Nevadans for Cultural Preservation

December 2025

Record high temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s made for an unexpectedly pleasant December day as volunteers headed out to Little Red Rock for a major cleanup effort. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, volunteers relocated and removed large trash from bushes, washes, and crevasses throughout the area.

We are happy to report that most of the trash and dumping encountered was left by past visitors—not historic material (over 50 years old) and, importantly, nothing dumped too recently. This is encouraging news and suggests that recent stewardship and monitoring efforts are making a real difference.

Ten dedicated volunteers spent their Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. hauling out truckloads of debris, including mattress springs, car parts, plywood, and other miscellaneous trash. Thanks to their hard work, these large-scale cleanup efforts shouldn’t need to be repeated anytime soon.

That said, there is still important work ahead. Smaller debris—such as broken glass, shell casings, clay pigeons, and windblown bags, cans, and bottles—remains scattered across the landscape and will require continued care and attention.

If you’re interested in helping, keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities. Our next Stewardship Sunday outing should be posted soon, and we would love to have you join us in protecting this important cultural area.

December 2025

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, NVFCP was proud to host a volunteer appreciation event at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve to recognize the incredible dedication of our volunteers. With generous support from Howard Hughes, guests enjoyed lunch together in one of the Preserve’s outstanding meeting spaces while reflecting on a year of meaningful impact.

During the event, volunteers learned about the remarkable efforts made in 2025 at the area known as Little Red Rock. Over the course of 24 outings, 43 volunteers contributed a total of 303 hours toward protecting this important landscape. Their work included removing old trash, testing an online reporting system, and scouting red sandstone outcrops to identify areas experiencing high activity, illegal dumping, and/or vandalism.

These efforts build on a strong foundation of stewardship. Since 2022, when NVFCP began assisting with the preservation and restoration of Little Red Rock, volunteers have donated an impressive 1,231 hours to caring for this culturally significant area. Their commitment plays a vital role in safeguarding the site for future generations.

The afternoon concluded with a special guided tour of Nuwu Pahsats led by archaeologist Nathan Harper. Nuwu Pahsats—the Nuwuvi term for “The People’s Garden”—is an outdoor education space that highlights sustainable relationships with water, plants, and the landscape, rooted in the traditional lifeways of the resilient Native peoples of Southern Nevada.

We are deeply grateful to our volunteers and partners for their time, energy, and passion. Events like this remind us that preservation is a shared effort, made possible by a community that truly cares.

December 2025

NVFCP was honored to serve as a guest lecturer for ART 478/678: Great Basin Art and Artifacts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The course, taught by Hikmet Sidney Loe, explores the rich artistic and cultural traditions of the Great Basin through an interdisciplinary lens.

Our Executive Director, Rayette Martin—also a proud UNLV alum—led the lecture and shared insights on the importance of preserving cultural resources in context. She discussed the many challenges associated with cultural preservation, including human impacts like graffiti and looting.

Students were highly engaged throughout the class, asking thoughtful questions and connecting the discussion to concepts they had been learning all semester. The dialogue highlighted how art, archaeology, and cultural heritage are deeply interconnected, particularly in the study of the Great Basin.

This course serves as an excellent bridge between the arts and archaeology, fostering collaboration and shared understanding across disciplines. We are excited to hear that ART 478/678 will likely be offered again and are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an impactful learning experience.

NVFCP appreciates the invitation to participate and looks forward to continued partnerships that support education, preservation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

November 2025

On a beautiful Sunday morning, volunteers from the Dunes and Trails UTV Club joined NVFCP in the field to install 10 new educational signs aimed at protecting sensitive archaeological sites. Their support was invaluable—not only could their UTVs reach areas that a standard work truck simply couldn’t, but they also came equipped with an electric jackhammer and generator. Thanks to their tools (and enthusiasm), we saved our backs and shoulders and were able to set the signs deeply and securely for long-term durability.

After several productive hours of hauling equipment, digging holes, and setting signs, the team enjoyed a well-earned break by exploring part of a soon-to-be-designated off-road trail within the BLM Red Rock National Conservation Area. The route offered a mix of fun and occasionally challenging segments, all surrounded by the stunning scenery that makes the Red Rock NCA such a special place.

It was a fantastic day of stewardship, adventure, and partnership. Huge thanks to our UTV friends for their commitment to protecting Nevada’s cultural resources!

November 2025

Presentation by Dr. Samantha Rubinson - Nevada State Historic Preservation Office/Nevada Site Stewardship Program Coordinator

The Nevada Site Stewardship Program has been stewarding archaeological sites throughout Nevada for close to 20 years. This work has created a unique archive of site condition data that can elucidate the major causes of site change and damage over time statewide. An analysis of the stewardship data from 2014-2024 investigated trends related to climate change, recreational damage, and deliberate human impacts on sites. These trends were examined on state-wide, regional (Field Office and Ranger District), and individual site levels. This presentation will focus on the results of this study, the implications for land managers, and recommendations for future preservation.

Watch a recording of Dr. Rubinson's presentation on our YouTube Channel here. 

Check out NVFCP's activity and special projects pages to see what we have been doing to help land managers protect and preserve their archaeological and historic sites. 

November 2025

In mid-November, NVFCP Executive Director Rayette Martin headed north to the White River Narrows Archaeological District to meet with rock art specialist Dr. Jannie Loubser of Stratum Unlimited. Supported by a Lincoln County Archaeological Initiative Grant, the team spent a full week in the field documenting cultural features and carefully camouflaging incised graffiti at both petroglyph and pictograph sites.

