Rock Art Site Protection: Lessons Learned in 50 Years of Trying

Summary

The shared attributes of two successful rock art site preservation projects near metropolitan areas will be discussed. They started with different backgrounds. The Adams School Site (now Chitactac-Adams Heritage County Park) in California was a neglected and vandalized park whose property had been donated. Picture Canyon (now Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve) in Arizona was neglected State Trust land being used as an illegal dump that needed to be purchased to become a preserve. Both projects benefitted greatly from proactive public servants and volunteers who were dedicated to preservation goals. They partnered with Native American communities, documented their resources first, worked with conservators, and held public meetings to educate the stakeholders. They applied for grant funding, met with decision makers on all levels - local, state, and federal, and had perseverance to jump through all legal hurdles. Picture Canyon benefitted from a successful National Register of Historic Places nomination, and matching grants from Arizona Growing Smarter and Flagstaff Open Space funds, while Chitactac-Adams benefitted from an Intermodal Surface Transportation Act grant. Projects that failed were located within multiple jurisdictions where no one took the lead, had a lack of funds, and/or people who cared.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Contemporary Issues in Rock Art Conservation and Preservation

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14483