Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA)

What happened

The Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) was signed October 31, 1979. The National Park Service quotes its purpose: "to secure, for the present and future benefit of the American people, the protection of archaeological resources and sites which are on public lands and Indian lands."

The Park Service explains why Congress acted. The 1906 Antiquities Act set a permit process and penalties, but "did not, however, effectively in practice prevent or deter deliberate, criminal looting of archeological resources." In 1974, in United States v. Diaz, two judges ruled the Antiquities Act too vague to enforce. In response, archeologists, preservationists, law enforcement and Congress built a new law.

ARPA defines "archeological resource," requires a permit from the federal land manager to excavate or remove one from public lands or Indian lands, lists prohibited acts, and sets criminal and civil penalties. A permit holder must be qualified and act "for the purpose of furthering archaeological knowledge in the public interest," and resources taken from public lands stay the property of the United States. On Indian lands, a permit "may be granted only after obtaining the consent of the Indian or Indian tribe owning or having jurisdiction over such lands." If a permit may harm a site of religious or cultural importance, the manager must also notify any Indian tribe that may consider it important, and that notice is not treated as public disclosure. The Park Service adds that ARPA prohibits public disclosure of the nature and location of archeological resources.

The sources here do not report convictions or numbers of permits.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error