2023
19
Sep
Continuing Coverage: Pueblo Leaders Defend Chaco Protection Zone in DC
Dear Friends,
I have long been interested in changes in population—demography—in my archaeological studies and as a global phenomenon. With colleagues, I have suggested that population numbers may have dropped by as much as 75 percent in the southern Southwest over the century from 1350 to 14...
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2023
29
Aug
Evidence that People Bred Macaws at Mimbres Site
Dear Friends,
Over the past 10 days I spent several days in Traverse City, Michigan, four days in San Diego, California, and a half-day on Mount Lemmon, a peak just outside of Tucson that rises over 9,100 feet.
These places have an important thing in common—they are MUCH cooler than Tucson.
...
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2022
30
Aug
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Releases Land Management Plan
Dear Friends,
For the past two weeks and counting, I have productively applied my dated archaeological field skills to my daily life at the office. The Bates Mansion—Archaeology Southwest’s historic home in downtown Tucson—has had plumbing problems. Very serious plumbing problems.
Under ...
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2022
24
May
13,000-Year-Old Ocher Mine in Wyoming
Dear Friends,
I may soon be overwhelmed by positivity.
It started at the Summit hosted by the Conservation Lands Foundation last week. That was one of the best professional gatherings I have ever attended.
And today, I get to meet our 2022 field school students.
We spend two days...
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2021
13
Oct
RESTORED!
Dear Friends,
Last Friday, President Biden restored Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, reversing the likely illegal 2017 Trump downsizing. I urge you to watch the event, and certainly Secretary Haaland’s remarks.
The nearly 10 months since January 20, when Biden o...
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2021
08
Oct
This Is a Great Day!
Banner image (c) Jonathan T. Bailey.
Bill Doelle, President & CEO
(October 8, 2021)—Friends, this is a great day. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are restored!
As I watched the signing ceremony on YouTube, I was moved by so many things.
When Chair Brenda...
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2021
21
Sep
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Celebrates 25 Years of Learning from the Land
Dear Friends,
From time to time I receive comments from readers who feel there is too much political content in my notes or in the articles we share.
I read every comment I receive. And I respectfully consider the message that is being delivered.
My goal, when I get “political,” is to a...
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2021
07
Sep
The Future of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante
Dear Friends,
I spent a good bit of this Labor Day weekend doing background reading for a talk I am scheduled to give in mid-November.
It’s a talk about Preservation Archaeology, and one topic will be Bears Ears National Monument.
It turns out I have more than 500 files of Bears Ears-rela...
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2021
15
Jun
Haaland Report Recommends Monument Restorations
Dear Friends,
Once again, I want to share some of my recent reading matter.
Cover story photos: a man stands on his roof and stares at a raging forest fire in California; a family is ferried by boat from their flooded home in South Carolina; a woman contemplates her collapsed and shattered...
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2021
01
Jun
A Public Lands Primer
Dear Friends,
A three-day weekend has given me a respite. A chance to pause and ponder. A chance to consolidate my thoughts.
First: To my surprise, many of you have expressed what I take as gratitude for my brief, usually personal thoughts that introduce this weekly news digest.
Wow. ...
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2021
04
May
Continuing Coverage: Vandalism at Birthing Rock
Dear Friends,
I’m finally home after wrapping up our Archaeology Café season tonight. I’m really pleased with the presentation Samuel Fayuant and I gave. We’ll share the video in next week’s edition.
But now it’s late, and the empty page is a challenge. Especially after I emptied my...
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2021
14
Apr
Biden “Poised to Act” on Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante
Dear Friends,
On Saturday, my wife and I flew back to Tucson from Philadelphia. On Monday, I committed to 4,000 pounds of carbon offsets each month in order to counterbalance our trips back to visit the grandkids. It was easy through Terrapass.
It’s not a perfect or even an ultimate solution...
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