Message #285: From: AzTeC SW Archaeology SIG To: "'Matthias Giessler'" Subject: Walnut Canyon Vandal Busted/Fruita Rural Cultural Landscape Tort Case Date: Thu, 05 Sep 96 14:54:00 MST Encoding: 48 TEXT [ Clipped from: fpforum. Please excuse the cross-posting -- SASIG Ed. ] From: Anne Vawser Subject: NPS Morning Report - 8/23/96 Author: Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA Date: 8/23/96 10:21 AM 96-485 - Walnut Canyon (Arizona) - ARPA Case On August 8th, rangers arrested Howard W. Wells of Valencia, California, for collecting artifacts within park boundaries. Wells had a sack with him which contained 435 pieces of pottery, and admitted to collecting them inside the park. Several projectile points were also found hidden inside one of his socks. All of the artifacts appeared to have been collected from the surface of several sites. In a pre-trial agreement, Wells agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor ARPA charge, pay a fine of $1,000, and reimburse the National Park Service $2,500 for the cost of the investigation and artifact curation. [Bill Hudson, DR, WUPA] Ruling on Major Tort Claim - A final judgement was recently made in Schiano vs. the United States, a $1.2 million tort claim stemming from an October, 1993, incident in which park visitor John Schiano fell from an orchard ladder provided by the park while picking fruit in an orchard at Capitol Reef. Schiano sustained serious injuries, was treated by park EMTs, and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The case eventually landed in federal district court in Florida. Schiano's primary arguments centered on a claim that the ladder was defective and that "the Park and its employees acted willfully and maliciously in failing to guard or warn of dangerous conditions" by providing ladders and the opportunity for visitors to pick fruit. The ladder was proven to be free from defects, and it was determined that maintenance of park ladders, which is routine and documented, is a discretionary function of the NPS, thereby precluding an inquiry on abuse of the discretionary function authority or negligence. It was also found that various warnings were in place. An important point in the park's defense concerned the application of the Utah Limitation of Landowners Liability Act. In essence, that act says that the owner of land owes no duty of care to keep premises safe for entry by persons using the land for recreational purposes, or to give warnings of a dangerous condition or use. Because the Schianos had not paid an entrance fee to access the orchard (the park only charges an entrance fee for its scenic drive, and they had not passed the entrance station), the government, as a landowner, was covered by the statute. If the U.S. had lost this case, it could have greatly impacted orchard operations within the park's historic Fruita rural cultural landscape, where fruit picking from the 2800 assorted fruit trees, remnants of a turn-of-the-century Mormon settlement, is a very popular visitor activity. [Tom Cox, ACR, CARE]