Forest Service Finalizes Plans for Chimney Rock

Forest Service Finalizes Plans for Chimney Rock 
Forest Service officials have released the details of a long-term management plan for the Chimney Rock archaeological site, three years after President Barack Obama proclaimed the area a national monument. Part of the national monument designation required the San Juan National Forest Service, with stakeholder input, to draft a long-term visionary management plan for the site. http://bit.ly/1RXvkZw – Durango Herald

Crow Canyon Archaeobotany Intern Anna Graham Finds Ancient Barley from the Mesa Verde Region
Looking through the microscope at botanical samples from the Switchback site, archaeobotany intern Anna Graham found something she knew wasn’t supposed to be there: one tiny carbonized grain of domesticated barley. Then she found another. Graham’s mentor, archaeobotanical consultant Karen Adams, was skeptical. In a lengthy career of looking at plant parts, she hadn’t seen this one at Crow Canyon. The grain, Hordeum pusillum, also called little barley, was known to have been grown in southern and central Arizona in ancient times, but it had never been found in the Mesa Verde region. http://bit.ly/1Mgf2JS – Crow Canyon

Update (Change of Venue) Panel Discussion on Archaeological Preservation of the Chaco and Mesa Verde Landscapes
Archaeology Southwest and Crow Canyon announce a public forum addressing ongoing efforts to protect the fragile Greater Chaco and Mesa Verde landscapes. A panel of Native Americans, archaeologists, and other experts will address the current situation and take questions from the audience. The discussion will be held November 21, 2015, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
23390 County Road K, Cortez.  The public is welcome. For additional information, please contact Paul Reed, preed@archaeologysouthwest.org, (505) 486-4107.

Another Artist-Conservationist Asks If Social Media Is Abetting the Trashing of Our Public Spaces
I, like many others, am extremely active on social media. I check it first thing when I wake up and right before I fall asleep. I follow many people whose work I find inspiring and I constantly check hashtags in an effort to discover new people, new locations, and new perspectives. However, lately I have begun noticing a trend that extremely distressing to me as conservationist and park ranger: People hurting the protected (and to me, the absolutely most sacred) land of our national parks, in order to get the shot. I don’t want to point fingers, name names, or even be a spoil-sport, but somebody has got to say something, and it might as well be me. http://bit.ly/1YcaxFr – Christina Adele Photography

Denver Art Show Benefits Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park and the region that surrounds it are among America’s most scenic places. Twenty-two artists captured it well for the oils, acrylics, watercolors and sculptures they created for Rims to Ruins, a cocktail reception, exhibit and sale held at Kent Denver School. Judy Grant and Mary Willis chaired this benefit for the Mesa Verde Foundation. Net income is still being tallied, said Grant, who also chairs the foundation’s board of trustees, but it is expected to be the most successful in the event’s three-year history. http://dpo.st/1kyyY1J – Denver Post

Audio Presentation: Paul Reed on Climate Change from an Archaeological Perspective
Archaeology Southwest’s Paul Reed discusses ancient examples of climate change that may have impacted the lives of the ancestral Puebloans who once inhabited the Four Corners area. There are many signs of instances of ancient climate change in the area, including the nearby Petrified Forest and New Mexico’s inland sea. http://bit.ly/1Mgpgtw – KSJE.org

Lecture Opportunity – Grand Junction
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, local archaeologist Sonny Shelton will lecture and show slides on The Bison History of Western Colorado. The talk will be 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Radio Room, 1310 Ute Ave. Attendance is open to anyone and the event is free.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Kyle Dickman and Peter Vigneron who will present a lecture November 23 at 6:00 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe on the tragic Yarnell Hill Fire based on their book On the Burning Edge: A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It. Kyle is both the book’s Author and Contributing Editor, Outside Magazine and Nominee, National Magazine Award as well as a former Tahoe Hotshot Wildland Firefighter; Peter is a freelance journalist for Outside Magazine and served as Assistant editor for this book. The lecture is part of the annual Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held to acknowledge the work of The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Admission by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Seating is limited. Refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt tel: 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; http://bit.ly/YhJddr – SW Seminars

Thanks to Brian Kreimendahl for contributing to this week’s newsletter.