An infraction with a law created to protect the Palmetto State’s history landed two men in jail.
An incident report from the state’s Department of Natural Resources says Nicholas Ryan Fox, 24, of Ravenel, S.C. and Nathan Lee Tarpein, 41, of Summerville, S.C. were charged with violating the law protecting historic items in the state’s rivers, bodies of water and along the coastline.
On May 11, a DNR officer saw a boat tied up at Steel Creek Landing in the Savannah River in Barnwell County that resembled one seen two months earlier in Allendale County. Three fishermen told the officer a pontoon barge and another boat were pulling logs from the river.
Over the next several days, officers patrolled the river, again spotting the first boat, this time along with a pontoon barge outfitted with a winch, but the officers did not see anyone with the equipment.
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On May 19, they received a tip there was a logging operation underway near the lock and dam. Officers split up. One officer located the men and issued them a citation for not having a “diver down” flag.
The other officers walked the riverbank and found the boat and pontoon barge. The following day, officers returned to the area below lock and dam and found the pontoon barge and two boats.
The officers saw an individual in a wetsuit come out of the water, climb onto the barge and use the winch to pull a log from the water. The suspects pulled the log onto the shore, then went through the process of bringing logs to the riverbank two additional times.
Fox and Tarpein were charged with violating the Underwater Antiquities Act.
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James Spirek, the state’s underwater archaeologist, said, “It’s designed to protect archaeological resources in South Carolina state waters.”
He said the logs have been modified in some way, depending on how they were used.
“They’ve been modified for use in the naval industry, so for turpentine and rosin, for extracting that from pine trees,” Spirek said. “Then there could be markings as far as how the logs were attached to rafts to float them down the river so different aspects of the logging industry can be discerned by looking at these logs.”
Spirek said people go after the logs for a variety of reason, including the novelty of having a log that has been submerged for 200 years or longer.
“Sitting in the water in sort of a cocoon state, very well-preserved. Plus, it’s old growth timber that you’re not going to find anywhere else,” he said. “Some of the prized logs are axe-cut cypress, suggesting these are early logs, therefore older trees.”
There are legitimate ways to recover items from the waters.
The Maritime Research Division of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology issues three types of licenses.
The Hobby Diver License is for anyone who wants to do recreational, non-commercial recovery of submerged items. The licensee must report what artifacts were found to the SCIAA and what fossils were recovered to the state museum.
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There are two types of exclusive licenses for disturbing or excavating submerged property if the applicant has specific research plans that are in the best interest of the state.
The intensive survey license allows the applicant to conduct a survey of an area believed to contain submerged property.
After the applicant submits positive results of the intensive survey, they can request a data recovery license. It allows the licensee to conduct excavation and data recovery on submerged property.
Spirek said they get a lot of inquiries, but most people do not pursue it when they realize the amount of work involved in getting the exclusive licenses.
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“We do have some diehard people who move through the license system,” he said. “I doubt if anyone’s making a living off of it, but they are able to make some money in various ways.”
He said some people have made tables and furniture. Others have sold the wood to people who made musical instruments.
Anyone interested in applying for a license can email James Spirek at: spirek@sc.edu
More information on the law is available at artsandsciences.sc.edu/sciaa/mrd/scunderwaterantiquitiesact.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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