A Forum by John Brandon
PART THREE
In the past issue we discussed state archeologists utilizing taxpayer dollars to explore questionable shipwreck sites that neither have little chance of yielding previously unknown archeological data nor are of any pivotal historical importance. Whereas the commercial salvor does keep good site data because the shipwrecks are spread over several miles of ocean bottom, and through compilation of accurate site data the salvors are able to maximize recoveries, as well as, understand the site they are working. The legacy that these salvors leave behind will help future salvors and archeologists to interpret and explore the shipwrecks of Florida.
How does all of this relate to the future of private sector recovery within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and indeed the rest of the state of Florida? We must first backtrack a little to bring everyone up to date on where things stand now, how we got to this point, and where we appear to be going.
First, in October 1994 a draft was printed for outside review by the Florida Department of Historical Resources entitled, “Management Plan for Florida’s Submerged Cultura Resources”. This was a document prepared by archeologists, for archeologists, which totally ignored the vast contributions of Florida’s historical shipwreck salvors to the understanding of Florida’s maritime heritage. This draft was provided to a host of government and university archeologists for outside review, but was not provided to the private sector salvors of Florida until I got wind of the draft and asked that copies be provided.
Florida has one of the most historically important and intrinsically valuable collections of New World shipwreck artifacts and treasures in the world, virtually all of it provided by the private sector at little or no cost to the taxpayers. Further, this information has been disseminated by the private sector to the public through every media source available, making Florida’s shipwrecks the most famous and well researched in the world. Private sector salvors have been the driving force behind the acquisition of knowledge relating to Florida’s maritime heritage.
And yet, in this Department of Historical Resources draft management plan, the private sector’s contributions were summed up in one sentence, “State-sanctioned salvage activities have provided artifacts and some information to the public.” The rest of the draft is a monumental work of propaganda with little basis in historical fact, (which is ironic, considering the agency that compiled it”, deigned to ignore and downplay private sector contributions while at the same time championing the so-called Pensacola Bay Project as the future of shipwreck research and exploration in Florida.
This project, which a recent AP article said has cost tax payers $800,000 and which has been funded for another $500,000 for a total cost to the tax payers of $1.3 million (which is absurdly over funded), was a survey of Pensacola Bay for shipwrecks conducted by the Department of Historical Resources. Primarily it was a search by state archeologists for the remains of the Tristan de Luna fleet lost in 1559 on one of the first voyages of colonization of the North American continent. It appears that they succeded in discovering the remains of at least one of his ill-fated fleet. This is exactly the type of project the Department of Historic Resources should be involved in.
However, as with many government projects, there has been little regard for the spending of tax dollars and little incentive imposed by state government to streamline the project. The Department’s draft management plan sought to perpetuate this type of exploration, at tax payers’ expense, while seeking to limit private sector involvement.
After I got a review of the draft, I knew something had to be done, or this could be the beginning of the end of private recovery in Florida waters.I had read a number of things by, and about, our new Florida Secretary of State (whose department is in charge of overseeing Florida’s historic shipwrecks), Sandra Mortham. These lead me to velieve that she might be able to help the private sector if she was not presented with a lot of rhetoric but with hard facts demonstrating how much Florida’s private sector salvors have contributed in treasure and artifacts to the State;s collection and also to the understanding of the State’s maritime heritage. How little this has cost the taxpayers is also an important factor.
I sent her quite a vit of documentation refuting much of what was contained in the Department of Historic Resources draft management plan and pointed out what a viased document it was. This information had the desired effect, and the draft plan was stopped dead in its tracks. The Historic Resources department was instructed to provide input from the private sector and to find a way to work with the private sector.
In January of 1995, I went to Tallahassee and met with Deputy Secretary of State Rich Heffly. I again explained to him the contributions the private sector has made to Florida and explained how the 1715 fleet project was moving forward. Further, the state and Mel Fisher’s Salvors, Inc., and his subcontractors were working under the jurisdiction of the federal admiralty court in a mutually beneficial manner.
Our meeting went quite well, and he assured me that the Secretary of State’s office supports the use of the private sector, where appropriate, to accomplish the goals of the state. Further, it appeared to him that the private sector salvors were doing a very good jov, over all, which was benefiting the people of Florida, while at the same time saving the tax payers’ money. This, as opposed to the state funding government archeologists to do the same job at tax payers’ expense.
I asked that a liason be appointed to work with the Department of Historic Resources and the salvors to rewrite the draft of Florida’s management plan. However, before this could be done NOAA came out with its draft management plan for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which included Submerged Cultural Resources (shipwrecks). Suddenly this became the more pressing document because it had to be completed within set time constraints, while the Submerged Cultural Resource plan by itself did not.
The Marine Sanctuary Plan did not bode well for the future of private sector exploration and recovery in the Florida Keys. For instance, the plan required that to even get a permit for exploration and recovery the permittee would have to be a degreed archeologist or anthropologist. This criteria alone would eliminate 99.9% of the salvors, and the draft was full of other stipulations clearly designed to eliminate private sector recovery within the sanctuary.
Needless to say, salvors in the Keys and around the state were up in arms over this plan, but there was no clear or coordinated direction in which salvors could move.
--John Brandon
(TO BE CONTINUED)
