Defenders of history: Fort Leonard Wood hosts specialized training to safeguard heritage sites

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Archeological Resources Protection Training Program instructors were at Fort Leonard Wood June 15–18, 2026, to conduct an intensive course on archeological crime scene investigation and the legal prosecution of cultural resources crimes.
Retired National Park Service archeologist Caven Clark, who now teaches ARPTP courses for the U.S. Department of the Interior, said the Fort Leonard Wood course focused on honing archeological crime scene investigation skills by dissecting archeological crime case studies; writing search warrants; learning how to write a resource damage assessment; making value and cost determinations for court; and studying the Archeological Resources Protection Act as well as other legal statutes.
“Once an archeological site is gone, it is gone forever, and the information that goes with it,” Clark said.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior website, ARPAwas enacted in 1979 to combat the looting, vandalism, and commercial trafficking of irreplaceable historical artifacts and archaeological sites.
“Any cultural resource on federal lands over 100 years of age and of archeological interest is protected under ARPA. Many military members and civilians training, working, living on, or recreating on an installation are unaware of the laws that protect archeological resources,” said Stephanie Nutt, Fort Leonard Wood Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division cultural resources manager.
Most of the 20 students attending the ARPTP course work as Department of the Army archeologists or conservation law enforcement officers across several installations, includingFort Leonard Wood; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Benning, Georgia.
Also attending the course were archeologists from the Mark Twain National Forest, Center for Archeological Research at Missouri State University, and two curators from the Center for Archeological Studies at Texas State University.
“While the Army’s mission is to train Soldiers and maintain military readiness, we need to find a way to balance that with protecting and preserving the nation’s irreplaceable history and heritage that we hold in trust for the American people,” Nutt said.
As a student in the four-day course, Nutt emphasized the vital importance of the training, noting that cultural resources are nonrenewable.
“Once destroyed, their unique cultural and scientific value is lost forever.Many federal lands encompass the ancestral homelands and significant sites of Native American tribes.As a federal agency, the Army honors the government-to-government relationship with Native American tribes.”
Fort Leonard Wood Conservation Law Enforcement Lt. Eric Magoon said he jumped at the opportunity to participate in the course because his role on the installation is diverse, encompassing many duties beyond what people typically think of regarding “game wardens.”
“While enforcement of the hunting, fishing and trapping laws is a duty we fulfill, this is not our only function. We are also charged with protecting our cultural resources, and as a part of that mission we enforce laws such as ARPA,” Magoon said. “Thankfully, we do not encounter ARPA violations often on Fort Leonard Wood, but we always need to be ready to conduct investigations into these violations.”
The ARPTP training culminated with a hands-on practical exercise, bringing law enforcement officers and archeologists together to collaboratively investigate and document simulated crime scenes. During this exercise, attendees had to gather and process physical evidence, write incident reports, executive summaries, search warrants, damage assessments written to the standards of the Society for American Archeology, and provide testimony in a courtroom scenario.
“The instructors created mock crime scenes to simulate unauthorized excavation of an archeological site on federal lands.They included disturbed soil, displaced artifacts, digging tools, and evidence such as coffee cups and other items that could have been left behind by the person engaged in unauthorized excavation,” Nutt said. “Working in teams of three, each led by an investigating CLEO, the mock crime scenes were photographed, mapped, and documented and evidence and artifacts were collected for further analysis.”
According to Nutt, the scenario mirrors the kind of ARPA violations frequently encountered on federal lands.
“Documenting the crime scene and collecting evidence provides CLEOs and archeologists with real-world, hands-on experience to apply when an actual ARPA violation occurs,” she said.
Magoon noted that Fort Leonard Wood community members should contact law enforcement if they find an artifact or believe a historical site has been disturbed.
“Looting, destruction or damage of these resources is not a victimless crime and carries serious consequences,” Magoon said. “If you believe you have discovered an artifact do not pick it up, just leave it be, note the location, and report it to the Fort Leonard Wood Conservation Law Enforcement Office at 573.596.5002. If you believe looting, destruction or damage to artifacts is occurring on Fort Leonard Wood please report it to the Military Police desk at 573.596.6141.”