Posted by Brendon Baillod on February 18, 19103 at 17:44:33:
In Reply to: Boycott Beneath the Sea posted by Tom on February 15, 19103 at 16:45:32:
Until the State of New York moves forward with prosecution of the parties who took the anchor there is little to talk about. Unless states and provinces show a will to enforce the laws, it will be considered "technically illegal" to remove artifacts from Great Lakes wrecks. Rather than chiding BTS for their complicity in applauding the violation of a state law, people should be chiding the state for failing to enforce the law.
There have been only two recent instances where the removal of artifacts from historic Great Lakes wrecks was successfully contested by the salvor. The first was Harry Zych who successfully argued that the State never legally owned the Lady Elgin in the first place because the insurer had never abandoned her. The second was Paul Ehorn's removal of the Bentley figurehead, wherein the State of Michigan failed to prove that he removed the figurehead after the state law was instituted. The argument of a superceding federal law appears to have been shot down in the recent Rosinco decision, but Mr. Ehorn is likely going to appeal it. Stacked against these two exceptional cases are at least a dozen cases of successful prosecution of souvenir collectors and illegal salvagers of historic Great Lakes wrecks. However, you only hear about the exceptional cases rather than the successful prosecutions.
In the case of the anchor off Clayton, the State of NY could very likely successfully prosecute the theft if they wanted to. Either the right people in law enforcement haven't been notified or the NY political climate is such that the State doesn't want to expend the resources on this type of enforcement. Perhaps all the fanfare associated with the very few successful defenses has cowed the authorities into turning a blind eye.
: Fellow Divers:
: A very serious wreck preservation issue has caused a BOYCOTT and letter writing campaign of Beneath The Sea and we are looking for your support.
: Last fall an anchor (about 2,000 lbs.) was stolen from the Historic Wreck site of the Maggie L. The Maggie L is a 1889 three masted schooner that sunk in 1927 and sits on the bottom of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Clayton N.Y. The theft of this anchor is not in dispute as one of the participants (Louie Schriener) confessed on his own web site. During this theft his film crew recorded the whole process and plans to show it at BTS. It is a direct violation of New York State laws and completely unethical. It is also not in dispute that they were warned in advance that this is illegal in New York State.
: Why boycott BTS? In order to protect the integrity of BTS and Wreck Preservation in NY, BTS was informed of the entire situation and was asked to remove this presentation from their show. BTS has chosen to tell us that they have NO responsibility to the dive community, New York State or Wreck Preservation, and therefore has refused to remove or even edit this program. Even though contacted by several organizations both in the US and Canada, including state agencies they have chosen to play games in order to deceive us. Their only concern is to how much MONEY the show will take in!
: I have personally volunteered at BTS for a number of years and also have presented a program at the show, my wife has also been a room chairperson. We are appalled at the arrogant attitude and total indifference towards the dive community that BTS has shown and believe that the only way left is to hit them in the pocket which seems to be all they care about.
: As many of us have already participated in trying to resolve this matter with BTS, we are now encouraging you and your group to take part as we are doing.
: Send Letters and e-mails to BTS at info@BeneaththeSea.org and Zig4BTS@aol.com and also Boycott the Show. We think the Laws and Wreck Preservation are everyone's responsibility!
: PLEASE HELP WRECK PRESERVATION AND FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO AS MANY DIVERS AS POSSIBLE. Thank you.
: Syracuse Scuba Club
: Tom Zielinski