Posted by Paul Ehorn on September 28, 19100 at 20:04:54:
In Reply to: Re: The Law, The DNR, The Truth posted by Jaime Casas on September 28, 19100 at 02:38:33:
: : I believe all of the states surrounding the Great Lakes have adopted some form of law to protect shipwrecks. The Federal Government also has laws which govern shipwrecks.
: : The DNR in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois claim ownership to virtually all of the wrecks on the bottom lands of the lakes. Michigan in a further attempt to protect shipwrecks created underwater preserves. The States claim their right of ownership from the 1987 abandoned shipwreck act.
: : The truth is that Federal law prempts state law. The 1987 abandoned shipwreck act was not a new law but a clarification of the 1953 Submerged Lands Act. The 1953 Submerged Lands Act did not specify whether the states owned non-natural objects such as shipwrecks that rested on or within submerged lands. The 1987 Abandoned Shipwreck Act(ASA)was passed by Congress to clarify that title to only certain shipwrecks be transferred to the state. The ASA transfers title of an abandoned shipwreck to the state in which the shipwreck is found if that shipwreck is (1)embedded in submerged lands of a State; (2)embedded in coralline formations protected by a State on submerged lands of a State; or (3) on submerged lands of a State and is included in or determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register. Admiralty and maritime laws of salvage and finds still are applicable to all other abandoned shipwrecks. State laws which are prempted by Federal law were invalid from their inception. This brings up another interesting question, are any of the abandoned shipwrecks in Michigan's underwater preserves really protected?
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: Who gets to define what embedded means? Every wreck I have dove on has at least been partially embedded in the bottom. Also, I don't claim to know anything about law, but if Congress passed the ASA, then isn't it federal as opposed to state law?
Jamie: Under the Abandoned Shipwreck Act "the term embedded" means firmly affixed in the submerged lands or in coralline formations such that the use of tools of excavation is required in order to move bottom sediments to gain access to the shipwreck, its cargo, and any part thereof. "Tools of excavation" as defined in the Federal Register, 55 Federal Register 50116, 50121 (1990) states, "Tools of excavation would include, but are not limited to, hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical dredges; explosives; propeller wash deflectors; air lifts; blowtorches; induction equipment; chemicals; and mechanical tools used to remove or displace bottom sediments or coralline formations to gain access to shipwrecks." The ASA is Federal law and valid, it is the state laws that are invalid.
Hope this clarifies the issues. Paul