Will the BLM Legitimize an Illegal ATV Trail through a “Mini-Mesa Verde”?

Will the BLM Legitimize an Illegal ATV Trail through a “Mini-Mesa Verde”?
In Utah, the Bureau of Land Management is seeking comments on what could be a precedent-setting mistake. In 2005, Blanding residents illegally constructed a seven-mile-long, 4-foot-wide, all-terrain-vehicle trail in Recapture Canyon, damaging archaeological sites. Now San Juan County is seeking a right of way for that same trail. In a pristine canyon considered a “mini-Mesa Verde,” rare cliff dwellings and archaeological sites are caught in a classic confrontation between local residents who want to boost ATV tourism and federal laws that protect our national heritage. http://bit.ly/1bcapvD – Durango Herald

Funding Problems Slow Expansion of Petrified Forest National Park
“I used to stand outside of the fence and drool. … You could see bones (sic) under the fence,” Parker recalled. Back then, talk of expanding park boundaries to protect fossil-rich areas that contain more than just the petrified trees the park is known for was just a pipe dream floating through the halls of Congress. But Congress authorized an expansion of the national park in 2004, and today, Parker leads a research team and works with paleontologists from the Smithsonian Institution, Yale and other universities across the United States. However, not everything has gone according to the original expansion plan that was initially pushed by archaeologists, paleontologists and park advocates, who worried that cultural sites and fossils on private land were not being protected.  http://bit.ly/1h6rfjA – Arizona Republic

Lecture Cancellation – Tucson
Native Seeds/SEARCH regrets to announce that Karen Adams Salon scheduled for today, January 20th, has been canceled, but hopefully will be rescheduled soon.

Historical Event – Tucson’s Fort Lowell Day is Saturday, February 8th
Start the day at 10 AM with an Arizona Territories Vintage Baseball League game between the Bisbee Black Sox and the Tucson Sahuaros on the baseball field at Fort Lowell Park. From 12 Noon to 4 pm enjoy the 33rd celebration of the neighborhood’s historic sites with a walking tour, and archaeological lectures, as well as educational activities and entertainment along a route lined with food booths, music and hands-on activities. Highlights include cavalry drills, a regimental band concert, a Mormon history exhibit, adobe-brick making and docents stationed at every historic site. All Activities are free & open to the Public. Go to http://bit.ly/VDAgu4 for full schedule, or call (520) 299-3317.

Lecture Opportunity – Casa Grande
At noon on Wednesday, January 29th, Dr. Todd Bostwick will be presenting Native American Salt Procurement, Use, and Rituals in the American Southwest at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The Casa Grande Ruins lecture series is open to the public and takes place weekly from Jan 15th–March 26th at the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center auditorium located at 1100 W. Ruins Drive, Coolidge, AZ. For more information and a schedule of upcoming speakers, please visit http://1.usa.gov/1dfEizf, or call (520) 723-3172.

Lecture Opportunity – El Paso
On January 25, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, Dr. Jeff Clark will present a PowerPoint illustrated talk, Migrants and Mounds: Late Precontact Archaeology of the San Pedro Valley of Southeast Arizona at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology. This free talk describes what happened when, in the late 13th century, the Kayenta people of northeast Arizona made a 300-mile migration into the river valleys of southern Arizona, which were already occupied by Hohokam communities.  Information: 915-755-4332 or http://bit.ly/1ahaFZL