Post by Okwes on Mar 22, 2006 10:08:28 GMT -5
Border artifacts, cultural sites are in danger
Billy House
Republic Washington Bureau
Mar. 21, 2006 12:00 AM
www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321sacred-damage0321.html
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321sacred-damage0321.html>
WASHINGTON - Archaeological and historical sites along the U.S. border
with Mexico and other valuable cultural resources are being destroyed,
including areas held sacred by Native Americans, according to a new
report from a presidential advisory panel.
The culprits: dynamic population growth and urbanization in Arizona,
Texas, New Mexico and California, combined with increased cross-border
traffic and illegal immigration through the region and related border
enforcement.
Unless many of these cultural and natural resources along the
U.S.-Mexican border are better protected, and soon, they will not be
available for future generations, the panel warns.
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"It's impossible to preserve everything," said Paul Ganster, chairman of
the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, a committee of academics and
representatives of local governments, non-profit groups, tribes and
federal agencies that advises the White House and Congress about issues
along the border.
But, Ganster said, "we should want to preserve for future generations
the opportunities we've had to enjoy these areas that remind us of our
historical and cultural past and (that) relate to who we are and where
we've come from."
"Once changed, they are obliterated forever," he added.
For example, the volunteer Arizona Site Steward Program documented more
than 50 acts of vandalism to sites in southern Arizona during 2005, the
board said, including pothunting, surface collection of artifacts,
illegal dumping of trash, removal of petroglyphs, fence-cutting and
damage from off-road vehicles.
In El Paso County, Texas, vandals at the Hueco Tanks Historic Site have
defaced pictographs (rock paintings) in the past 15 years, causing what
the report calls "irreparable destruction."
Increasing awareness The advisory panel's recommendations have no force.
But they are being distributed to government officials, landowners and
others to help increase awareness of the problems and to generate
coordinated public and private efforts to preserve the historic sites
and lands.
The "border region" is defined in the report as areas in the four states
that are within 60 miles of the U.S.-Mexican line. In the almost 10,000
years of settlement in the region, the report says, there are
archaeological sites and cultural areas that include Native American
villages, historic mission churches and Mexican and U.S. territorial-era
ranches, as well as historic mining districts, frontier towns, and early
railroads, roads and trails.
Among the panel's recommendations:
• Increase monitoring activities at archaeological sites.
• Increase partnerships among preservation groups, governments and
private groups to buy sensitive land with valuable cultural and natural
resources and to manage growth.
• Create more incentive programs and funding to encourage private
landowners and developers to voluntarily protect cultural resources.
• Increase public attention to the effects of illegal immigration
across tribal lands and give greater attention to the special practices
and activities linked to locations of cultural significance.
• Minimize off-road driving and creation of new roads by the U.S.
Border Patrol, and increase "training of Border Patrol personnel in
cultural sensitivity and appreciation of the border region's diverse
cultural heritage."
Call for exemptions The report also calls for reconsidering exemptions
from federal environmental laws given to some border-security projects.
For example, the report points out that a border-fence project in the
San Diego-Tijuana area was exempted from such laws.
"This large triple-fencing, approximately 30 miles long, will destroy or
cover an (ancient) archaeological site, and will affect several
endangered plant species," the report states.
As for vandalism, the potential for financial gain combined with the low
probability of getting caught keeps looters active despite federal and
state laws that include civil and criminal penalties.
"In many cases, numerous aspects of daily life, from spiritual
practices, to daily diet, to creation of handcrafted objects from local
materials, are affected," the report states.
But the damage goes beyond looting. The changing land uses also threaten
Native Americans whose dependence on natural resources for cultural
practices goes beyond economics.
Many of the committee's conclusions were influenced by the 27-member
board's field visit in October to the Tohono O'odham Nation, which
shares 75 miles of border with Mexico. In all, there are 26 Native
American tribes in the border region of the four states.
'Lack of understanding' Tohono O'odham Vice Chairman Ned Norris Jr., a
member of the advisory panel, said he believes there has been "a lack of
concerted understanding about tribes and tribal governments and, more
particularly, how border issues impact tribes."
