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Show - Page 12 In his recent letter to the editor, he tried to justify the THE SAN JUAN RECORD, Thursday, June 5, 1980 Letters actions of the archaeologists, as we refer to them or here in San Juan, the Glorified Pot hunters. welcomes Record The letters from its readers on any subject of public interest. The publisher at all times reserves In the beginning of his let- the right to edit, condense or ter he stated, apparently We whose sarcastically: love for and interest in San taste. Juan County goes beyond the milking of its beauty and re- reject any contributions in th interest of brevity andor good sources. I assume he says this sarcastically, because I can think of no one who has milked San Juan County of its beauty and resources to the extent that the archaeologists have. Those of us who live here in San Juan have been alarmed for many years by the wholesale rape and plundering by these seasonal professors. They grab the beauty and resources of San Juan, plundering the artifacts, then disappear leaving the local people wondering what happened, until some of the ancient articles appear in forand other eign countries, seen up are items plundered north, stored in dusty ware- Blanding, Utah June 1, 1980 To the Editor: Who is Winston Hirst? What has he done for San Juan County? We know that he addresses his letters from New Mexico. PUBLIC NOTICE BEFORE THE BOARD OF AND MINING GAS OIL, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES in and for the STATE OF UTAH MATTER OF RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE PURESTABLISHING OF POSE IN THE AEL-OPTIN- G houses. There are some San Juan residents who have been trying for years to get these items MINED THE ABANDONED LAND RECLAMATION PROGRAM PURSUANT TO PUB7. LIC LAW displayed here in San Juan County. 95-8- OSM-0- 08 leaders like Calvin Black, steps have been taken now in this direction. The Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding is now completed, and many generous local residents have agreed to display artifacts that before could only be seen in temporary local displays, such as the one that Bro. Albert R. Lyman asked my Dad and others to donate THE STATE OF UTAH TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED MINED ABANDONED IN LAND RECLAMATION OPIN THE STATE ERATIONS OF UTAH. the provisions of Under 8 and 10 of Title chapters 40, Utah Code Annotated, 1953, as amended, and Public Law 95-8- 7, trol Surface Mining' Conand Reclamation Act the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining is hereby given authority to make and promulgate rules and regulations for the proper administration of the Acts. Notice is hereby given that the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining has prepared a set of rules and regulations for the purpose of establishing the abandoned mined land reclaof towards. 1977, mation program pursuant to 7. A hearPublic Law 95-8- ing will be held on Wednesday, June 18, 1980, at 10:00 a.m., in the Division of Wild- Resources Auditorium, 159G West North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of adopting said rules and regulations. life Anyone interested in the adoption of, or the changes and revisions thereto, shall appear and be heard on the above date. (A copy of the proposed rules and regulations be obtained from the Division upon request.) this 29th day of, Dated May, 1980. STATE OF UTAH DIVISION OF OIL, GAS, may AND MINING s Paula Frank Paula Frank Secretary of the Board Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining 1588 West North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Phone: (801) Published in The San Juan Record June 5, 1980 533-57- 71 resources are ull NOTICE OF HEARING Cause No. Our as out of place in Salt Lake Sea-GCity, as their monument would be here in this to county Thanks county. ' Winston Hurst seems to have the same Holier than Thou attitude that many of the Here again - Gone again He have. archaeologists seems to delight in criticizing our county commissioner, a man chosen by the people of this area to represent them. Winston writes from New Mexico, that we who live here are most ignorant if we support the new highways and businesses of the area. The early settlers didnt raise their families in this area by wasting their precious time and energy waiting on some archaeologist tQ dig up a dead body and then declare how ignorant we are if we dont stop progress on our highways, etc., while they plun- der another grave. The early settlers suf- fered hardships because of the lack of good roads and highways and the lack of business and industries to support themselves. They didnt have todays wonderful form of welfare to fall back on, and they if they were going to call San Juan Home they would have to get out and disturb some soil and raise crops or build some roads and haul freight, tunnel through the mountain and dig ditches and get up early and work late. They suffered hardships, but they went ahead and built themselves better roads, and started businesses knew to improve the economy. They built the base that far -sighted men like Calvin Black have expanded on, and through perspnal sacrifice and sometimes thankless jobs and positions, men like Calvin have made San Juan County what it is today. True, not everyone who like to live in this would county can make a living here, but thanks to companies that care such as Energy there are many of us Fuels, a lot better than we were able to before. When Winston Hurst calls us living ignorant for supporting highways and new. businesses, I that when can only say down come archaeologists from their lofty positions and tell us what magnificent discovery they have made to benefit all mankind, or at the very least what they have discovered that will feed my kids, then Ill listen a little more closely to our New Mexico expert. In the meantime Winston Hurst better hope the people of Portales, New Mexico, dont hear that he advocates occ- asionally, placing grave rob- bing above furthering the progress or an area through growth and development. They just might be as' disgusted with this type of attitude as we here in Utah are, and send Mr. Hurst packing on down the road in search of some place sick and twisted enough to accept him. Dan Shumway North Highway 163 Blanding, Utah P.O. Box 