Nevadans for Cultural Preservation

November 2022

NVFCP held its first OHV Preservation Ambassador Training at the Enterprise Library in Las Vegas. Participants were from the Dunes and Trails ATV Club. This club is working in partnership with NVFCP to develop the program. Those in attendance received their Preservation Ambassador Decal and are tasked with choosing a historic or archaeological site to monitor.  NVFCP hopes to turn this training into a video training that can be accessed from anywhere/anytime. 

Over the next few months, NVFCP will go out to the sites the volunteers pick to ensure the training is adequate and to get video footage for the online training. If you are interested in becoming an OHV Preservation Ambassador click here. 

November 2022

NVFCP's first Pastries for Preservation was a success. Participants met at the picnic area for Red Springs, part of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. They were treated to hot coffee and tea as well as mini donuts, muffins, and cinnamon rolls among other snacks. Dr. Kevin Rafferty, Professor Emeritus from the College of Southern Nevada provided a great overview of the archaeological studies conducted in the area and his findings from reviewing that research and relocating collections of artifacts. 

We then went on a short stroll along the .5 mile boardwalk. Along the rock face, Executive Director, Rayette Martin joined Dr. Rafferty in pointing out the various petroglyph panels visible from the boardwalk. We returned to the picnic area for more discussion and snacks before ending our morning outing. 

NVFCP hopes to host more Pastries for Preservation with snacks and a guided tour or hike. Keep a look out for more events!

(photo: Rayette grabbing a snack before the event gets started.)

November 2022

Abigail Peeples, Park Archeologist for Lake Mead National Recreation Area, has been working at the park for about two years. She presented a brief archeological overview of the Lake Mead area with a focus on currently stewarded sites. She discussed one of the first sites excavated at Lake Mead, the lifeways of Indigenous people since time immemorial, petroglyph sites, and the Euro-American colonization of the area of Lake Mead including a Mormon settlement. 

A recording of this Zoom webinar is available on YouTube here. 

November 2022

NVFCP happily provided a cultural resource preservation presentation for this very large and active club in Mesquite, NV.  Formed in 1996, the Kokopelli ATV Club advocates and promotes the responsible use and conservation of our public lands and natural resources to preserve their aesthetic and recreational qualities for future generations.

They are happy to help report damage they find to cultural sites in Nevada and quite a few signed up to learn more about the OHV Preservation Ambassador program coming soon. 

What a great club!

October 2022

NVFCP was invited back to the Annual Off-Road Event, Hump 'N' Bump. Attendees are led on various trail rides in the Logandale Trail System. They have everything from rock crawling to stock friendly sight seeing. This year, NVFCP was able to hand out plastic reporting cards and ask attendees to report any damages they see to cultural sites across Nevada. We also were able to promote the OHV Preservation Ambassador program. 

Representatives from the Nevada Off Highway Vehicles Program, Tread Lightly, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service also had informational booths in the vendor area. 

Information on the 2024 Conference can be found here.

The conference was a huge success! Many thanks to all who presented and attended!

PURPOSE:

As archaeological study in the region continues to grow, professionals, students, researchers, and advocationalists need to meet and discuss their findings. This conference provides a venue for the development and refinement of regional theory, methodologies, and management goals as well as an opportunity to connect with regional specialists.

October 2022

NVFCP has created and ordered the signage to go on a temporary fence that is restricting traffic to foot traffic only at Pine Grove Cemetery. We are grateful to the OHV Community for involving us in this important project. Pine Grove "Ghost Town" is one of the most visited in the state. 

An article on the fence installation can be found in the Carson Now paper. Click here.

There is also a YouTube Video of the team installing the custom fabricated fence. Click here.

September 2022

Ten minute podcast Sitting around the table @ Mystery Ranch eating tacos and talking cultural site respect

Podcast context: On a relatively cool Sunday morning, Rayette Martin (NVFCP Executive Director), hitched a ride with Steve Dudrow (Volunteer) down to a place called the Mystery Ranch to do a podcast with artist Kim Garrison Means. Rayette had met Kim at the opening of Spirit of the Land, an art exhibition at the Barrick Museum of Art a few months back. The traveling exhibition is to honor the history, culture, and natural wonders of the Mojave desert landscape south of Las Vegas, in light of the recent proposal to establish the Avi Kwa Ame (Ah-VEE kwa-meh) national monument. Avi Kwa Ame is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain and the surrounding landscape in Southern Nevada.

August 2022

Lauren Parry, Ph.D. [she/her] Park Guide for Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

The fossil record of Southern Nevada captures a rich and detailed story of environmental and ecological change, from continental seas, to deserts, wetlands, and forests. Join paleontologist and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Park Guide, Lauren Parry, for a journey through the fossil record. This talk will cover: 1) A brief overview of geologic time, the fossil record, and the field of paleontology, 2) A "time machine" journey through the fossil record of Southern Nevada, 3) How to properly document fossils in field notes or reports, and 4) Rules and regulations concerning fossil collection on different public lands.

To watch this talk on YouTube click here.

July 2022

J. H. N. Loubser PhD, RPA Archaeologist/Rock Art Specialist at Stratum Unlimited LLC

Using examples from the White River Narrows, Lincoln County, Nevada, the main aim of the talk is to show that the recording of rock imagery goes beyond individual images and considers the relationship between the images and the rock surfaces too. From a conservation point of view the observation and recording of the rock surface at various scales of inclusion help assess the physical condition of the rock and the imagery it supports. From an archaeological perspective, the overlap between images and the rock surface and between different images can reveal interesting information on image placement and image sequences. Whereas condition assessments help inform site conservation and management recommendations, creating thumbnails for each individual motif helps with repeatable comparison within and between sites. Trends in repeated overlap sequences between pairs of motifs over a wide area may help create a regional syntax and/or chronology of imagery.

To watch this talk on YouTube, click here.