Remorseful Returns: What to Do With Returned Surface-Collected Items From National Park Service Units

Abstract

Surface-collected artifacts, and natural features for that matter, have been and are being stolen from public lands by visitors. Some are returned, often with remorseful letters. Most of the returned objects have vague to no provenience. The letters offer perspectives into why materials are stolen and then returned, although the primary focus of the paper is on what happens to the returned items and physical letters themselves at the park level. I examine the broad range of items being stolen from and returned to National Park Service units, with a focus on the southwestern United States, and discuss how objects are returned, when these returned items began to appear in parks, how they are recorded, and their ultimate disposition within the parks. Currently, there are no nationwide standards or guidelines for how to treat these materials.