1044 Blanding, Utah 84511 June 2, 1980 To the Editor: This letter is in response to the article about Commiss- heritage. I will replaceable admit to the legitimate comarchaeologists plaint that have often taken artifacts from the county and not returned them. Certainly, after the necessary study and analysis, materials should artifactual be returned to the county of if at all possible. origin But in any case, important data has been gathered, and we can learn about the Indians clothing, eating, farming, hunting, trade, religious and many other habits. When excavating a site, an archaeologist records everything he adds pages comes across to the archaeological story. On the other hand, one who illegally digs for pots or other artifacts tears pages from the book, as a disturbed site can never be put back together again, and no two sites are ever identical. The context in which the artifacts were situated has been forever lost. We --- he should in San Juan County be thankful for how archaeologists have helped to record our countys heritage. Since first moving to Blanone of my goals has ding, been to take a part in enhancing our understanding of the values of archaeological to discourage, and sites through educational means, digging and colimproper lecting. Most recently I was co - director of a project funded by the Utah Endowment for the Humanities entitled, San Juan County: Cultural This project ofreplicas. fered six different, free workshops in which an interested individual could learn practically anything he wished concerning the cultural history of the county the pioneer, Navajo, Ute, Paiute and Ana-sa- zi cultures. The Edge of salvage projects are usually mandated by federal law or Executive Order, in particular, the National Historic Preser- the Cedars Miseum in Blanenthusiastically supding ported this project, which was a part of the San Juan Centennial activities. As a principal leader in the effort to build a museum here, Commissioner Black might have been expected to be present to show his support for this worthwhile endeavor. Instead, all I am aware of is his criticism of archaeological work and archaeologists. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the young people of the county to take an interest in their centuries - old priceless, Indian sites, an interest which would seek to keep vation these ioner Blacks charges garding the archaeologists re- employed by the State Historical. Society, which appeared in the May 1 issue of The San Juan Record. I found Mr. Blacks comments regarding these archaeological salvage projects misleading. I also interpreted his remarks as derogatory towards the archaeological profession in general. In no way did CommissBlack indicate that ioner surveys and archaeological Act of 1966 and Ex- ecutive Order 11593. Whena land - disturbing ever project occurs on federal land, is federally licensed or has federal funding, a survey is required to determine archaeological values present which may be threatened. If a projects activities cannot avoid damaging a site, salvage of the site is generally necessary. This is the reason for the archaeological work along the new roadbed of U.S. 163 and at the Energy Fuels mill site. San Juan Countys unique archaeological heritage brought me to this area in the first place, and I find negative comments about archaeology not helpful to the of conservation this ir ture sites intact for generations to see and fu- enjoy and which would make selfish digging by collectors a thing of 'the past in San Juan I would hope sevCounty. eral would actually go into archaeology as a profession, and I would hope their peers and elders would en- courage and support them. Church, scouting and school groups in my view ought to be providing the example to the rest of us on how to pro- perly respect and treat a prehistoric or historic Indian site. From now on, lets value even more San Juan Countys archaeological heritage, and I urge Commissioner Black to take the same pride. Sincerely, s Lance R. Williams Lance R, Williams cc: Mr. Calvin Black To the Editor: I do not think it is apto respond to propriate Winston Hursts personal attack on my actions and motive in his letter to the Record published last week. To the issue of the Rip-o- ff of the taxpayers by the State archaeologists I will respond. The facts are as follows: The State archaeologists submitted a price of about four times to do a job than what it was later contracted by other archaeologists to be done for. When the State archaeologists found out others were being asked for proposals they cut their original proposal in half their original proposal in HALF still but it was DOUBLE the other bid. I call that a rip-of- f. 2. The Butler Wash - Cow Canyon highway construction project was to have been completed nearly ten years ago, but has been delayed by environmental extremists. The State archaeologists submitted a proposal to per1. form required archaeological work for about $124,000 - now they want about $180,000 and the job has been held up. I call that a rip-o- ff. 3. I have been given a written statement and pictures that allege and indicate personal use of vehicles by the State archaeologists. rip-of- f. I call that a I believe our history is important to preserve - - - and learn by. I have supported and continue to support these efforts by personal contributions. I also believe learning about pre - history, its interpretation and lessons are important; and I was instrumental in getting the legislature to establish the Edge of the Cedars Museum. How' ever, I believe the needs of the people living today - here - right now are more important when it comes to the bottom line. Let us not make archaeology a sacred cow so that we perish as others have before us when things get our of proper perspective. s Cal Black June 2, 1980 Graduates Juan Countians who candidates for bachelors ' degrees in the May 31 commencement ceremonies at Utah State University include: Brian Scott Wagner, business. Nancy Lucille Homedew, and Lisa Taylor, Blanding, education. San were Mon-ticel- lo, Correction At the Monticello recent meeting of Republicans, North Precinct Marty Croas-mu- n elected precinct and Bill Jones chairman, was named vice - chairman for the precinct. An article in last weeks Record incorrectly stated the two were elected to county was |