While I don't think any museum 'professional' or serious scientist should encourage Pot Hunters. There is no doubt they destroy or at least badly damage the sites they attack. Realistically, those folks do play an important role is promoting preservation as well. I suspect that many of the people in the effort to preserve American Civil War battlefields from commerical development started out collecting Minne balls. On private land, if pot hunters did not hunt artifacts-many sites/artifacts would just be lost totally due to development and the like. Perhaps half a loaf (the artifacts) is better than no loaf at all. In addition, I would ask, do common artifacts have more meaning displayed close to where there were found or in a drawer in a far off institution? Is a flint point better shown on the wall of the farm where is was found or buried in a collection where it will never be seen?