Bandelier Administrative History

APPENDIX C: A CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS AT BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT

February 1916--Bandelier National Monument is established; under the terms of the Antiquities Act of 1906, administration falls to the United States Forest Service.

February 1932--Administration of the monument transferred to the National Park Service.

November 1933--Civilian Conservation Corps camp opens in Frijoles Canyon.

December 1933--First automobile traverses the road to the floor of Frijoles Canyon.

1934--First six-year master plan for Bandelier developed.

1939--Jemez Crater National Park proposed for Bandelier area.

July 1940--CCC camp in Frijoles Canyon closes.

December 1942--The U.S. Army acquires the Los Alamos Ranch School in preparation for the establishment of a secret research facility.

1944--Bandelier and Regional Office officials protest after the "army" builds a road through the Otowi section without permission.

August 1945--The secret of Los Alamos becomes public after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

August 1947--Fred Binnewies becomes first superintendent of Bandelier.

1952--Visitation tops 50,000; Second master plan developed.

March 1957--Mission 66 for Bandelier approved.

January 1961--Frijoles Mesa transferred to the National Park Service.

1962--Proposal to create Valle Grande-Bandelier National Park; NPS attempt to purchase Baca Location #1 thwarted by sale to private parties.

May 1963--Park Service acquires the Upper Canyon area, while turning administration of the portion of the Otowi section west of Highway 4 over to the Atomic Energy Commission.

1963--Visitation at Bandelier tops 100,000.

1964--Wilderness Act of 1964 passes Congress; it mandates that Federal roadless areas of more than 5,000 acres be reviewed for their suitability for inclusion in a system of designated wilderness areas.

Summer 1986-Archeological survey of Bandelier National Monument begins.

1970--New draft master plan developed; it includes the recommendation that no designated wilderness area be established at Bandelier.

1970--Visitation at Bandelier tops 200,000.

December 1971--Public hearing in Los Alamos shows extensive support for the idea of a wilderness at Bandelier.

1974-1977--$130,000 spent on studies and removal of feral burros at Bandelier.

1976--First Resource Management Plan at Bandelier approved.

October 1976--Designated Wilderness area at Bandelier is established.

June 1977--La Mesa fire occurs. Burro eradication program implemented during the fire. Archeologists precede bulldozers along fire lines in an effort to save cultural resources.

1980--Resource Management unit, combining cultural and natural resource management, is formed.

1980-1983--Park Service is enjoined from continuing burro eradication program; an agreement with the Fund for Animals Inc. allows for a live capture program; after completion of the program, Park Service removed remaining burros.

June 1985--Cochiti Dam floods area along the Rio Grande; flooding continues during following summers.

Fall 1985--Proposal for alternate road to Los Alamos gathers momentum. Proposed routes include one adjacent to the eastern boundary of the monument and another south of Tsankawi.

November 1985--Public outcry to protect Bandelier from Project Overblast; the Los Alamos National Laboratory subsequently rescinds the proposed development.

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