2024
27
Jun
Great Bend of the Gila Featured in Arizona Highways
Dear Friends,
I write from beautiful Prescott, Arizona, where I’ve spent the last couple of days attending the 2024 Arizona Historic Preservation Conference. Prescott is an amazing city for a number of reasons, not least of which is its long tradition, dating back to the 1970s, of activist hist...
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2024
20
Jun
Encerrita Fire Started from Lightning Strike at El Malpais National Monument
Dear Friends,
As I mentioned last week, change is afoot here at Archaeology Southwest, but we are being deliberate, tactical, strategic, and careful in the changes we make. I am thrilled to announce a recent and fantastic change around here—the arrival of our new director of philanthropy Ethan ...
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2024
13
Jun
Crow Canyon Welcomes Theresa Pasqual as EVP of Indigenous Affairs
Dear Friends,
Earlier this week we had a small staff meeting of folks who are responsible for our long-running and beloved Archaeology Café series. We met in the library of the Bates Mansion complex, our wonderfully charismatic headquarters here in Tucson, where it has been brutally hot already....
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2024
10
Jun
Celebrating the First Anniversary of the Greater Chaco Land Withdrawal
Paul F. Reed, New Mexico State Director
Preservation Archaeologist
(June 10, 2024)—On the one-year anniversary of the administrative withdrawal of Federal lands in the 10-mile zone around Chaco Canyon to protect its cultural resources from oil & gas drilling, I reflect on this hard-won victo...
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2024
05
Jun
Deadline June 11: Last Chance to Support Alternative E for Bears Ears Management Plan
Dear Friends,
On May 31, Archaeology Southwest’s Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting. These can be mundane affairs in which we review and discuss matters that may affect the organization’s sustainability and growth over time. But they can also be really interesting! Personally, I lo...
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2024
04
Jun
Hands-On Archaeology: Let’s Straighten Something Out
Meet the mighty shaft straightener!
Allen Denoyer, Ancient Technologies Expert
(June 4, 2024)—People used these ground stone tools to straighten wood or reeds used to make arrow shafts. The shaft straightener was placed in the coals of a hot fire and heated up. The arrow shaft was then pressed i...
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2024
03
Jun
My First Several Months at Archaeology Southwest
Ben Pelletier, Preservation Archaeologist
(June 3, 2024)—Hello, all! I am a relatively new employee here at Archaeology Southwest. This is my first blog post to introduce myself and talk about what I have been up to during my first several months with the organization. My background is primarily ...
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2024
30
May
Show Your Support for Historic Bears Ears Management Plan
Dear Friends,
In a busy, often chaotic world, it is good to take time to reflect and think once in a while. Over the last couple of days, I have had the chance to do both in work and personal capacities. On the personal side, my wife and I were lucky enough to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversa...
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2024
22
May
Bruce Huckell, Beloved Southwestern Archaeologist, Passes
Dear Friends,
Earlier this week, Skylar Begay (Director of Tribal Collaboration) and I attended the Conservation Lands Foundation’s biennial Friends Summit in Salt Lake City. Representatives of more than 80 conservation-minded nonprofits from across the American West attended, and it was truly ...
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2024
15
May
Why Expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Matters
Hi Everyone!
Steve is in DC this week for a whirlwind tour of allies, congressional staffers, and agency leads. He texted me this morning: “I had 9 formal meetings in 54 hours in DC and walked 30 miles back and forth across town while doing so. Between the architecture and symbolism, the great ...
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2024
08
May
Great News for the Lands Between!
Dear Friends,
On Saturday, May 4, I had the good fortune to attend Ndee Ła Ade, the 23rd Gathering of the People Celebration at Fort Apache Historic Park on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona. It’s an annual event with song and dance competitions, food, arts and craf...
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2024
02
May
Two National Monuments Expanded
Dear Friends,
On May 1, 2024, the entire Archaeology Southwest staff gathered in Tucson to begin an Appreciative Inquiry process that will flow into a strategic planning exercise this fall. What is Appreciative Inquiry, you ask?
According to experts Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom, “A...
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