What struck everyone on the project—yet again—is how quickly damage can be done, and how slowly it can be repaired. A moment of poor judgment, a few scratches made to “leave a mark,” can take hours of skilled labor by trained specialists to minimize. And even then, the truth remains: vandalism to rock art can never be fully undone. These marks are not just eyesores; they permanently alter irreplaceable cultural records.

Despite the challenges, there is good news. Stratum Unlimited and NVFCP are in the process of updating all existing site records within the district and documenting several new sites recently identified. Their work is helping build a clearer, more comprehensive picture of the area’s deep cultural history.

White River Narrows is a remarkable landscape, and one that is thoughtfully interpreted for public visitation. If you’d like to learn more about the area and its significance, you can explore additional information through the Basin and Range National Monument website here .

Together, through stewardship, education, and respect, we can help ensure that these extraordinary cultural resources remain protected for generations to come.

October 2025

Our RSVP list for October’s Sunday Stewardship at Little Red Rock filled up months in advance. 

Girl Scout Troop Leader Jennifer swooped in early and reserved most of the spots for her troop of enthusiastic scouts and their parents—and thank goodness she did. When cleanup day rolled around, eight powerhouse Girl Scouts and five equally awesome adults showed up, ready to roll up their sleeves and take on everything the desert threw their way (spoiler: it threw a lot).

These stewards-in-the-making tackled:

• Trash tangled in desert vegetation 

• Glittering shards of broken glass 

• Buckets of rusty nails and metal debris from illegal fires 

• Even scratched graffiti inside a beautiful sandstone rock shelter  (gently swabbed away with care, of course)

To be honest, NVFCP had a few nerves at the start. We don’t usually bring younger volunteers into areas with sharp metal, glass, and those oh-so-tempting red rock cliffs that practically beg to be climbed. But those worries quickly melted away when we met this crew. Not only were the Girl Scouts respectful, focused, and curious—they were also supported by a group of incredibly hands-on, engaged adults who worked side-by-side with them throughout the day.

Together, this dream team donated 52 hours of service in just one afternoon. That’s fifty-two hours of conservation, community, and connection to the land.

Even more impressive? These young stewards didn’t just clean up—they learned.
They soaked up knowledge about:

• Respectful visitation to cultural sites

• Why places like Little Red Rock still hold deep significance for Native communities today

• And how one single bottle can become a thousand tiny glass pieces scattered across the landscape

We walked away from the day inspired, grateful, and honestly a little in awe. 

October 2025

When Vegas Verdes Elementary School reached out to NVFCP with a request to chat about cultural site preservation (specifically graffiti removal), we were all ears—and slightly stunned. Why? Because these students were already deep in the world of archaeology at their school.

Yes, you read that right.

After a visit from BLM archaeologist Annette Bennett, who gave them a powerful glimpse into the vandalism issues at Sloan Canyon's Petroglyph Canyon, these curious kids didn’t just nod and move on. Nope—they rolled up their sleeves, fired up their imaginations, and started crafting a LEGO set idea centered around archaeological site preservation. 

The students didn’t stop there—they’re also working on public service announcement (PSA) videos to spread the message of stewardship and respect for our cultural treasures. Naturally, NVFCP’s Executive Director Rayette Martin was stoked to help.

Armed with photos of graffiti removal projects, a replica petroglyph and pictograph, Junior Ranger books, and some real-life graffiti cleaning tools (because props are everything), Rayette headed to the school. What she found was a room full of excited, engaged, and absolutely brilliant future site stewards.

One student even researched NVFCP before the visit and proudly quoted our mission:
“We cannot expect people to care about things they know nothing about, follow laws they've never heard of, or protect things they cannot identify.”
Talk about doing your homework!

Throughout the visit, students asked insightful questions, took notes for their video scripts, and showed genuine care about protecting Nevada’s cultural heritage. If this is what the next generation of preservationists looks like, we are in very good hands.

We couldn’t be prouder to support these young visionaries. Their passion, creativity, and commitment to making a difference is exactly what the world needs—preferably in LEGO form.

We don't think this is the last we will hear from these students!

September 2025

Lincoln County residents took a step back in time at our hands-on, high-energy Atlatl Workshop — and it was a blast (from the past)!

The day kicked off with atlatl expert Angelo Robledo, who wowed the crowd with a deep dive into the history and global use of these ancient hunting tools. He even showed off his impressive flintknapping skills, crafting stone points.

Next, participants got crafty — literally — building their own atlatl darts using replica projectile points, sinew, and turkey feathers. Some folks discovered the skill required to securely attach points and feathers.

The grand finale? Everyone took to the field to launch darts with various styles of atlatls. With each throw, you could hear the mix of laughter and surprise.

Running from 10am to 2pm, the workshop was educational, hands-on, and a whole lot of fun. Let’s just say: the atlatls weren’t the only things flying — time did too!

September 2025

Experimental archaeologist Angelo Robledo discussed his work to bring archaeology into school classrooms in his Speaker Series presentation for NVFCP. Since 2018 Angelo has worked with public, charter, and private schools in Las Vegas to introduce archaeological concepts and projects as a supplement to existing social studies curriculum. This talk provided an overview his efforts and discussed best practices when talking to children about the human past! 

Watch a recording of his presentation on our YouTube Channel here.