The first incident occurred on August 3, 2002, when park rangers were contacted by a National Park Service research pilot about a vehicle that had been observed hundreds of yards off-road near the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park. When park rangers located the two vehicle occupants and escorted them back to the scene, they discovered hundreds of pounds of rocks, plants, wood, and several archeological artifacts in plain view through the back window. The driver, Robert Edwin Scoville, 52 years old, of Spokane, Washington, initially insisted the materials came from western Montana. When confronted with the facts that he was in possession of a Yellowstone elk antler previously marked by park staff and that his off-road vehicle tracks lead directly to multiple fresh holes in the ground that appeared to be missing some of the same rocks and artifacts that were in his vehicle, Scoville admitted to collecting many of the items in the park. Scoville had approximately 150 mineral, archeological and plant items weighing approximately 150 pounds. On January 7, 2003, Scoville entered a guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen E. Cole in Mammoth Hot Springs on one misdemeanor ARPA count and multiple 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) counts including possessing/disturbing plants, possessing/disturbing mineral resources, possessing wood, and off road travel. Scoville was sentenced to two years probation, banned from entering Yellowstone National Park for five years, and ordered to pay $150 dollars in fines and $1,000 in restitution. The second occupant, Elisabeth Hogan, 49 years old, of Spokane, was cited and released for possession of an elk antler.

Increased patrol efforts along the north boundary made two additional ARPA cases in the same area within two months. On September 1, 2002, Ross D. Richardson, 36 years old, of Gardiner, Montana, was charged with a misdemeanor ARPA violation and a CFR mineral resource violation after he was contacted by a park ranger while in possession of 100 mineral items and archeological artifacts. On September 25, 2002, Richardson pled guilty to both charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cole and was sentenced to one-year probation and ordered to pay $200 in fines and $900 in restitution.

On September 15, 2002, Jean L. Welch, 46 years old, of Marysville, Washington, was charged with a misdemeanor ARPA violation and a CFR mineral resource violation when a ranger contacted her while in possession of 227 mineral items and archeological artifacts. Welch pled guilty to both charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cole on September 17, 2002, and was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $700 in fines and $700 in restitution.

The last incident occurred on August 25, 2002, along the park's West Boundary. A park ranger observed Robyn N. Bridges, 51 years old, of Belgrade, Montana, collecting archeological artifacts. On November 13, 2002, Bridges pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cole for two misdemeanor ARPA violations. She was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $600 in restitution.

Information provided by the NPS

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