Colorado residents sentenced after incident at Canyonlands archeological site

A pair of Colorado residents were fined, given probation and temporarily banned from Utah’s public lands after pleading guilty to charges tied to a theft and disruption incident at an archeological site at Canyonlands National Park last year.

Roxanne McKnight, 39, and Dusty Spencer, 43, of Durango, Colorado, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of possessing or disturbing cultural or archaeological resources, as well as walking on or entering archeological or cultural resources — all misdemeanor offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said on Friday.

A judge sentenced McKnight to one year of probation while banning her from entering any public lands in Utah for one year. The judge gave Spencer a two-year ban from Utah public lands, along with two years of probation. Both were also ordered to pay fines and restitution fees totaling $1,500.

The two were charged in November 2024, months after Canyonlands National Park officials reported two people had illegally entered the Cave Spring Cowboy Camp on the park’s Cave Spring Trail. On March 23, 2024, a National Park Service trail camera placed outside the site captured a man and a woman entering a fenced-off area before handling “numerous historic artifacts” from the site, according to federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors added that antique nails were also taken from the site.

Cave Spring Cowboy Camp features a mix of historic and prehistoric artifacts, according to the National Park Service. It features various “original” artifacts from camps set up by pioneer cattlemen between the late 1800s through 1975 when cattle ranching stopped at the park.

The site also includes many prehistoric artifacts, including rock markings from Indigenous tribes who lived 6,000 to 700 years ago. Prosecutors said there are “clear warnings prohibiting visitors from entering the area” at the site.