Congress Takes Aim at Bears Ears

Congress Takes Aim at Bears Ears
In January, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the recently designated Bears Ears National Monument in his state a “travesty.” Hatch vowed to work with President Donald Trump to reverse the December 2016 designation, a stance that many other Utah Republicans have taken in recent months. Utahns like Hatch say the effort is meant to give states control over their own natural resources. Conservationists call it an attack on some of the nation’s most beloved landscapes. The attempt to abolish Bears Ears and other national monuments is part of a fresh tack in the larger push by conservative lawmakers to purge federal management from public land in the West. http://bit.ly/2pGj4o5 – High Country News

Newly Released Documents Show Utah Leaders Lied about Bears Ears Consultation
New documents published today show years of communication and coordination between local Utah stakeholders, elected officials, and the Obama administration prior to President Obama permanently protecting Bears Ears as a national monument. The documents directly contradict multiple statements from Utah politicians who claimed the monument designation came as a surprise and without the consultation of state leaders. http://bit.ly/2pGrgVx – Westwise

Editorial: Rescinding Bears Ears National Monument Reeks of Bad Intent
It is well known that Utah’s Sutherland Institute is a far-right think tank with a mission to undermine government. Among their policy positions is advocacy for “increased charity health care” and abolishing the Department of Education. The Institute’s recent effort to promote rescinding the Bears Ears National Monument is another misguided campaign fraught with misinformation and veiled interests. The Sutherland Institute’s website and the newly established “Stewards of San Juan County” promotes their new anti-Bears Ears ad campaign, featuring children with their futures “compromised,” and is based in fear, deception and fabrication. http://bit.ly/2pGpDHd – Salt Lake Tribune

Recapture Canyon Reopened to ATV Traffic
As of Monday (April 10), recreational vehicles are welcome to ride through the sacred tribal land of Recapture Canyon in San Juan County, Utah. The Bureau of Land Management announced a “travel management plan” that will provide roughly seven miles of trails for full-size and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to roam ancient Pueblo peoples’ land. They built cliff dwellings at Recapture Canyon over 800 years ago. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said, in a press release, that permitting vehicles is necessary for people with disabilities who need one to visit. “Allowing ATVs and other vehicles in Recapture Canyon will open up opportunities for people to enjoy our public lands while still protecting the cultural and natural resources that make the place special,” Zinke said. http://bit.ly/2pGlcfT – Colorlines

Editorial: An Ancient Cemetery Is No Place for an Elementary School
The presence of archaeological deposits and likely human burials at the school site has long been known to district officials. Incredibly, they continue to press forward, knowing that the majority of the students at the Bluff school are Navajo children who come from a culture that respects the dead and their resting places to the point of avoiding any contact with them. Many Navajo parents have expressed concerns, including letting the district know that they will not allow their children to be exposed to the spiritually significant burial grounds. http://bit.ly/2nS8jTm – Deseret News

The New York Times Looks at the Battle over Public Lands
A year ago, this corner of rural Oregon became center stage in the drawn-out drama over public lands when armed militia leaders seized a national wildlife refuge, arguing that the government had too much control of land in the West. Now that President Trump is in office, people here and in other parts of the 11 states where 47 percent of the landmass is publicly owned are watching to see what he will do on everything related to public lands, from coal mining and cattle grazing to national monuments and parks. In Burns, some ranchers and others are feeling emboldened, hopeful that regulatory rollbacks by the federal government will return lands to private use and shore up a long-struggling economy. http://nyti.ms/2pGbryi – NY Times

Western Democrats Advocate for Monument Preservation
Western Democrats are pressuring President Donald Trump not to rescind land protections put in place by President Barack Obama, including Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. Obama infuriated Utah Republicans when he created the monument in late December on 1.3 million acres of land that is sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. Republicans have asked Trump to take the unusual step of reversing the designation, saying it will add another layer of unnecessary federal control and close the area to new energy development. http://bit.ly/2pG7BoD – San Francisco Chronicle

The Old Santa Fe Trail Building to Close for Renovations
The stone came from Pecos, the timber from the Hyde Memorial State Park, the mud from beneath their feet. Young men with the Civilian Conservation Corps pieced together the adobe structure from 1937-39. What they built, appropriately enough, appeared to rise out of the piñon-covered hills on Santa Fe’s east side. http://bit.ly/2nSqCru – Santa Fe New Mexican

Reminder: Archaeology Café (Tempe): Edge of Salado
On Tuesday, April 18, 2017, we round out our Phoenix Metro café season with a presentation by our own Lewis Borck, who will discuss The Edge of Salado: Connections and Disconnections. We meet after 5:30 p.m. at Macayo’s Depot Cantina, 300 S. Ash Ave, Tempe, AZ. The presentation will begin at 6:00 p.m. http://bit.ly/2phUEB6 – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity – Sedona
The next monthly meeting of the Verde Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society will be held on Thursday, April 27, in the Community Room of the Sedona Public Library in West Sedona, 3250 White Bear Road, Sedona, at 7:00 p.m. The evening’s program, presented by Jerry Ehrhardt, will be: Prehistoric Sinagua Agricultural Features and Water Harvesting Techniques of the Verde Valley. For the last fifteen years members of the Verde Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society have been conducting reconnaissance field surveys to find and record unknown archaeological features in the Verde Valley. They have recorded over 500 previously unknown prehistoric sites that date between A.D. 800 and 1300 in this volunteer effort.

Lecture Opportunity–Tucson
On April 19, at 5:30 p.m., the Arizona chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt will welcome Dr. Steve Harvey, Ahmose and Tetisheri Project, for Still Missing from the Valley of the Kings? Lost Tombs of the Founders of Egypt’s Golden Age. The program will be held in Room 216 of the Haury Building, University of Arizona campus, 1009 E. South Campus Drive. Nearest parking is in the Tyndall St. garage. http://bit.ly/2nSmfNd – ARCE AZ

Lecture Opportunity–Tucson
On April 27, at 5:30 p.m., the Tucson chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America will welcome Eric H. Cline, Professor of Classics, Anthropology, and History, The George Washington University, for 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed. The program will be held in Room 216 of the Haury Building, University of Arizona campus, 1009 E. South Campus Drive. http://bit.ly/2nShHWZ – AIA Tucson

Lecture Opportunity–Tucson
On April 28, at 2:00 p.m., the Tucson chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America will welcome Diane Harris Cline, Associate Professor of History and Classics, Director for Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, The George Washington University, for Social Networks and Innovation in the Periclean Building Program. http://bit.ly/2nSfgnq – AIA Tucson