Dear HCN,
Your recent article on
Petroglyph National Monument left out a great deal of information
about actions the park is taking to deal with some of the issues
raised by your coverage (HCN, 10/25/99). Cultural and natural
resource protection in the park has greatly increased since it
became a unit of the National Park System in 1990, despite the
increasing pressures on the park from explosive growth in the
community of Albuquerque. It is important to keep in mind that the
majority of vandalism of the park’s petroglyphs took place before
the National Park Service began protecting and managing the park.
Since then, the park has done an intensive inventory of the
petroglyphs in order to better monitor and protect them, and has
established an aggressive program to fight vandalism and
graffiti.
Park staff have cleared literally tons
of garbage from the park, have established regular ranger patrols
of the park, have begun to eliminate most social trails from the
Rinconada Canyon, have established a strong program of more than
100 volunteers to help the public understand this remarkable
resource, and have involved the public and city partners in a
thorough planning process to provide guidance for managing the
park. The park management is also close to making public a new
policy that addresses the problem of dogs.
In
addition, erosion and watershed conditions in the park have
improved because of reduction in livestock grazing and reduced
vehicle use on unpaved roads. Expert hydrologists have visited the
park regularly over the past nine years to help its staff design
ways to protect its resources. The park plans to continue its
efforts to restore watershed conditions and rehabilitate abandoned
roads. While your article criticizes the park’s efforts to mitigate
erosion, the photo you use as an example depicts a natural process
– that of a wash which had filled with blown sand over time being
exposed again by heavy rains. This wash is an excellent place for a
trail just because it is naturally “disturbed” by these cycles of
deposition and erosion.
One result of the park’s
planning process and public input was the decision to build a small
(20-car) parking lot at the mouth of the Rinconada Canyon. The
parking lot was built to provide safe access to the canyon,
eliminating a serious safety problem that existed when people
parked on the side of the road in order to walk into the canyon.
Hundreds of homes are only a short distance from the canyon, and
people already had easy access to it prior to the construction of
the parking lot.
As a result of a Memorandum of
Understanding currently being negotiated with the city (which will
allow the NPS to be the sole manager of the park), Petroglyph will
receive a substantial budget increase. This will allow the hiring
of two new interpreters to help visitors appreciate and understand
the park; it will make possible the hiring of a new protection
ranger to help keep the resource safe; and it has already included
the hiring of a new maintenance person with expertise in trail
planning and maintenance.
Finally, a meeting
between NPS and National Parks and Conservation Association last
month resulted in the park’s commitment to address some specific
concerns of the NPCA, including implementing a pilot program of
guided tours in Rinconada Canyon at periods of greatest use, and
encouraging visitors through signs and information kiosks to stop
by the visitor center for information and orientation before
touring the park.
Overall, while the HCN article
accuses the NPS of poor resource management at Petroglyph, it
provided almost no evidence that this is actually the case. In
fact, there is a great deal of evidence as cited above that the NPS
has worked hard to protect Petroglyph under some of the most
difficult circumstances facing any NPS unit anywhere. The NPS
considers it an honor to be trusted with the management of
remarkable places like Petroglyph National Monument, and it is a
responsibility we take very seriously. We expect to earn the
public’s trust at each and every unit of the National Park System,
and are working hard to ensure that we have that trust not only in
the community of Albuquerque, but with each and every person who
cares about the wonders Petroglyph has to
offer.
Karen P.
Wade
Denver,
Colorado
The writer is
director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park
Service.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Park Service is working to protect Petroglyph.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
