Artifact Prices Draw Looters

Across the West, authorities are struggling to stop the looting of Indian antiquities. The thefts have continued despite a 2009 federal crackdown that resulted in more than 20 people being indicted in Utah. The case generated headlines due to the large number of charges, as well as the suicides of two defendants and a third man who reportedly was an informant in the case. Steep prices for artifacts and high rural unemployment have made digging for antiquities a popular pastime in places like eastern California, Nevada and Utah, where deserts have preserved painted pots for thousands of years. Figures on artifact thefts are sketchy, said Todd Swain, a National Park Service investigator who specializes in looting cases. Most incidents never get reported. Federal agencies in the West often have only one or two criminal investigators to cover areas approaching a million square miles. In 2010, the last year for which data are available, the National Park Service tallied about 400 instances of artifact-looting in its parks nationwide, up from fewer than 300 in 2009, Mr. Swain said. The Forest Service in 2010 tallied about 50 incidents, down from about 150 the year before. Mr. Swain said the number of reported incidents can vary widely from year to year, and he estimated that as few as 20% of such thefts are reported...more

But I thought these lands were federalized to protect such things as this?  Too bad they are not on private property where they could really be protected.