[Grant]

Very good point.

Similarly, dumping your bottles, plates, machinery, tools, etc., into the Lake is punishable with fines, jail, etc. Yet the State considers the stuff on the bottom of the Lake (bottles, plates, machinery, tools, etc.) to be State-owned "antiquities."

So what is the cut-off date that delineates a found "treasure" from "garbage"???

Double standards?

Back when many of the Lake wrecks sunk (or were scuttled -- imagine trying to get away with that today), there wasn't a reliable way to, 1) locate the exact wreck site, or 2) salvage it. Today, with sonar, fish finders, SCUBA equipment, lift bags, barges, etc., it's a lot easier. A few of the larger wrecks (Lady, various barges, etc.) would've been challenging to raise at any time.

On a (selfish) side note, I'm all about preserving water quality, removing sunken cars, trucks and sleds, but I wish the US military had left the helicopter that crashed into Melvin Bay years ago. That would be a great dive.