Detectives on the trail of fossil looters (retry)

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

(Plain text this time, hopefully.)

The problem has gotten so bad on both public and private lands that some are 
hiring private investigators to patrol and protect their lands:

"Looters prey on unprotected area around Petrified Forest" 
By Ryan Slattery, Globe Correspondent, 6/8/2003 

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/159/nation/Looters_prey_on_unprotected_area_around_Petrified_Forest+.shtml

The last paragraph puts the issue into perspective:

"Professional looters, however, are more brazen and have moved onto private 
land. It's so lucrative a business that many of the poachers are armed. And 
some, like the one Baldwin stumbled upon using a backhoe to rip up a 125-foot 
long petrified log, carry
automatic weapons. When confronted they often deny doing anything wrong, 
Baldwin said."

Mary