Nevadans for Cultural Preservation

September 2024

Presentation by Jackson Mueller, University of Nevada - Reno

Archaeologists, when documenting and reporting historic mining sites, frequently review mineral surveys and their field notes.  In this presentation, Jackson covered how he and his colleagues plotted the locations of mining features using original distance and bearing descriptions in survey notes, then compared the results with archaeological survey data. 

Watch the video on our YouTube Channel here.

Webster Mack, Lois Etzel, Alicia Evans, Cheryl Stinar, Rayette Martin, Gordon
England, Philip Sherman, Paul Krachenfels, Isabelle Krachenfels, Lucky Holtam,
Bruce Kester, and Roland Alburquerque

September 2024

Ten volunteers provided 38 hours of their time to remediate graffiti, pick up trash, and repair fencing at the historic Cold Creek Ranch north of Las Vegas. 

This project would not have been possible without funding from the Nevada Offroad Association through a grant from Fox Trail Trust, our volunteers, members from the Dunes and Trails UTV Club of Las Vegas, and US Forest Service Archaeologists Marty McMahon and Alicia Evans.

After a short talk on the history of the area, the team worked on trash clean up, fence repair, and remediating graffiti on the historic garage. Only two bags of trash were collected. The area was really clean considering it is a popular OHV staging area. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the fence repair but a few areas were taken care of to prevent wild horses and burros from accessing the site.

September 2024

NVFCP was proud to be a part of the Annual OHV Summit. We believe it is important to engage with the off road community. These are the folks who can access a lot of Nevada's remote archaeological and historic sites. They are our allies and can report damages they find to these nonrenewable resources. 

This year's summit was held in Virginia City at Piper's Opera House. There were talks, panels, and education session on the importance of safe and sustainable recreation and partnerships. Nevada Senator, Robin Titus, provided opening remarks. Representatives for the Lt. Governor's Office, Department of Outdoor Recreation, and Nevada Commission on Off Highway Vehicles were also present and participated in discussion.

NVFCP's Executive Director, Rayette Martin and President Katie Hoffman held a booth and provided archaeological information on the county sheriff led trail ride to Lagomarsino Petroglyphs. Rayette also presented "Partnerships for Preserving Cultural Heritage in Nevada!" and recruited OHV Preservation Ambassadors. 

Photo above is Katie Hoffman at Lagomarsino Petroglyphs.

August 2024

Friends of Gold Butte invited NVFCP to speak about how folks can preserve archaeology in Nevada. 

Rayette Martin-NVFCP Executive Director and Public Archaeologist provided a Zoom presentation that covered the types of cultural sites found in Nevada, the laws that protect them, and how everyone can participate in preservation efforts.

Means to participate included:

• Signing and following the ethics in the Citizen Steward Pledge
• Training to be an OHV Preservation Ambassador
• Volunteering to clean sites including graffiti remediation 
• Supporting Archaeology as a field
• Learning and Sharing what was learned with others

A great Q/A session followed the presentation with tips on how to report if you find someone actively vandalizing, what to do about cleaning up modern trash left in historic trash piles, and more.

August 2024

NVFCP had a booth at Smokey the Bear's 80th birthday celebration at the visitor's gateway at Mount Charleston. During set up and the first hour and a half or so we had great sunny weather with a light breeze. By 11am the sky was black, winds were whipping, and there was thunder and lightening. We packed up earlier than we had hoped. The fire engine left early as well but it went to put out two lightening caused fires on the mountain. 

We had a great time singing Happy Birthday, eating cupcakes, and visiting with folks on the Mountain. At our booth, kids learned about manos and metates and pine nuts, and were sent home with archaeology related activity books. Adults learned about online reporting, the importance of leaving artifacts in context, and the educational opportunities we provide. 

July 2024

Presentation by Kelly Harvey - Museum Specialist for the Bureau of Reclamation

How do agencies keep cultural resources preserved in perpetuity? This presentation takes a deeper dive into what can deteriorate a museum collection and how these preservation practices can assist anyone in protecting their valued artifacts. Kelly goes over agents of deterioration with an in-depth discussion of our lenses in which we view things as well as the usual suspects like pollutants, theft, temperature, humidity. 

Watch a recording of this video on our YouTube Channel here.

June 2024

Our Monthly Speaker Series proudly hosted Dr. Kathrina Aben - Tribal Liaison, BLM Southern Nevada District

Gypsum Cave is an archaeological site in Southern Nevada and historic property nominated on the National Register of Historic Properties. Aside from its archaeological and paleontological significance, the cave is important to past and present tribal communities. What is tribal consultation and why is is this needed for archaeological sites? Gypsum Cave is used as an example to introduce basic concepts of tribal consultation to assist federal staff and volunteers working on archaeological sites and with Native-American tribes.

Watch a recording of the talk on our YouTube Channel here. 

May 2024

Our Monthly Speaker Series proudly hosted Virginia Lucas - Curator and Archaeologist at the Lost City Museum.

Completed in 1935, the Boulder Dam Park Museum was built to house the artifacts from excavations at Lake Mead. The museum was originally located at St. Thomas before moving to its current location in 1935. The museum existed as the Boulder Dam Park Museum for the next 15 years. In the early 1950s, the museum transferred to state control, and the name changed to what it is today – the Lost City Museum. While several Civilian Conservation Corps crews worked on the building of the Hoover (Boulder) Dam, Ohio Company 573 and Company 538 were sent to excavate where the lake would ultimately form. The Lost City Museum will soon celebrate its 90^th Anniversary, and while the building has had some additions through the years, it remains a place for people to learn about the indigenous peoples that lived and thrived in the Moapa Valley a thousand years ago. This presentation will showcase photos from the 1925 and 1926 Pageant as well as video clips from the 1920s and 1930s excavations.  

Watch a recording of the talk on our YouTube Channel here.

April 2024

Dr. Samantha Rubinson, Program Coordinator for the Nevada Site Stewardship Program and Non-Voting Board Member for NVFCP, provided a talk for the Sloan Canyon Speaker Series organized by the Bureau of Land Management at the West Henderson Library. She discussed the rich cultural resources of the area and how citizens can help care for them. 

Learn more about upcoming events on the library's website here.

March 2024

Our Monthly Speaker Series proudly hosted Marty McMahon, District Archaeologist for the U.S. Forest Service - Humboldt-Toiyabe NF, Spring Mountains NRA.

There are more than 900 identified archaeological sites on the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area lands. And that just the ones we know of. Not all of them are Native American or prehistoric but over 71% are or are part of a multicomponent site.  

Petroglyphs and Pictographs are especially sensitive to the Tribes and have a high potential for looting and vandalism. We have the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (1979) to help federal land managers prosecute looters or vandals (If they’re caught). The photo above is a Petroglyph boulder that was taken from Forest Service managed lands and by chance the person was caught. Fortunately, it was returned to its original resource area.

To watch a video of this Zoom Webinar click the link.