That's why Norris invited his board colleagues to Arizona so that they
could see the results of increasing numbers of undocumented immigrants
crossing tribal lands, coupled with the federal government's increased
border-security efforts.
His tribe estimates that as many as 1,500 undocumented migrants cross
its lands each day, leaving about 6 tons of trash, including backpacks,
blankets, water bottles, plastic sheeting and even automobiles.
The increase in human activity also has led to creation of unofficial
roads, trails and paths, and increased damage to culturally important
natural areas and vegetation and sacred sites. One area cited by Norris,
and in the committee's report, is the Baboquivari Peak area, which he
said "is, in fact, sacred to our people."
"We believe our creator lives in this mountain," he said, adding that
pilgrimages are made there for spiritual purification and strengthening.
Collaborative planning Some areas could be declared National Heritage
Areas, which are designated by Congress as containing natural, cultural
and recreational resources that are nationally distinctive and
significant.
Such a designation is intended to encourage collaborative planning and
preservation of cultural resources that also can stimulate economic
growth.
Once designated, an area is eligible to receive up to $10 million in 50
percent matching funds over 15 years. Only one exists in the border
region: the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.
Overall, the advisory panel's report says that the full extent of
destruction to historical and cultural sites is unknown because of the
vast and remote areas of the border region and because of the lack of
resources for exhaustive monitoring.
It notes, for example, that there are 3,984 known archaeological sites
known in Pima County, butonly 12 percent of the land there has been
investigated.
Similarly, staffers from the 1.7 million-acre Coronado National Forest
in southern Arizona estimate that only 10 percent of that forest has
been surveyed.
Mary Estes, a resource protection specialist with Arizona's Office of
Historic Preservation, part of the Parks Department, said the state and
other public-land managers are working to make people more aware and get
them involved in cultural-resource preservation through stronger public
education.
Billy House
Republic Washington Bureau
Mar. 21, 2006 12:00 AM
www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321sacred-damage0321.html
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321sacred-damage0321.html>
WASHINGTON - Archaeological and historical sites along the U.S. border
with Mexico and other valuable cultural resources are being destroyed,
including areas held sacred by Native Americans, according to a new
report from a presidential advisory panel.
The culprits: dynamic population growth and urbanization in Arizona,
Texas, New Mexico and California, combined with increased cross-border
traffic and illegal immigration through the region and related border
enforcement.
Unless many of these cultural and natural resources along the
U.S.-Mexican border are better protected, and soon, they will not be
available for future generations, the panel warns.
[http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gif]
<http://q.azcentral.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.azcentral.com/new\
s/articles/0321sacred-damage0321.html/1041254344/BoxAd/OasDefault/adeq_n\
ews_06/box-faster.gif/33653036386230633433643066626330>
[http://www.azcentral.com/imgs/clear.gif]
"It's impossible to preserve everything," said Paul Ganster, chairman of
the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, a committee of academics and
representatives of local governments, non-profit groups, tribes and
federal agencies that advises the White House and Congress about issues
along the border.
But, Ganster said, "we should want to preserve for future generations
the opportunities we've had to enjoy these areas that remind us of our
historical and cultural past and (that) relate to who we are and where
we've come from."
"Once changed, they are obliterated forever," he added.
For example, the volunteer Arizona Site Steward Program documented more
than 50 acts of vandalism to sites in southern Arizona during 2005, the
board said, including pothunting, surface collection of artifacts,
illegal dumping of trash, removal of petroglyphs, fence-cutting and
damage from off-road vehicles.
In El Paso County, Texas, vandals at the Hueco Tanks Historic Site have
defaced pictographs (rock paintings) in the past 15 years, causing what
the report calls "irreparable destruction."
Increasing awareness The advisory panel's recommendations have no force.
But they are being distributed to government officials, landowners and
others to help increase awareness of the problems and to generate
coordinated public and private efforts to preserve the historic sites
and lands.
