Interior Department Reorganization Would Reduce Federal Authority on Public Lands

Analysis: Interior Department Reorganization Would Reduce Federal Authority on Public Lands
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke disclosed Friday in an Associated Press interview that he’s revamping a sweeping overhaul of his department that’s supposed to speed up permitting for development on public lands, but Democrats asserted it was just a ploy to let the energy industry get its way. The changes follow complaints from a bipartisan group of Western state governors that Zinke did not consult them before unveiling a plan last month to decentralize the Interior Department. The agency oversees vast public lands, primarily in the U.S. West, ranging from protected national parks and wildlife refuges to areas where coal mining and energy exploration dominate the landscape. http://bit.ly/2BS4Yts – Earthlink

The Antiquities Act “Quandry”
Writing to support the proposed U.S. Constitution in 1788, James Madison famously said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” These words of wisdom come from The Federalist, No. 51, where Madison promised Americans that three branches of government would keep each other in check and prevent the concentration and misuse of power. Madison believed that he was articulating a universal principle, but history suggests that angels and demons are a matter of perspective. Consider the Antiquities Act, so much in the news recently. President Donald Trump believes that previous executives abused this law and that it’s mainly a ploy to give “a small handful of very distant bureaucrats” control over local landscapes. http://bit.ly/2sOYtok – High Country News

Editorial: Chaco at Risk
For all the wild beauty of Chaco Canyon’s high-desert landscape, the harsh conditions make it an unlikely place for a culture to flourish. And yet, people have lived on this land for centuries, thriving generation after generation. The center of this landscape is now known as Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a concentration of the most exceptional Ancestral Puebloan sites in the United States, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. http://bit.ly/2ETTXu7 – Albuquerque Journal

A Rejection of the Solutrean Hypothesis
Last month’s release of The Ice Bridge, an episode in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series The Nature of Things has once again revived public discussion of a controversial idea about how the Americas were peopled known as the “Solutrean hypothesis”. This idea suggests a European origin for the peoples who made the Clovis tools, the first recognized stone tool tradition in the Americas. As I was one of the experts appearing on the documentary, I want to share my thoughts about it and why I see the ideas portrayed within as unsettling, unwise, and scientifically implausible.  http://bit.ly/2BRiDB1 – The Guardian

The Power of Place Names
What’s in a name? It’s an important part of our identity, our existence, connecting us to the cultural and social realms we come from. So when President Barack Obama declared Bears Ears a national monument in 2016, he respectfully acknowledged that this sacred place in the state of Utah was shared and honored in different traditions, citing the original names in Hopi, Zuni, Ute, and Diné languages. http://s.si.edu/2CHoRA1 – Smithsonian

Eric Blinman on the Damage Caused by Archaeological Narratives
“Archaeology is a science only because our stories are intended to be criticized. Archaeology is not necessarily right; we can only propose models. We can’t prove them,” Blinman said…Blinman then succinctly but thoroughly established the complex history that has led to ongoing dilemmas of identity among Native American peoples. In the past, he explained, the complex histories of at least five Native American groups in the Four Corners region of the United States, the area formed by the corners of the Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico state border lines, were simplified into a single, incomplete history of “Puebloan” peoples that treated the distinct groups as one. This history disregards tribal, linguistic and geographic distinctions among the groups for the sake of expediency. http://bit.ly/2ooIV60 – The Colgate Maroon News

Profile of ASU Bioarchaeologist Kelly Knudson
A 2,000-year-old handprint changed the course of Kelly Knudson’s life. As a young undergraduate student, an unexpected connection with an ancient culture turned a passing interest in archaeology into a vibrant career. Now, as a bioarchaeologist and professor in Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, she not only teaches her own students through practical lab experience, she has even written a book on the subject — Principles of Archaeology.  http://bit.ly/2GL6ZXA – ASU

Modern Structures in Historic Districts Ruffling Feathers in Phoenix
Historic preservation typically conjures images of activists standing in front of wrecking balls or rallying at city meetings to fight against the demolition of decades-old structures. What happens when preservationists have to weigh in on the new? With the resurgence of Phoenix’s downtown historic neighborhoods, people are buying up vacant lots and constructing new homes in the middle of these protected districts, provoking neighbors, architects and preservationists to weigh in on what these new builds should look like. http://bit.ly/2Cnul7k – Az Republic

There Is Still Time to Register for the Arizona Historic Preservation Conference Early Bird Rates
Registrations are pouring in and we want you to receive important discounts for your organization.  Please don’t miss out! Special discounts available for Full Conference, Thursday Only, Friday Only, and CLE Workshop Only packages.  And don’t forget your hotel reservations at the Hotel Valley Ho.  Scroll to the bottom of this email for more information about accommodations. http://bit.ly/2F14wLl – Arizona Preservation Foundation

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society will present Dr. Sean Dolan on Wednesday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at the Methodist Church, 515 Park St., to discuss From Paleoindian to the Pueblo Revolt: The Role of Obsidian in the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Matthew Schrader Archaeologist and former Superintendent of Open Space, Department of Parks and Recreation, City of Albuquerque (Ret.); Lecturer, Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) who will give a lecture Black Legend, White Legend: Fifty Shades of Gray or Assessing New Mexico’s Past in the Current Cultural Context on March 5 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Ancient Sites Ancient Stories Lecture Series. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: http://southwestseminars.org

Thanks again to Cherie Freeman for her continued support for the Southwest Archaeology Today newsletter.