Continuing Coverage: Protecting the Greater Chaco Landscape

Continuing Coverage: Protecting the Greater Chaco Landscape
Appropriators in the U.S. House of Representatives would ensure federal lands around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico are protected from new energy and mineral development. The House Appropriations Committee released a report to accompany its Interior-EPA bill up for markup tomorrow (E&E News PM, 14 May). Language in the report would prevent the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from leasing or proposing new leases within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The fiscal 2020 language is additional insurance against any oil and gas leasing around Chaco, home to countless ancient ruins and artifacts and the cultural center for Ancestral Puebloans. http://bit.ly/2HsRZR4 – Science

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, delivered opening remarks Tuesday at a Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining hearing on S. 1079, the Chaco Culture Heritage Area Protection Act, a bill he introduced with U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) to withdraw the federal lands around Chaco Canyon from further mineral development. http://bit.ly/2HwnXMt – Los Alamos Daily Post

“It’s my homeland”
“My ancestors migrated to what is now New Mexico, where the Pueblo Indians live, back in the late 1200s,” Haaland told the Guardian in a recent interview. “No one else can claim that they have been there any longer than our people, than the Pueblo people. I feel like perhaps my voice is important right now to testify to our longstanding care for the land.” With Haaland in office, “we now have a Native American right there in the decision-makers’ room,” said Shaun Chapoose, the co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and a member of the governing body of the Ute Indian tribe. “She is a Native American and she understands our traditions and she is in a place where she can educate lawmakers.” http://bit.ly/2Hu20xr – The Guardian

BLM Changes Official Language Regarding Stewardship of Public Lands
The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that oversees more than 245 million acres of public land, has stripped its conservation-focused mission statement from agency news releases. Boilerplate language ― the bureau’s longstanding mission statement ― was printed at the end of BLM press releases throughout President Donald Trump’s tenure: “The BLM’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” That language was recently cut from all agency releases, including those that predate the Trump administration. The text now exclusively highlights the economic value of America’s public lands… http://bit.ly/2HvXRsV – Huffington Post

Audio: Access Utah Interview with Bill Lipe
Dr. Lipe began his work at a time when there was little federal legislation protecting archaeology or guiding preservation efforts. He became a leader in the development of what we now know of as Cultural Resource Management archaeology. Because of his involvement in CRM and his work in Cedar Mesa, he remains one of archaeology’s main voices in the Bears Ears controversy. Dr. Lipe spoke at the Utah State University Museum of Anthropology in November as a part of the Anthropology Lecture Series at USU. We’ll talk about Bears Ears, Cedar Mesa, CRM and Glen Canyon today. http://bit.ly/2HuP8Hl – Utah Public Radio

Zuni Festival at Museum of Northern Arizona May 25 and 26
Zuni culture is rooted in farming and food traditions dating back many millennia. This weekend the annual Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture and the Museum of Northern Arizona will celebrate these important traditions, along with the art, music and dance that flowered from them. Many of the motifs and imagery in Zuni art come from the agricultural tradition, according to Curtis Quam, cultural educator for the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center in Zuni , which is cosponsoring the 29th annual Zuni Festival at MNA. http://bit.ly/2HtDmgk – Navajo-Hopi Observer

Tonto National Monument Designated as International Dark Sky Park
On May 7, 2019, the National Park Service and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced that Tonto National Monument has been designated as an International Dark Sky Park. This prestigious award means that Tonto National Monument has exceptional opportunities to observe the night sky, and has implemented efforts for preservation of the nocturnal environment and educational programs for the public. https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/tonto-national-monument-u-s/

Exhibition at Edge of the Cedars Museum Highlights How to Show Respect for the Past
A new exhibit features two pottery vessels found by two groups of San Juan County residents. The Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum is inaugurating the “New to the Edge” exhibit with artifacts that are new or recent additions to the museum’s collections. On Easter 2014, Steve and Donna Jensen were picnicking with their grandchildren, Skyler, Cameron, Spencer, and Brittany Jensen, on public lands in nearby Cottonwood Wash when the kids discovered two corrugated jars exposed in an arroyo cut. The family notified Blanding archaeologist Winston Hurst who, in turn, brought the discovery to the attention of BLM archaeologist, Don Simonis. http://bit.ly/2Hu48Fw – San Juan Record

Lecture Opportunity, Chandler AZ
On June 4, from noon to 12:30 in the Saguaro Room of the Chandler Museum, historian Erik Berg will present “Aviators and the Archaeologists: The Lindberghs’ 1929 Aerial Survey of Southwest Prehistoric Sites.” Learn the fascinating story behind the images from the Oblique Views exhibit! Famous pilot Charles Lindbergh is best known for his pioneering 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his custom airplane called “The Spirit of St. Louis.” Few people realize that Lindbergh, and his wife Anne, also played a brief—but important—role in southwestern archaeology. In the summer of 1929, Charles and Anne worked with noted Southwest archaeologist Alfred Kidder to use aircraft to search for and photograph prehistoric sites and important geological features in Arizona and New Mexico including Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, and the Grand Canyon. This short, but exciting presentation features many of their original photographs (including ones not shown in the exhibit) and discusses this pioneering time for both aviation and archaeology. Following the talk, Erik will lead a short walk through the Oblique Views exhibit to point out key features and themes in the photos. https://www.facebook.com/events/446267339483196/

Lecture Opportunity, Mimbres NM
On Wednesday, June 19, at 6:00 p.m., at Round Up Lodge, 91 Aklin Hill Rd, the Grant County Archaeological Society will welcome Karen Schollmeyer for “The Cliff Valley in the 14th Century.” Each summer, students and professional archaeologists at the Upper Gila Preservation Archaeology Field School work together near Cliff, New Mexico, to understand what life was like in the region in the 1300s. A collaboration of Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona, this project is focused on how people formed the communities we are studying, which were long-lived and incorporated residents of different origins and ethnicities. This talk will summarize the latest research on these topics, including findings from the forthcoming summer’s excavations. https://www.gcasnm.org/news/

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