Letter: Mere wrist slaps

The (non)sentences recently handed down to several San Juan County residents arrested in Blanding last year for theft and trafficking of Native American artifacts illustrate just how immune the local citizenry is to being held accountable for crimes committed on federal lands (“Blanding man sentenced in relics case,” Tribune, July 13).

Whether it’s pot hunting for profit, destroying or removing road and trail signs and barriers on public lands, or constructing illegal all-terrain-vehicle trails across archaeological sites in remote canyons, the good folks down there have learned that they have nothing to fear from certain U.S. courts.

 

After their wrists stop stinging, they will remain free to dig, drive and pilfer their way through what remains of the rich cultural legacy in southeastern Utah, a legacy that belongs to all Americans.

Or it did, until it was hauled away and mortared into local fireplaces or sold to the highest bidder.

We hope that Juan Palma, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s new state director for Utah, will step up enforcement of existing regulations and seek full criminal penalties for those who ignore the law of the land.

Veronica Egan

Director

Great Old Broads for Wilderness

Durango, Colo.

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/49953518-82/blanding-director-juan-lands.html.csp