State game and fish officials say they plan to file charges against a man who was digging for the chest of gold and jewels that Santa Fe artifact collector Forrest Fenn says he has hidden in the mountains north of Santa Fe.
Department spokesman Dan Williams says the man was found digging under a descanso along the upper Pecos River last month. A descanso is a marker where someone has died or their ashes scattered.
The man told officers he was digging for Fenn's treasure. Fenn has published a memoir with clues to the location.
Williams says it is illegal to dig on state game commission land without permission. Any found treasure would be property of the state, Wiliams says. Federal forest officials say similar rules apply on federal lands.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.