Organized Relic Hunt Comes Under Fire in Stafford County

[Dignann]

Crow's Nest relic hunt halted Activists angry land disturbed

Relic hunters descend on Crow's Nest; landowner says they didn't have permission to be there

By MEGHANN COTTER and JEFF BRANSCOME

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
October 28, 2006

Crow's Nest was the X on the treasure map for up to 175 relic hunters yesterday.

But unbeknownst to them, they didn't have the landowner's permission to use the property, police said.

Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett and several deputies met with some of the participants, who "thought they were here legitimately," Jett said.

Apparently, he said, a previous Crow's Nest caretaker gave them permission to be there. The man still has a key to the property's gate.

The group even paid him and signed a contract, said attorney Clark Leming, who represents K&M Properties, the developer that wants to build homes on the environmentally sensitive peninsula.

He called the relic hunters "innocent, third parties." Leming shook hands with some of the men after talking with them yesterday evening as a cold rain fell.

Cecelia Kirkman, founder of the Save Crow's Nest preservation group, said she won't believe yesterday's chain of events until K&M properties sues the former caretaker for fraud.

Leming, who reported the trespassers to the Sheriff's Office, said he plans to find out why the former caretaker thought he had the authority to make such a deal. He said he will change the gate's lock by Monday.

Other than a hunting group, he said his client prohibits anyone from using the land.

Activists trying to preserve the 4,000-acre tract's historic artifacts said someone tipped them off to the event.

Kirkman said they woke up early to check things out and saw more than 40 trucks enter the Crow's Nest gate off Raven Road.

The group set up tents and portable toilets on the property, Jett said. Leming said he would let them haul away their belongings this morning.

Participants from as far away as Canada, Alabama and Illinois paid $200 a piece for the three-day competition. Seven teams of 16 people each search for artifacts to win trophies based on how much and what they find, according to the group's Web site

By 1:40 p.m. yesterday word of some finds had spread to the group's Internet message board:

"From my digging buddy Greg," wrote Dan in Eastern NC. "He dug a gorgeous cast officer sword belt plate!!! Other than that just hearing the usual bullets and buttons."

Similar digs have been held around the country for the last nine years. Larry Cisna, listed as a founder and committee chairman of the organization, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Stafford Code Administrator Dan Schardein said yesterday morning that his office was investigating whether the group violated any Stafford laws.

Stafford County Attorney Joe Howard said property owners can authorize anyone to search for relics on their land. No permits are required unless the land disturbance exceeds 2,500 square feet.

Kirkman said the relic hunting is just the latest sign of looming threats to the land.

"We hope the outrage of the event will be a real wake-up call for immediate action," she said.

"The impact will certainly not be temporary. The impact will be permanent, and once the artifacts are dug up out of the ground, our history is lost."

Supervisor Paul Milde, whose district includes the Crow's Nest peninsula, says he knows preservation is urgent, and blames past boards for not taking action sooner.

"As long as that property isn't ours, we're going to have a hard time telling a person what they can and cannot do."

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10282006/232727

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Organized Relic Hunt Comes Under Fire in Stafford County

Hunts thrill hunters, irritate historians

Big fee-paid relic hunts are a relatively new--and some say, troubling--development

By RUSTY DENNEN

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
October 28, 2006

Large, organized Civil War relic hunts are a relatively new phenomenon in Virginia.

The Grand National Relic Shootout at Crow's Nest, with about 150 metal-detector-toting participants, is the second in the area this year.

Last spring, about 200 relic hunters attended a three-day hunt in Culpeper County. That was sponsored by another group, Diggin' in Virginia.

Jack Edlund, a relic hunter and owner of Salvage Archaeology in Fredericksburg, said the large, fee-based hunts are fairly similar in how they operate.

"You get a bunch of guys who all pay whatever to rent some farmer's field for a weekend. They start in the morning, dig until 5 and then everybody stops for the day," he said yesterday.

Though most privately owned area sites have been picked over for years, there's plenty left to find. Union soldiers encamped in Stafford, for example, left behind bullets, uniform buttons and belt buckles, stirrups, pieces of bayonets, rifles, dinnerware, remnants of canteens and the like.

Burt Alderson of Tennessee, a judge for the Grand National Relic Shootout, said yesterday that most participants keep their finds.

"Some of these people come from all over the country," he said. "If they find one thing, they're in love."

Though many relic hunters carefully document what they've found, and where, for posterity, some are in it for the money.

Rare belt buckles sell for thousands of dollars on eBay. Almost any Civil War artifact--from bullets to brass scabbard and knapsack components, are sought by collectors.

Crow's Nest, purchased by K&M Properties Inc. in the late 1980s, had a role in American Indian, Colonial and Civil War history.

But Alderson said hunters didn't find much during yesterday's outing. That's probably because people with metal detectors have scoured the land since the 1950s.

The Patawomeck tribe settled at Indian Point, across Accokeek Creek from Crow's Nest. Col. Gerard Fowke was the first recorded owner of the property in the early 17th century.

