Vandalism at Bandelier National Monument - Call for the Public's Help

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, CANCELLED NOTE THE 5:00 PM START TIME at the WNMU Museum: This special monthly GCAS meeting is the GCAS's annual fundraiser for the WNMU Museum, with which we are so closely allied. Dr. Patricia (Pat) Gilman will be our honored presenter explaining, What Are Tropical Macaws Doing in Mimbres Sites? Watch this space for the date and topic of our next meeting.

NEXT FIELD TRIP: Sunday, June 1, 2025. The GCAS’s next field trip – WEATHER PERMITTING - will visit the Twin Pines site in the upper Mimbres Valley where we will have the opportunity to see directing archaeologist Fumi Arakawa and his crew’s work. This is Gila National Forest land with Mimbres habitations built on top of pithouses and a great kiva. Some petroglyphs are nearby. Access is slow going along rocky roads but high-clearance or 4WD vehicles are not required. However, the trip to Twin Pines takes about 2.5-3 hours from Silver City driving up the Mimbres Valley and into the west side of the Black Range; or about 2.5 hours driving from Truth or Consequences through the east side of the Black Range on an easier road. Overnight camping (boondocking, no amenities) may be available near the Beaverhead Work Center. GCAS members will meet at the Beaverhead Work Center on NM Hwy 59 at 11:00 AM on June 1. To protect this sensitive site, interested GCAS members should contact Marianne at [email protected] for more specific directions.

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Vandalism at Bandelier National Monument - Call for the Public's Help

09/01/2018

Keep your eyes open on social media & YouTube, people - there may be a short video about this that eventually surfaces somewhere. The kind of persons who vandalize, typically can't keep it to themselves for very long. The bigger the vandalism, the bigger the urge to brag about it. These two particular incidents of vandalism at Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico, occurred in August 2017 and May 2018. They appear to have been very, very big indeed.

KRQE News reported on August 22, 2018: "The National Park Service needs the public's help finding a vandal....Park officials are in disbelief at the damage done at an archeological site called Duchess Castle at Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos earlier this summer...."

[Photo of Duchess Castle, Bandelier National Monument, by National Park Service.]

From the KRQE News report, "The site has been significantly impacted and the damage is irreparable," Bandelier park officials said in a news release. "We have to divert staff to make repairs, document the damage and not to mention law enforcement has to engage and make an investigation," Bandelier National Monument Superintendent Jason Lott said. KRQE News 13 asked Bandelier park officials if they had surveillance video, but they said they would not reveal what evidence they have...." Superintendent Lott told KRQE News that he could not provide photos or any details of the vandalism because the park is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and an eventual conviction, and they are seeking legitimate tips.

The National Park Service advises, "If you have information about these incidents that could help investigators, please call the Bandelier Crime Tip Line at 505-709-0077. Though you may remain anonymous, up to $10,000 is offered for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of those responsible....

...You can help protect your treasured public lands. If you see something suspicious in any NPS location, stay safe and tell us about it. Talk to any NPS employee for help in reporting suspicious activity, or give the Special Agents of the NPS Investigative Services Branch a call. We understand that it may take time to reach park personnel and/or areas with cell or internet service. You don't have to tell us who you are, but please tell us what you know:
·CALL or TEXT the ISB Tip Line 888-653-0009
·ONLINE https://www.nps.gov/ISB and click "Submit a Tip"
·EMAIL e-mail us
·MESSAGE via Facebook @InvestigativeServicesNPS or Twitter @SpecialAgentNPS"

Your faithful webmaster emphasized in bold the National Park Service's above requests to the general public for help. Please use any of their phone numbers or links to contact them with any information you have. From what the Park Service has reported, it appears that the vandalism incidents in August 2017 and May 2018 constitute serious felonies for the damage the vandal(s) caused to our public lands and our national heritage. Let's see if we can hold the vandal(s) to account.

/s/ webmaster

Posted at 06:00 AM in Art Trafficking-Looting-Vandalism, Current Affairs, Get Involved | Permalink | Comments (0)

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