Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part CXXXIV): Crime in the Buffalo National River

Two stories of crime in the Buffalo National River Park caught my eye in several editions of the Newton County Times, my hometown weekly newspaper.  They are both dateline Fort Smith, where the federal court for the western district of Arkansas sits.  

This is from the August 9, 2021 issue under the headline, "Two Arkansas men plead guilty to damaging historic mines in Buffalo National River."  The subhead notes that the men sold what they got from the mines at a "rock shop" in Alpena, which straddles neighboring Boone and Carroll counties.  Note how long it took for this case to get to court--the men were first observed by a park ranger more than five years earlier:  

Two men pleaded guilty last week to felony violations of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, in connection with their illegal excavations of archaeological sites in the Historic Rush Mining District of Buffalo National River, and the sale of stolen geological and mineral specimens at a store in Alpena. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III presided over the July 27 change-of-plea hearings, in which Nathan Bradford LeMay, 35, of Hot Springs Village, and Justin Charles Baird, 32, of Hot Springs, each pleaded guilty to the first count of the three-count indictment in which both were named.

According to court documents, on multiple occasions in 2015 and 2016, LeMay and Baird traveled to the Historic Rush Mining District, in Marion County, Arkansas, to dig for mineral and geological specimens to sell at LeMay’s business, Alpena Crystals. The pair’s plans went awry on Feb. 14, 2016, when a U.S. Park Ranger observed them camped in Buffalo National River, which is a United States National Park.

Noticing evidence of their excavations, the Ranger obtained consent to search their campsite and vehicles, recovering digging tools and containers of geological specimens. Two days later, officers were sent to several mines in the area to assess whether or not they had been entered. The Monte Cristo Mine, a gated, locked and controlled mine along Clabber Creek, was observed to have been broken into. Trash, water bottles and other items were located both just inside and outside this mine. On the Rush Creek side of the same mountain, drag marks in high grass, from the Morning Star/Ben Carney Mine, down to Rush Creek and the parking lot, indicated large heavy objects had been dragged down the mountain to the parking area.

A subsequent investigation by the National Park Service, assisted by local law enforcement and the Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, established the full extent of the pair’s illegal excavations. LeMay and Baird had excavated and damaged 22 areas within those mines, removing mineral and geological materials, and damaging the historic sites—which add to the knowledge of the mining community in the Ozarks as the industry transitioned from crude mining techniques to modern methods. Dr. Caven Clark, an archaeologist with the National Park Service, now retired, conducted a resource damage assessment, determining that the cost of restoration and repair to the site was approximately $22,241.

Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2020. In addition to violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, which prohibits excavating, damaging, altering and defacing archaeological sites and resources, both men were also charged with theft of U.S. property and damage to government property. ...  Before the [two defendants] announced their intentions to plead guilty, the case had been scheduled to be tried beginning on July 26.

As a result of their guilty pleas both LeMay and Baird face up to two years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. Additionally, both men have agreed to pay $22,241 in restitution as a shared obligation.

The earlier story is from May 10, 2021.  The headline is "Man sentenced for setting fire within BNR."  Here's an excerpt: 

A Harrison man was sentenced on May 5, to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $12,494.14 in restitution on one count of willfully and without authority and consent of the united states set on fire timber, underbrush, grass and other inflammable material upon a public domain within the Buffalo National River. The Honorable US District Judge P.K. Holmes, III, presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith. 

According to court documents, In March 2020, Jacob Edward Walls, 29, was indicted by a federal grand jury, of setting a wildland fire within Buffalo National River, in Newton County, near Pruitt, on Feb. 5, 2019. Federal investigators determined Walls set a fire within the park, which threatened nearby private structures and lands, and subsequently fled the area. 

The Newton County Sheriff's office assisted federal authorities in the case.