D0 you know that a state law bars the citizenry from destroying, excavating, .or appropriating historic ruins on federal and state lands in Utah? If you don’t, now is a good time to become acquainted with the regulation which recently came into focus when two Idaho men were convicted in San Juan County of violating the Utah State Antiquities Act. The two men were observed digging in Indian ruins in the.Grand Gulch area of southeastern Utah, according to a Bureau of Land Management spokesman- The violaters were detected from a patrol helicopter by the BLM resource area manager in San Juan County and BLM Grand Gulch rangers. The bureau’s agents contacted the San Juan County sheriff’s office and arrests were made by Sheriff Rigby Wright and Deputy Mike Lacey. The Idaho men pleaded guilty and were fined $125 apiece I and sentenced to 30 days in jail, with the jail terms suspended provided the defendants refrain from further violation of the act. Says the antiquities law: A person may not, without permission, “appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity” on lands under federal and state government control. Specifically protected under the act are hieroglyphs, pottery, and human remains, as well as ruins of dwellings or other structure. The Bureau of Land Management is making every effort possible to discourage and stop violations on the BLMadministered national resource lands, says Paul L. Howard, state director. Incidentally, persons caught violating the antiquities act may be fined up to $299 or imprisoned for up to six months, or both. So consider yourselves warned.