Grand Canyon hosts special archeology day, March 27

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, Grand Canyon National Park will host Archeology Day in honor of “Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month.” Intended to help park visitors learn more about the people who lived in the area long ago and to gain a greater understanding of the work that archeologists do and what can be learned from their research, Archeology Day will feature a series of special activities at Grand Canyon Visitor Center. Make clay pinch pots and split-twig figurines, experience the thrill of the archeological find by “sifting for artifacts” then identifying what is found and hypothesizing what it was once used for.

The event will also include two special evening program speakers. On Friday, March 26^th, Vanishing Treasures Archeologist Ian Hough will present “Extreme Cultural Landscapes: New Archeological Research in Grand Canyon.” On Saturday, March 27^th, Park Guide Jennifer Onufer will share her experiences on an archeology trip down the Colorado River in “A River of Dramatic Change. Both programs will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Shrine of Ages Auditorium near Parking Lot A.

All Archeology Day activities and programs are being offered free of charge on the South Rim. All activities are also family friendly and, with the exception of the evening program, will be offered at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

For additional information on Archeology Day check out the park’s web site at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/arch_day.htm

Back country tour of Casa Grande--this month only

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is the country's first archaeological reserve, given that status back in 1892. While that may seem a few ages ago, the original settlers here, the Hohokam, made what the monument is today. Somewhere back in the 1200s, or so the scientific diggers tell us, these natives built structures out of caliche, or what contractors today would call hard pan.

While those who visit the monument on your average day will get a shot at viewing The Casa Grande, or "The Big House" as the Spaniards dubbed it, most of the year the actual back country of the monument is closed to public traffic. Not so this month: On weekend mornings through Sunday the 28th, park rangers will lead special tours of the back country to see such sites as the Prehistoric Ballcourt, Compound B, and an ancient roasting pit or “horno.”

If you'd like to get in on a tour, either show up or call the park at 520-723-3172.

National Park Service photo

Mexican gray wolves return to the wild

If the plan by Mexican wildlife officials stays on track, wildlife watchers may soon be able to spot Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.

Officials plan to release five wolves in the Sierra San Luis range, which extends from about 85 miles south of the Arizona/Mexico border to within 25 miles of the border. Wolves are known to travel as much as 80 miles a week, and could eventually connect with wolves at the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in northeastern Arizona and northwestern new Mexico.

Mexican officials and conservationists have long planned to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves to their original range. The last known wild wolves were trapped in the 1970s as part of an effort to save the subspecies of gray wolves. A captive breeding program was established, and now more than 300 wolves live in 40 U.S. and Mexican facilities.

The United States released 11 animals from the endangered gray wolf subspecies into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in 1998. The goal was that natural reproduction and reintroduction would bring the population to 100 in a few years.

The first wild pups were born in 2002, but continuing difficulties have meant that the wolves have struggled to maintain their population. On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that its annual wolf census found 42 animals on the ground at the end of 2009, compared to 52 at the end of 2008. It was the lowest number in seven years.

They're largely prohibited from leaving the confines of the Blue Range area. If seen outside the range, and between an area bordered by Interstate 40 to the north and Interstate 10 to the south, they are to be returned to the Blue Range.

Perhaps just as worrisome for the wolf project, at least two of eight wolves whose carcasses were found last year had been shot, meaning apparent poaching of the wolves, a problem Federal officials are investigating.