DENVER (AP) - Millions of artifacts unearthed each year in Colorado are sitting in whiskey boxes and paper bags, in back rooms and basements, because the state is running out of places to store them.

The situation is so bad the Bureau of Land Management has ordered field archaeologists at the Royal Gorge Field Office and in the San Luis Valley to leave artifacts in place when doing mandated inventories unless the items are in danger of being lost or stolen.

Only 11,500 square feet is left of the 159,950 square feet of storage space in the 20 repositories for artifacts in Colorado, according to a study commissioned by a task force of public land managers and archaeologists.

In the past two years, two of the state's largest repositories, at the University of Colorado and University of Denver, stopped taking more artifacts.

"It's a crisis," said Dan Haas, a BLM archaeologist. "It's something that needs action."

The task force is considering several solutions and may seek funds to pay for a large state repository or develop five smaller regional storage buildings around Colorado.

Florida, Ohio, Maryland, Iowa and Massachusetts have state repositories.

It is also promoting a policy of leaving artifacts in place rather than collecting them.

"Archaeologists really need to think about a new way of doing business to minimize collections," said Louann Jacobson, who oversees the BLM's Anasazi Heritage Center, where 3.2 million artifacts are warehoused and as many as 20,000 more artifacts are added annually.

The National Environmental Protection Act mandates that new developments on public lands undergo archaeological study. In an artifact-rich state, the numbers of items destined for acid-free boxes and shelf space accumulate quickly.

Dave Bailey, chief curator at the Museum of Western Colorado, said he welcomes some limitations on collecting artifacts even though the museum is one of the few facilities in the state with some federally licensed space still available.

"Construction has quadrupled the amount of artifacts coming in. Materials are coming in at an astronomical rate," Bailey said. "It's expensive to store it all."

Bailey said it costs the museum about $40 a square foot to provide climate-controlled space with all the recommended acid-free boxes and packing materials. Some museums are charging government agencies hundreds of dollars per square foot for storing artifacts.