Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed three federal agencies' management of archeological resources on federal lands to determine: (1) the extent of looting that has occurred; (2) what the agencies are doing to prevent looting of resources; and (3) what actions the agencies are taking to remove and properly preserve artifacts.
GAO found that: (1) looters are destroying valuable scientific information at archeological sites; (2) agency officials believe that enforcement efforts have prevented casual looting, but problems still exist with commercial looting for profit; and (3) although looting of artifacts from National Park Service (NPS) land has been minimal, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service are experiencing a high level of commercial looting. GAO also found that: (1) funding constraints and staffing shortages have hampered agencies' ability to protect archeological sites; (2) the agencies were not taking necessary precautions to ensure the preservation of artifacts they sent to curators; (3) the agencies did not institute any procedures for determining the adequacy and ability of facilities responsible for curating artifacts, and seldom inspected the facilities; and (4) NPS has an estimated 15.5 million uncataloged artifacts collected from both federal and nonfederal lands.