A plantation house on Crow's Nest was confiscated by the Union Army in 1862 to serve as a lookout over the two creeks and the Potomac River, and the house and outbuildings were reportedly burned. Local historians say there were at least five Union camps on the property.

Kathleen Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, takes a dim view of large relic hunts.

"Archaeology, by its very nature, is destructive, by removing artifacts on sites. But if it's not done correctly, a lot of it is lost--the capacity of the site to tell its story with all its nuances," she said.

"The large-scale removal of relics for the sake of the relics themselves" without knowledge and understanding that can be gained from them, "that's a great loss and you end up with stuff."

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10282006/232741

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Organized Relic Hunt Comes Under Fire in Stafford County

Relic hunt rallying call for activists

The day after relic hunters unwittingly trespassed on Crow's Nest, activists talk about preservation
By JEFF BRANSCOME

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
October 29, 2006

After a busy Friday night, a group of Crow's Nest activists gathered outside the land's gated entrance yesterday morning.

They didn't denounce the relic hunters who unwittingly trespassed on the environmentally sensitive peninsula between Accokeek and Potomac creeks in Stafford County.

But the chain of events, they said, illustrates the need to preserve the land. Activists said they hadn't seen any relic hunters on the land yesterday.

"You could put 200 relic hunters on Crow's Nest for six weeks and they won't do as much damage as a bulldozer [would do] in one hour," said Glenn Trimmer, director of Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites.

Up to 175 relic hunters from all over the country showed up early Friday morning for the Grand National Relic Shootout at Crow's Nest. They won't be charged with trespassing.

Apparently, police said, a previous Crow's Nest caretaker gave them permission to be there.

The man still has a key to the property's gate, Clark Leming, the landowner's attorney, said Friday.

Someone will change the lock this week, said Leming, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

He said the former caretaker got a check from the relic hunt's organizers and signed a contract with them.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Gibbons stopped by yesterday's get-together and said the issue will probably end up in the court's hands.

Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett on Friday said it's now a civil matter between the caretaker and the affected parties. Leming said he plans to find out why the former caretaker thought he had the authority to make such a deal.

The event was scheduled to run through today. But at about 6 p.m. on Friday, Jett and several deputies watched the participants leave the property on Raven Road.

Cecelia Kirkman, founder of the Save Crow's Nest preservation group, said the hunt ended abruptly because residents called county officials to complain.

"Because of your outrage and your action, the property owner was forced to end the hunt," she said.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10292006/232838

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Organized Relic Hunt Comes Under Fire in Stafford County

Who gave relic hunters access?

Crow's Nest owners looking into who said 175 relic hunters could dig on land.

By MEGHANN COTTER

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
October 31, 2006

The owners of Crow’s Nest are looking into who gave nearly 175 relic hunters permission to search for buried history on their land this weekend.

The treasure seekers carrying metal detectors and shovels came on Friday from as far as Alabama, California and Illinois, thinking their three-day Grand National Relic Shootout had been authorized. But landowner K&M Properties of McLean, who denied knowing anything about the event, had police escort the group off the 3,230-acre tract that evening.

Shootout organizers told police that a previous caretaker of the peninsula accepted money and signed a contract allowing them to be there. Attorney Clark Leming, who represents K&M, said the person the relic hunters named also has denied any knowledge about the event.

The Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the situation. The gate locks at the peninsula’s entrance were scheduled to be changed yesterday. K&M plans to inspect the land for any damage.

Leming said the relic group has promised to produce the contract and proof that each participant paid $200 to attend. That information will help K&M decide whether to take legal action.

Leming called the relic hunters “innocent third parties,” and said the issue is now between his client and the person who agreed to allow use of the land.

Relic hunting is legal on anyone’s property as long as the landowner gives permission. Stafford County spokesperson Cathy Riddle said code administrators have no reason to believe the group disturbed enough land to require any permits.

Organizers have held the Grand National Relic Shootout in other places around the country for the past nine years, with nothing more than a landowner’s permission.

Event organizers also appear to have navigated around the twist in their weekend plans. Conversations on a message board at thetreasuredepot.com indicated the group spent Saturday and Sunday searching and digging near Waugh Point in King George.

Larry Cissna, a founder and committee chairman of the relic hunting organization, declined to comment when reached by cell phone Sunday.

Many people who left messages online said they were disappointed that the event met with roadblocks, but were impressed with how quickly organizers executed a backup plan.

Others defended their hobby, saying they never intended to do anything illegal.

Some people hunt relics to sell them, they say. But many do so for personal or public collections, displaying them in museums or using them to aid preservation and historical efforts.

“Many people work hard to put on these events in an ethical and responsible manner. We have a difficult road ahead of us and there are many groups and individuals that will continue to stand in our way,” wrote “Panther Mike” of Charlotte, N.C. “The ironic thing is that many of the relics on public display are there as a direct result of the relic hunter and common metal detecting hobbyist and without their participation much of our lost history would continue to stay lost forever.”

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/102006/10312006/relics

Eric