Route 66 Preservation. Interactive History of Las Vegas, Forest Service Preservation

Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici Introduces Legislation for Additional Preservation of Route 66: Judging that a federal program to preserve parts of historic Route 66 is helping breathe new life into rural America, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has introduced legislation to ensure its continuation for another decade. Domenici has introduced the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Reauthorization Act of 2008 that would renew until 2019 a National Park Service program. That program is now being used by communities and organizations to restore and preserve unique cultural resources along the 2,200-mile Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif.
http://www.abqjournal.com/biz/1910544biz05-19-08.htm

- The History of Las Vegas - An Interactive Multi-Media Presentation: The Las Vegas Sun has unveiled a rich multimedia chronicle of the city’s history, from its humble birth as a railroad stop to its present-day status as the entertainment capital of the world. The project, “History of Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada,” began as an idea to show a historical interactive timeline of the Strip casinos. “We started this project with a relatively small game plan and a quick timetable in mind,” said Andy Samuelson, the Sun’s new media special projects editor. “But the more research we did, the more we realized that in order to do a history project on Las Vegas the right way, you’ve got to include a lot of material.”
http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/ - Interactive Program
http://www.cdarc.org/page/mcp - Project background, by the Las Vegas Sun

- National Trust for Historic Preservation Expresses Concern over US Forest Service Stewardship of Historic Sites: National forests have at least 325,000 historic sites hiding among their trees, and most of them are at risk because of a lack of money at the Forest Service, according to a national preservation group. “Thousands of significant landscapes, structures and sites — places that record important chapters in America’s story — are in danger of being lost forever,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The group released its 52-page national report Thursday in Denver.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/bh7e - Cortez Journal

- Mesa Verde Threatened by Air Polution: A national conservation group lists Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park as one of 10 national parks most threatened by existing and proposed coal fired power plants. The National Parks Conservation Commission says coal-fired plants in New Mexico and Arizona are the largest sources of pollutants — such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides — in Mesa Verde. It says the pollutants harm the park's ancient Pueblo structures. The commission says a new coal plant is under development about 45 miles from the park and three others are proposed within 190 miles of the park. - Denver Post.

- An Archaeological Education 'Headache' at Cal State Long Beach: As of the beginning of next semester, the anthropology department will no longer be accepting master's students interested in specializing in archaeology - not for a lack of interest, but because of what the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) calls "off course" instructing from professors. According to CLA Associate Dean Mark Wiley, no classes have been cut from the archaeology and the only changes that have taken place have been a temporary halt to admitting students interested in archaeology on a master's level. There are talks about archaeology moving to the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics or partnering with other departments.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/3p14 - Daily 49'er

- Documentary Presentation on WWII Interment Camps this Saturday (Chandler, Az): On May 24 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m, an award-winning documentary, "Lessons in Loyalty: One American's Internment Camp Experience," will be shown and discussed at the McCullough-Price House. This is a free presentation open to the public. "Lessons In Loyalty" focuses on an often-overlooked chapter in the history of World War II – the Roosevelt administration's decision to allow more than 100,000 Japanese Americans to be placed into Federal custody on ten internment camps across the western United States. The presentation combines in-depth interviews with archival pictures and footage to explore the internment camps and the personal story of one of the individuals – Mas Inoshita – who was placed in one of the camps located 15 miles south of Chandler. 300 S. Chandler Village Drive, on the southwest side of the Chandler Fashion Center. For more information on the McCullough-Price House, call (480) 782-2876.
http://www.chandleraz.gov/pricehouse.

Thanks to Brian Kenny for contributions to Today's Newsletter.