INTRODUCTION

ARCHAEOLOGY AND FEDERAL LAW

Archaeological sites on federally managed lands have been protected by law since 1906, with the passage of the Antiquities Act (Public Law 59-209). This Act imposes penalties against anyone who digs up or removes archaeological remains on federal lands without a special permit. Unfortunately, the Antiquities Act was not actively enforced, and many ancient sites and artifacts were damaged by vandals, relic hunters, and even the federal government itself, as it went about the business of building highways and dams, harvesting timber, or constructing campgrounds and parks. In 1966, a much stronger law was passed to protect America's archaeological resources. The National Historic Preservation Act (Public Law 89-665) requires that federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others, consider whether their projects will cause harm to important archaeological or historical sites. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) places the same requirement on state and local agencies.

Today, we have several laws to

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