identify, document, and protect all of the images. By restricting access in the park, the current use plan provides greater protection to these resources than they have had previously . Attachment A provides a composite of the archeological deposits and pictographs identified within the park.
The ethnographic study has not been initiated, but funds have been obtained and the study will be initiated in FY 2000. TPW did participate in, and help fund, a round table discussion held at the park, where various Native American (the correct term is "Indian") tribes were invited to discuss their interpretation of the park's resources.
TPW has spent more than $47,000 over the last five years in the cleanup of the graffiti (some would call it modern rock art.) over pictograph sites at Cave Kiva, Puking Horse, Comanche Cave and most recently, the White Homed Dancer and the Cave of the Masks. (So, the solution is to keep you and ME out of the park - punish us for the crime of some punk.)
3. RECOMMENDATION: The Public Use-Restriction Plan concept of protecting cultural resources will be retained. Completion of the trail system is a very important factor in providing access and increased protection. The findings that the deposits contain intact materials and that the pictographs are present throughout the park, even in areas where it might not be readily visible to the naked eye (Auugh! They're everywhere! Better not touch or even breathe on them ...), support the belief that access must continue to be restricted, and that protecting the rock faces is critical (sez who? Another unsupported assertion by one particular faction). Completion of the ethnographic study this year is vital ("vital" ? who or what will die if the study is not done?). Continue using the services of a rock art conservator for cleanup in additional areas, including site 17.
K. Natural Resource <mis>Management1. PUBLIC USE-<Restriction> PLAN: Natural Resources concerns are addressed in the Public Use-Restriction Plan through closure of critically impacted and sensitive areas, the location of tour (guarded) routes, and through the planned development of a clearly delineated trail system.
2. ASSESSMENT: The most critical problem continues to be sheet and gully erosion exacerbated by trampling ( <sarcasim warning> of course, the aboriginal inhabitants never "trampled" anything, since they lived in perfect mystical harmony with Nature ...), lack of a hardened/designated trail system (because the TPWD resisted the efforts of the El Paso Climbers' Club and other groups, who for years offered to put up all the labor and materials needed to build trails) and sheetwash (uhhh - this is the desert, right? Have a look at the Grand Canyon - erosion is normal and beautiful. Most of the erosion in the park is the result of the middle being bulldozed out to make the dam.)Erosion along an old roadway parallel to the eastern boundary is also a continuing -problem (This is such a shortsighted viewpoint. Erosion will happen, and in the long run, Man's efforts will matter little.) This entrenched drainage/gully is activated by runoff from the eastern flanks of West and East Mountains and the Southeast Spur. Originally this roadway intercepted storm runoff diverted by the manmade channel designed to divert runoff westward from the flanks of the Hueco Mountains into Hueco Tanks SHP. A permanent solution to redirect this runoff into the natural drainage is the top priority for a long-term effort to restore the natural runoff and drainage patterns at the park. The crux point of this endeavor is on
previous contents next