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Our oceans, lakes, and rivers hold a rich archive
of where we've been as a people. Anasazi ruins deep beneath the
waters of Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona border . . . former
rivers now submerged off the Florida coast, as old as the continent's
first inhabitants who lived along their shores. . . the remains
of sunken ships, airplanes, harbors, docks, and wharves from all
eras of prehistory and history.
This heritage is fading fast, often subject to
salvage that ignores the historical importance of sites and deterioration
from marine organisms and natural processes. Federal agencies
and their partners, particularly the states, are working to locate,
document and preserve this underwater cultural heritage.
The idea of salvage--of rescuing and returning
goods lost at sea to the stream of commerce--is as old as seafaring
itself. Salvage makes sense when the goods are recently lost but
it has been applied inappropriately to ships that were lost hundreds
and thousands of years ago. Yet recent years have seen increased
interest in and awareness of the historical and scientific importance
of this underwater heritage. The Abandoned
Shipwreck Act, and the Abandoned
Shipwreck Act Guidelines set forth new federal government
policy that historic shipwrecks represent an indispensable public
legacy that should not be subject to salvage. Largely because
of state initiatives, many sports divers, once avid collectors,
have become preservationists. They want their children and grandchildren
to experience the same thrill of seeing historic shipwrecks on
the bottom of our rivers, lakes and seabed.
Today, new technology aids both researchers and
salvors, but a number of national and international initiatives,
including some fostered by the federal archeology program, promise
hope for preservation.
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