Contentious Leases Deferred, Financial Crisis Impacts Major Anthropology Museum, AAHS Raffle

Southwest Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- BLM Will Not Lease Drilling Parcels Near Arches, Canyonlands: In the face of intense opposition from the National Park Service, members of Congress and a top official from President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management backed down Tuesday from its plan to sell oil and gas leases near national parks and wilderness-quality areas in Utah on Dec. 19.
http://www.sltrib.com/outdoors/ci_11072818
http://www.cdarc.org/page/5erd - The Moab Times-Independent

- Penn Museum Forced to Drastically Cut Staff: The Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is the latest to be affected by the financial crisis. Museum director Richard Hodges announced in a memo last Friday that the museum would discontinue 18 "research specialist" positions that have been part of the curatorial departments and the Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology, in addition to disbanding the MASCA division as a whole.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/2m5o - The Daily Pennsylvanian

- Traditional Hopi Garden Project Thrives at Montezuma Well: There is a fable told in many ways and in many cultures of a solitary traveler or group of travelers who arrive in a village looking for something to eat. Denied a handout, they concoct a plan that will not only sate their hunger, but leave the villagers with an understanding that there is value in sharing.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/f08v - Camp Verde Bugler

- Tucson-area Students Discover Hohokam Lifeways: It’s the middle of a school day, and a bunch of fourth-graders in bandanas and face paint stand at the trailhead of an ancient path. “It’s illegal to go up on your own and dig,” says Kimberly Robinson, a teacher with double jagged lines painted across her cheeks. “That’s called treasure hunting. You can come here to enjoy the site, but you can’t take from it.”
http://www.cdarc.org/page/k6s9 - The Explorer

- Support AAHS Scholarship Fund: The annual Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society raffle to raise money for scholarships will be held December 15th at the Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center, 1501 North Campbell Avenue (north of Speedway) in Tucson. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm rather than 7:30. Please join us for refreshments, last-minute raffle tickets, and a viewing of auction items. For more information on the Society, refer to the following link.
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/aahs/index.shtml

- Seminar Opportunity, National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers: An opening has become available for the upcoming director's seminar "Development & Cultivation of Community Support for Tribal Museums," that is scheduled for December 4-6, 2008, in Chandler, Arizona. For more information, follow the link below.
http://nathpo.org/NNMTP/Development&Cultivation.html

Thanks to Gerald Kelso for contributions to today’s newsletter.