2025
29
May
US Archaeology’s Imperiled Future
Dear Friends,
Tuesday, May 27, was a rollercoaster, whipsaw day for those of us who support the myriad efforts to protect places that are important to Indigenous culture, history, and ecology.
Midday, within minutes of each other, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and the 9th Cir...
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2025
15
May
Continuing Coverage & Commentary: Extreme Shake-Up at NSF
Dear Friends,
Some folks hate to fly on airplanes. I enjoy it. In spite of all the hassle, I can sit back and marvel at the fact that humans have created machines that move at 550 miles per hour. I always get a window seat so I can watch the world go by. I sit quietly. I think. I read, listen to ...
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2025
01
May
Ironwood Forest National Monument May Be Opened to Industry
Dear Friends,
It has been a ridiculously busy couple of weeks!
At this time last week most of our staff were headed to Denver for the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. I am thrilled to report that we showed up en masse and in force; our exhibit booth was hoppin’! S...
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2024
11
Apr
Interactive Digital Experience for an Important Place in the Dinétah
Dear Friends,
My last few missives have been downers, focusing as they have on the continuing desecration of the San Pedro Valley by construction of the SunZia powerline. That work proceeds at a rapid pace; last week I counted at least 45 tower pads from the air. During a field trip on Monday of ...
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2024
07
Feb
Tribal Co-Management: What Works Where and How?
Dear Friends,
As usual, Archaeologist Southwest staff are busy working on an astonishing range of preservation, outreach, research, and advocacy projects, many of which are garnering media attention.
On January 24, Skylar Begay, our Director of Tribal Collaboration in Outreach and Advocacy, pa...
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2023
07
Mar
Rep. Grijalva Introduces Bill to Protect Oak Flat
Dear Friends,
I have been “enjoying” learning from someone a mere 27 percent of my age—Greta Thunberg—the 20-year-old Swedish climate activist.
It’s necessary to use those quotes, because one does not really enjoy most of what is delivered in The Climate Book.
The book is a compen...
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2022
12
Jul
The Significance of Cooperative Land Management
Dear Friends,
I’m back in Tucson after a week in the Poconos. Lots of good family time, and even a few birds I’m not used to seeing around Tucson—Eastern Bluebirds, Savannah Sparrows, and Yellow Warblers.
Flying on airplanes used to be a wonderful time to settle into a window seat and ma...
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2021
20
Oct
Time for Healing and Justice at Bears Ears
Dear Friends,
For almost 40 years, I have lived in a house that overlooks a desert wash in Tucson. Tonight, as I was driving north from downtown Tucson toward home, the full moon was just topping the ridge of the mountains.
I was struck anew by the incredible beauty of this desert that kee...
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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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2021
06
Apr
GAO Releases Report on Improving Response to Crimes against Native American Cultural Resources
Dear Friends,
Being vaccinated opens opportunities. That’s why I'm in Newtown, Pennsylvania, typing this. It’s why I flew on an airplane, which is the only realistic option to visit my daughter and grandchildren.
And, as I've noted previously, it's my worries about the world my grandki...
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2021
02
Mar
Hope for Oak Flat
Dear Friends,
Recently, a friend from Phoenix commented that she was looking for a higher-elevation summer home. “I’m tired of breaking records for 115-degree temperatures like we did last summer.” [Fact check: In summer 2020, Phoenix had 145 days in triple digits, 53 days of 110 or more,...
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