Bill Seeks to Decriminalize Surface Hunting on Public Land
Posted on 07. Apr, 2009 by Shannon Graham in Artifact Finds, Miscellaneous
It’s illegal to pick up Indian artifacts along any Texas waterway such as a lake, river, or stream. Senate Bill 1829 introduced by Senator Bob Deuell seeks to change that. Senator Deuell hails from Greenville, Texas (District 2), home of Lewis Smith who authored the proposed Legislation.
Lewis, a.k.a. ‘Indy’, concentrated his efforts on reversing current legislation after he found state signs posted on a nearby lake warning the public not to pick up any Indian artifacts and threatening fines.
Texas State Capitol
The bill was sponsored by Senator Deuell and referred to the Texas Senate Committee of Natural Resources. On March 31, I met Lewis at the Capitol to testify in support of the proposed legislation.
The Bill could have been as one-sided as simply decriminalizing the collection of Indian Artifacts on public waterways. However, as Lewis testified in the Senate committee hearing, he realized that would only benefit collectors and archeologists would not gain a thing. Therefore, he constructed the proposal to allow for the licensing of artifact collecting much like that of hunting and fishing regulation today and mandatory reporting.
As written today, the public would be allowed to purchase a license, not to exceed $75, and be allowed to collect on Texas lakes, rivers and streams. Any find must be reported to the State and provide up to 12 months for the State to document and study the find. At the end of the 12 month period, and if the find is deemed to be significant to the archeological record of Texas, then the State has the option to purchase the find from the buyer at fair market value.
At the initial hearing, there were representatives present opposing the Bill from the Texas Archeological Society, Council of Texas Archeologists, Texas Historical Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the State Archeologists Office.
This Bill provides for;
○ Legal collecting of Indian Artifacts on Texas lakes, rivers and stream by permit with permit not to exceed $75.
○ All finds made must be reported to the State.
○ The State to have 12 months to document and study the find.
○ The right for the State to purchase the artifact from the finder at fair market value if deemed archeologically significant.
The opposition focused primarily around the State having to ‘buy back what is already rightfully theirs’ and that sites would be ruined by collectors for future generations. The latter triggered a series of questioning led by Senator Deuell around what constitutes an ‘out of context’ artifact. The response from Dr. Trierweiler was ‘context is relevant’ and no artifact should be picked up by an untrained professional.
A vote by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources is expected this week. Stay tuned folks.
SB 1829 Witness List from 3/31/2009
FOR:
Graham, Shannon (Self), Austin, TX
Smith, Lewis (Surface Hunters of Texas), Greenville, TX
AGAINST:
Schmidt, Jim (Texas Archeological Society), Austin, TX
Trierweiler, Nicholas (Council of Texas Archeologists), Cedar Park, TX
ON:
Bruseth, Jim (Texas Historical Commission), Austin, TX
Registering, but not testifying:
Goodrich, Robert (Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.), Austin, TX
Mercado-Allinger, Pat (Texas Historical Commission – State Archeologist Office), Austin, TX
Oaks, Lawerence (Texas Historical Commission), Austin, TX
Strutt, Michael (Texas Parks and Wildlife), Austin, TX
Related Posts
4 Responses to “Bill Seeks to Decriminalize Surface Hunting on Public Land”
Leave a Reply
Kevin Davis
29. Nov, 2010
I would like an update on the purposed bill and would like to be certified in the State of Texas to be able to collect and document artifacts and finds for the State of Texas.
Sincerely,
Kevin R. Davis
dennis
23. Jan, 2011
so is there a permit that you can buy from the state to leagely hunt artifacts on texas rivers, streams and lakes?
Anonymous
06. May, 2011
this is the perfect way to deal with surface collecting. and all states should do it. the revenue alone is a great way to take care of the nps and federal and state lands. I would support it and it would help out the professionals. insitu and gps cordinates, i also think that a form should acompany the permit. that way all documentation is done right. amateur archaeologist have every right to study. Good examples-carol howe. greg perino. I also do not agree that something that is found on public land belongs to the gov,t or a professional archealogist or a basement. Dan amick is a professional and what did he do? and the federal level and state artifact collections are in the millions. people are human and if they see something they are going to pick it up. their are federal people who collect as well. I also would report any one who is going beyond surface hunting and that would be destroying or digging. We can all work together professional or not federal or not. Are tax dollars have paid for public lands and the people we employe. and that is why we should have a say in the laws that are passed.
Jack Williams
28. Aug, 2011
This is rediculous.I have hunted arrowheads for many years. I have never found anything that is not already pictured and cataloged in arrowhead books. How long have they been digging these camp grounds. Many decades. If anything new is going to be found it will not be on the surface. It will come from many feet under ground. This is greed in one of its highest forms.