Government Shutdown Leaves Our National Parks a Chaotic Mess

Government Shutdown Leaves Our National Parks a Chaotic Mess
If you’re thinking about enjoying some time at a national park, you might want to check to see if the place you’re headed to is even open. On Saturday, hours after the start of the partial government shutdown, dozens of national parks nationwide closed their gates and turned visitors away. Others have partial services with limited staff as part of a plan worked out in recent days by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke… In southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park remained open Saturday, and so too did other parks in the state, such as Rocky Mountain National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. But while the gates were open, all visitor facilities were shuttered. http://bit.ly/2rqdIDc – Los Angeles Times

National Park Service Advisory Board “Implodes“
On Jan. 15, nine of 12 members of the National Park System Advisory Board sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announcing their resignation, effectively dissolving the board. It was an act of protest against an administration with little appetite for the methodical approach the board has brought to national park management for decades. And it leaves the National Park Service without a means to establish new historic or natural landmarks, since federal law requires the advisory board to sign off on such designations. More significantly, perhaps, it’s another crack in the foundation of the Interior Department, which manages 500 million acres of public land and is already rattled by the prospect of some 4,000 job cuts. http://bit.ly/2G2hXrO – High Country News

Bill Lipe on Monuments and the Antiquities Act
I’ve been involved with the archaeology of the Bears Ears area for more than 50 years, and I actively support President Obama’s use of the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate the Bears Ears National Monument. Media coverage of this issue has also ramped up substantially, and I’ve recently been interviewed by several journalists for comments about the Trump administration’s recent attempt to radically diminish Bears Ears National Monument. All this has made me think long and hard about what the monument represents. My main goal here is to argue that keeping Bears Ears National Monument intact respects the visionary intent of both the 1906 Act and President Obama’s 2016 proclamation. Before doing that, I’d like to say a few things about the national monuments provision of the Antiquities Act itself, which often seems poorly understood. http://bit.ly/2G2xTKS – Archaeology Southwest

BLM Forges Ahead in Spite of Lawsuits
Little more than a month after a presidential proclamation radically reducing two southern Utah national monuments, the BLM is moving ahead with the planning process. On Fri., Jan. 12, the BLM announced the beginning of a 60-day comment period on the newly shrunken Bears Ears and Grand Staircase/Escalante national monuments. The period will also include a series of scoping meetings. Public comment will be used to craft management plans for a series of smaller monuments that will replace the original ones. http://bit.ly/2G0Fs4H – Durango Telegraph

Oil and Gas Interests Focus upon Molen Reef
As he scanned the horizon in a shallow basin under central Utah’s Molen Reef, Jonathan Bailey’s eye fell on red markings he had never noticed before despite numerous forays into the area searching for ancient rock art. Drawing closer, the Ferron native discovered two prehistoric square human figures outlined under an overhanging rock. Add another Fremont rock art site to the long list he has documented and provided to the Bureau of Land Management, which is now leasing the part of Emery County for oil and gas development over the objections of historic preservation, tribal and environmental groups. http://bit.ly/2G06o4D – Salt Lake Tribune

Kabotie and Honanie’s Stunning Mural Journey of the Human Spirit on Exhibition in Dallas
Hopi artists Michael Kabotie and Delbridge Honanie always intended for their mural, “Journey of the Human Spirit” to take a journey of its own. Its display at the Dallas Museum of Art through Dec. 2 is its first exhibition outside of Arizona and the Museum of Northern Arizona, fulfilling the wishes of the deceased artists. “It was their dream for this mural to travel and now it has. It really just gives me warm feelings to know we helped them achieve one of their goals. We hope it will travel even more,” Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Curator of Anthropology at the Museum of Northern Arizona, said. http://bit.ly/2G0kgM6 – Dallas NBC 5

Columbia University Starts Nation’s First PhD Program in Historic Preservation
The United States is home to numerous master degree programs in historic preservation. Until yesterday, though, there was nowhere that students could pursue a PhD in the subject. That’s set to change with Columbia University’s just-launched doctoral program in historic preservation, the first of its kind in the U.S. http://bit.ly/2G3QIxk – The Architect’s Newspaper

Registration Opens for Arizona Preservation Conference
Early registration is now open for the 16th Annual Arizona Historic Preservation Conference that will take place at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Arizona, June 6-8, 2018. Registration begins at $240 per person for the 2.5-day event and includes all conference materials, access to sessions and featured speakers, and more. Early registration discounts end February 28, 2018. The theme of this year’s conference, “Design in the Desert,” is intended to focus attention on the adaptations which enabled prehistoric inhabitants, indigenous tribes, Euro-American settlers and all of their descendants to make a living in the Arizona Deserts.  Press Release via http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3626742