Federal Court Denies Injunction Against Fracking of the Chaco Landscape

Federal Court Denies Injunction Against Fracking of the Chaco Landscape
A federal judge has rejected an effort by environmental groups to stall oil and gas development in northwestern New Mexico while they fight the approval of dozens of drilling permits issued over the past two years by a federal agency. U.S. District Judge James Browning issued his ruling late Friday. An environmental group said Monday it plans to appeal. http://bit.ly/1V35jdD – Farmington Daily Times

Archaeology Southwest’s Paul Reed on the Federal Decision
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge James Browning rejected an effort by environmental groups to stop oil and gas development in northwestern New Mexico. This ruling was a disappointment, because a break in the action would have allowed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to complete work on their Resource Management Plan amendment, potentially bringing additional cultural and environmental protections into place prior to drilling. http://bit.ly/1NOwbd3 – Archaeology Southwest

The Clock Is Ticking on for Preservation at Bear’s Ears
Two sandstone-capped buttes known as Bears Ears have witnessed the birth of generations of American Indians, including a leader who fought the U.S. military’s deportation of Navajos from their land. “I cry every time I come to that place,” said Kenneth Maryboy, a Navajo with deep family ties here who has joined numerous tribes in a push for federal protections of the area. “For so many years, we really didn’t participate in any land initiatives,” Maryboy said. “It’s time we reached out and say, ‘We’ve been here. This land is a part of us.'” http://bit.ly/1JubcMT – EENews

San Juan County Submits a Troubling Proposal for Public Lands Management
On August 4, the San Juan County Commission passed a resolution to forward the conceptual components of a proposal to Representatives Bishop/Chaffetz for inclusion in the Public Lands Initiative (PLI) legislation. Friends of Cedar Mesa attended the commission meeting where the vote passed and is providing the following report to bring people who care about southeastern Utah up-to-date on the process… By all accounts, the County’s proposal is far beyond what most would have anticipated San Juan County would have put on the table in terms of permanent protective designations. However far county leaders have come on this point, the proposal has some serious shortcomings and potentially dangerous provisions, which Friends of Cedar Mesa will continue to try to correct as the legislative process moves forward. http://bit.ly/1hBOetd – Friends of Cedar Mesa

US Senator Joins Five Tribes in Demanding Kennewick Repatriation
A Washington senator invited five tribes to speak at a press conference after she introduced a bill directing the return of 8,400-year-old remains of the Ancient One, or Kennewick Man, to the claimants for repatriation. Nearly two weeks from introducing the Bring the Ancient One Home Act, Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, stood behind the tribes here at the REACH Interpretive Center. http://bit.ly/1I67ns4 – Tribal Tribune

Los Angeles Times Reports Devastating Looting at Native American Sites
State parks officials and Native American leaders are decrying what they say has been a devastating spate of vandalism and looting at historically and culturally significant sites in San Diego County’s backcountry. At least five times in the past two years, looters have targeted American Indian archaeological sites within Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, authorities said. At one site, 21 dig holes were found, each the size of a dinner table. http://lat.ms/1h7xyJd – LA Times

Nevada Preservationists Attempt to Save Depression-Era Hospital Building
Growing up in the shadow of the Hoover Dam, Keegan Strouse has always been captivated by the history of the Depression-era buildings that once served the mammoth government project erected nearby. At night, he and a friend would sneak into the Boulder Dam Hotel, scouting for ghosts in the basement of the inn that for decades had played host to the likes of billionaire Howard Hughes and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Then, this July, the 27-year-old graduate architecture student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas read an Internet post that rocked those boyhood memories: the Boulder City Hospital, where injured dam workers were long treated, was facing the wrecking ball. http://lat.ms/1JtTkBY – LA Times

Tour Opportunity – Follow Along with Archaeology Southwest at the Gila River Festival
Join archaeologists Karen Schollmeyer and Allen Denoyer for a tour of the Woodrow Ruin archaeological site and a discussion of archaeology on the Upper Gila beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, September 25. Fee is $16; limit 30 people; registration required. Meet at Silver City Visitors’ Center at 7:45 a.m., carpool to the Woodrow Ruin, and return to Visitors’ Center by noon. http://bit.ly/1U1rNhS – Archaeology Southwest

Historic Routes through Southwest to Be Explored at Santa Fe’s Three Trails Conference
The All Trails Lead to Santa Fe conference (September 17 – 20, 2015), gathering people interested in three of the most significant trails in North America: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Santa Fe Trail and the Old Spanish Trail, will provide a chance to share information and learn about new ways of evaluating the trails and their impact on our national and international identity. The Conference will present opportunities to explore environmental and sociological aspects of the trails and their connections, as well as their history. http://bit.ly/1NDVXCO – All Trails lead to Santa Fe Conference Website

AAC Symposium Announcement
The Arizona Archaeological Council (AAC) and the Verde Valley Archaeology Center (VVAC) are pleased to announce the 2015 AAC Fall Conference and Symposium. This year’s conference will be held at the Sedona Poco Diablo Resort on Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7.  The Friday theme is “Getting to the Point: Projectile Point Analysis and Typology in the American Southwest.” Projectile points are used as key cultural and chronological indicators, yet there is no current consensus how to properly analyze projectile points, nor is there agreement on how to assign them to existing typological styles or what is required to identify new types or styles. Other important issues include technological design, refurbishing, and repurposing of projectile points. Standards are needed for reporting the results of analysis, as well as the creation of comparative databases for the more common projectile point types found in Arizona. Deadline for the submission of abstracts is September 18. Information at http://bit.ly/1KG02Bi – Verde Valley Archaeology Center

1907 Utah Guard Station to Be Restored
As part of the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act, another historic guard station in Utah is being restored. The Tony Grove Guard Station is located on the Logan Ranger District of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and was originally built in 1907, according to Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest public affairs specialist Kathy Jo Pollock. http://bit.ly/1LrDRBU – KSL.com

No, It’s Not a Pterosaur
The mystery (sic) surrounding the ancient rock paintings of Utah’s Black Dragon Canyon has finally been solved. For decades, researchers and creationists have debated whether the vibrant red pictographs are images of humans and animals, or rather, depictions of a large winged monster, possibly a pterosaur. Now, using cutting-edge technology, researchers suggest the red paintings show five separate images, including a tall bug-eyed person, a smaller person, a sheep, a dog and a serpentlike figure. http://bit.ly/1Lu1VXA – LiveScience.Com

Interested in Volunteering in Tucson? Consider Becoming a Docent at the Tucson Presidio
New docent training is scheduled to start September the twelfth from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. This session will focus on providing information for first time docents and volunteers (although current docents are also welcome to attend and brush up). An Afternoon training session is scheduled for 12:30 to 2 p.m. This second session will be for both new docents as well as for returning docents and volunteers. http://bit.ly/1LrGzHw – Presidio San Agustín del Tucson