One of the most critical concerns for land managers and professional archaeologists is vandalism or unwarranted destruction of vestiges of the nation's historic and prehistoric cultural resources. Though illegal since 1906, the attrition of archaeological sites and data on public lands has been and continues to be a serious problem. This study undertakes analysis of the factors affecting vandalism to archaeological sites in the Bureau of Land Management's Sacred Mountain Planning Unit, located in southwestern Colorado. The study area has long been known for its many spectacular prehistoric ruins and, as a consequence, relic or artifact collecting has been a common pastime since the 1880s.
In order to define factors associated with vandalism from which recommendations for improved management and conservation of the area's ruins could be made, several phases of inquiry were outlined. These include: 1) a review of activities which are deleterious to cultural resources; 2) an overview of cultural resource destruction in the project area; 3) a compilation of known site data through the use of certain variables thought to be important to the problem; k) a field implementation phase designed to verify the trends and factors identified in the known site file data; and 5) interviews with known collectors of antiquities living in the area. As a result of these efforts, quantitative data are offered to support previous ideas that in the project area archaeological site density, distribution, and visibility, along with relatively easy access, are the principal factors associated with vandalism to cultural resources. Other factors of secondary importance include the local and family traditions of artifact collecting, and a commercial or profit motive. Recommendations to management center on actions related to the need for demonstrable intent to prosecute violators of extant antiquities laws, expansion of existing preventative programs, and continued and increased emphasis on public education approaches.