would not have happened and the important stolen artifacts never recovered - simply because they were not stolen from a "shipwreck".
9) Under SB81 it will be open season for the digging and recovery of ALL artifacts from Alabama waterways. Although SB81 purports to protect “shipwrecks” while allowing the unlimited recovery of ALL other artifacts – its wording makes it effectively unenforceable in the field.
a. Unlike land sites where an enforcement officer can see the excavation site - underwater excavation sites are “hidden” from view because they are underwater. How is an law enforcement officer in the field supposed to determine if a bunch of wet, rusty, encrusted clumps, or pottery lying in a 5 gallon bucket or boat bottom came illegally from a “shipwreck” or legally from a submerged historic village or Native American site? This is an impossible judgment to make. The officer isn’t a trained archaeologist or historic conservation specialist – yet SB81 requires him to determine if the encrusted artifact or relic came from a “shipwreck”. This real world scenario will lead to NO enforcement in the field whatsoever. The result will be “open season” for ALL artifact recoveries beneath Alabama waterways – including shipwrecks.
10) The driving force behind SB81 is not the “rights” of collectors – it’s Money. There is a huge collectors market for Civil War antiquities and Native American relics, and lots of money to be made. In Alabama, many of these relics are easily found in high concentrations on underwater lands located in state historic sites. SB81 will open these historic properties (and all Alabama underwater lands) to the unregulated and undocumented digging and recovery of these relics - which can then be sold with a clear title and transported out of Alabama.
11) Alabama has a responsibility to ALL its citizens and currently has a reasonable and fair system to regulate the responsible recovery of antiquities from its lands while advancing our collective knowledge of history. SB81 will destroy this system. Under SB81 there will effectively be no regulatory system whatsoever and the open, unregulated recovery of historic artifacts from Alabama’s waterways will be sanctioned.
12) If SB81 becomes law - of all the 50 States, Alabama will be alone in foolishly not protecting its important and irreplaceable cultural and historic resources - simply because they happen to be located beneath ankle deep water. As a result, irreplaceable history will be lost and Alabama will become a destination for opportunists openly hunting for lost treasures. Relic hunting is big business and there is much money to be made. SB81 will allow and encourage these opportunists to come to Alabama to hunt our rivers and waterways for relics and lost treasures - which they will then be free to take from Alabama and sell.
3