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The AAPC opposes the total abolishment of the Isolated Finds Policy. We believe it to be a conceptually sound public policy, which has added over 9,400 artifacts to Florida's archaeological record and led to significant additions to the state's Master Site File. It offers scholars and archaeologists the opportunity to employ the collected data in their research efforts; and it nurtures the public’s interest and participation in Florida history and the social sciences. The authors of the Isolated Finds Policy recognized that cultural objects located in detached sediments of eligible river systems are displaced from their original context and have unreliable stratigraphy. Regulated recovery and recording of these objects is in essence a positive method of preserving them and promoting the involved public's educational interest in archaeology. As the Isolated Finds Policy states, it is a valuable scientific data gathering process. We recommend that the Commission look for solutions to improve and codify the policy rather than abolish it.

Your immediate help is necessary to stop those who intend to eliminate public archaeology in our state.

During discussions, the AAPC has learned that one of the commission members maintained that a modification or abolishment of the codified Florida Program of Vertebrate Paleontology, commonly known as the "Fossil Permit," would be necessary because, "Permitted fossil collecting on state land is just another way to remove artifacts." The FPVP program allows collection of vertebrate fossils on state owned lands, including but not limited to submerged lands. The AAPC view's this as a clear example of an "anti-collector" bias that unfortunately exists among a few state government officials.