The "border region" is defined in the report as areas in the four states
that are within 60 miles of the U.S.-Mexican line. In the almost 10,000
years of settlement in the region, the report says, there are
archaeological sites and cultural areas that include Native American
villages, historic mission churches and Mexican and U.S. territorial-era
ranches, as well as historic mining districts, frontier towns, and early
railroads, roads and trails.
Among the panel's recommendations:
• Increase monitoring activities at archaeological sites.
• Increase partnerships among preservation groups, governments and
private groups to buy sensitive land with valuable cultural and natural
resources and to manage growth.
• Create more incentive programs and funding to encourage private
landowners and developers to voluntarily protect cultural resources.
• Increase public attention to the effects of illegal immigration
across tribal lands and give greater attention to the special practices
and activities linked to locations of cultural significance.
• Minimize off-road driving and creation of new roads by the U.S.
Border Patrol, and increase "training of Border Patrol personnel in
cultural sensitivity and appreciation of the border region's diverse
cultural heritage."
Call for exemptions The report also calls for reconsidering exemptions
from federal environmental laws given to some border-security projects.
For example, the report points out that a border-fence project in the
San Diego-Tijuana area was exempted from such laws.
"This large triple-fencing, approximately 30 miles long, will destroy or
cover an (ancient) archaeological site, and will affect several
endangered plant species," the report states.
As for vandalism, the potential for financial gain combined with the low
probability of getting caught keeps looters active despite federal and
state laws that include civil and criminal penalties.
"In many cases, numerous aspects of daily life, from spiritual
practices, to daily diet, to creation of handcrafted objects from local
materials, are affected," the report states.
But the damage goes beyond looting. The changing land uses also threaten
Native Americans whose dependence on natural resources for cultural
practices goes beyond economics.
Many of the committee's conclusions were influenced by the 27-member
board's field visit in October to the Tohono O'odham Nation, which
shares 75 miles of border with Mexico. In all, there are 26 Native
American tribes in the border region of the four states.
'Lack of understanding' Tohono O'odham Vice Chairman Ned Norris Jr., a
member of the advisory panel, said he believes there has been "a lack of
concerted understanding about tribes and tribal governments and, more
particularly, how border issues impact tribes."
That's why Norris invited his board colleagues to Arizona so that they
could see the results of increasing numbers of undocumented immigrants
crossing tribal lands, coupled with the federal government's increased
border-security efforts.
His tribe estimates that as many as 1,500 undocumented migrants cross
its lands each day, leaving about 6 tons of trash, including backpacks,
blankets, water bottles, plastic sheeting and even automobiles.
The increase in human activity also has led to creation of unofficial
roads, trails and paths, and increased damage to culturally important
natural areas and vegetation and sacred sites. One area cited by Norris,
and in the committee's report, is the Baboquivari Peak area, which he
said "is, in fact, sacred to our people."
"We believe our creator lives in this mountain," he said, adding that
pilgrimages are made there for spiritual purification and strengthening.
Collaborative planning Some areas could be declared National Heritage
Areas, which are designated by Congress as containing natural, cultural
and recreational resources that are nationally distinctive and
significant.
Such a designation is intended to encourage collaborative planning and
preservation of cultural resources that also can stimulate economic
growth.
Once designated, an area is eligible to receive up to $10 million in 50
percent matching funds over 15 years. Only one exists in the border
region: the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.
Overall, the advisory panel's report says that the full extent of
destruction to historical and cultural sites is unknown because of the
vast and remote areas of the border region and because of the lack of
resources for exhaustive monitoring.
It notes, for example, that there are 3,984 known archaeological sites
known in Pima County, butonly 12 percent of the land there has been
investigated.
Similarly, staffers from the 1.7 million-acre Coronado National Forest
in southern Arizona estimate that only 10 percent of that forest has
been surveyed.
Mary Estes, a resource protection specialist with Arizona's Office of
Historic Preservation, part of the Parks Department, said the state and
other public-land managers are working to make people more aware and get
them involved in cultural-resource preservation through stronger public
education.