Trio helped break up ring of archeological looters
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton on Wednesday awarded the Conservation Service Award to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents Edward Dominguez and Eric Jumper and archeologist Carla Burnside for their roles in exposing the large-scale theft and trafficking of North American artifacts from federal lands in Nevada and California. The award is one of the highest honors presented by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Dominguez and Jumper, both based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Burnside, who works at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, were among seven federal employees honored for their contributions to Operation Indian Rock, a criminal investigation that broke up a ring of archeological looters who had been operating for nearly a decade. Other task force members receiving awards were Special Agent Todd Swain of Joshua Tree National Park; Archeologist Tim Canaday (Klamath Falls, Oregon) and Special Agent Randolph August (Las Vegas), both of the Bureau of Land Management; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Standish of Las Vegas, who prosecuted the case.
"Those being honored today have made all of us proud," Secretary Norton said at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., where employees, volunteers and partners of the Department of the Interior were recognized. "They have gone beyond the decision to serve. They have made their choice their calling.?
The interagency task force documented more than $500,000 worth of damage to 50 archeological sites on Department of the Interior and Department of Defense lands. Investigators recovered more than 11,000 historic and prehistoric Native American artifacts, including grinding tools, ancient corncobs, projectile points, fiber sandals, pottery fragments, figurines, baskets and pendants.
"Those who take and traffic in archeological resources steal history," said Kevin Adams, Chief of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Operation Indian Rocks shows the importance of interagency and interdisciplinary teamwork in addressing this type of crime.?
Five persons pleaded guilty to felony violations of the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA). One defendant was sentenced to 18 months in prison while another was sentenced to 37 months ? the longest sentence ever for an ARPA violation by a first-time offender.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and North American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
