Saturday, October 13, 2007

Chaco Canyon Meeting Set Despite Concerns

By Leslie Linthicum
Journal Staff Writer
State and federal transportation officials and San Juan County have scheduled a public hearing next week about proposed improvements to the road that leads to Chaco Canyon.
The hearing comes despite the Hopi Tribe's complaints that it has been left out of discussions in violation of state and federal law and despite road-paving opponents who say the process should stop while the tribe's complaints are addressed.
Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, laid out the tribe's concerns in several letters to the Federal Highway Administration and the New Mexico Department of Transportation, both agencies that are involved in the project to improve the county roads that lead to Chaco.
The Hopis call Chaco "Yupqoyvi" ("the place beyond the horizon") and, along with other pueblos, trace some of their early history to the ancient towns that now attract historians, archaeologists and tourists to the park.
According to Kumanwisiwma, the project requires consultation with tribes that have an interest in the site because federal funding is involved and because of an executive order signed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in 2005 that requires tribal consultation on state projects.
In a letter to the director of the FHA in New Mexico, Kumanwisiwma said the tribe would like "private, government-to-government" consultation on the Chaco road and the potential harmful effects a paved road could have on ancient Hopi ruins.
Because of the limited accommodations at the park, the letter said, "it must be determined if the infrastructure at Chaco can accommodate any increased visitation, much less international bus tours ..."
Chaco Culture Historical Park is a national park that encompasses ruins of pueblo towns that date to the 9th century. It has been named a World Heritage Site and, despite its remote location— at the end of more than a dozen miles of rough dirt road in northwestern New Mexico— it attracts about 80,000 visitors each year.
Citing safety concerns, the county government decided to improve the entrance access. It paved with a chip-seal coat the stretch of County Road 7900 that leads off U.S. 550 to County Road 7950 and plans to pave 7950, which leads to the park's entrance.
Opponents of a paved road say that it will inundate Chaco with more cars, recreational vehicles and high-volume tour buses, and that the park's archaeological treasures will suffer under large crowds.
The FHA did not respond this week to questions about the tribe's concerns. Department of Transportation spokesman S.U. Mahesh said the department has acted properly but, "If the Hopi tribe still feels there are some outstanding issues, we will sit down and talk to them."
New Mexico's Historic Preservation Officer, Katherine Slick, has also sent a lengthy letter to New Mexico Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught recently outlining her concerns with the way the project has progressed. She told Faught that she believed some of the roads' right of way is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which would put the project under federal rules that require more environmental and archaeological studies.
She also complained that no one involved with the project sought review and clearance from her office as required by state law.
Anson Wright, who leads the Don't Pave Chaco movement, said this week that the planning process for paving the road should stop until the concerns of the tribe and the state's Historic Preservation Officer have been addressed.
"It's just an insult to hold this meeting before all of these questions have been addressed," Wright said. "You don't just continue the process, you stop the process and you determine whether this is true."
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, with public comments to be taken at 7 p.m. It is in the San Juan County Commission chambers at 100 S. Oliver Dr. in Aztec.