Photo by Eric Vondy

Pecos Mission Church, near the pueblo ruins, at Pecos National Historical Park.

NPS and Park Updates

The 2011 National Historic Landmark Photo Contest winning image (at left) depicts the Pecos Mission Church here at the park. "It does take you back in time," National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said of the photo by Eric Vondy of Phoenix. "The site's real history is legendary."

The photo contest theme, 100 Days of National Historic Landmarks, was meant to encourage the selection of unique landmarks and unusual points of view. Alexandra Lord of the NPS's National Historic Landmarks Program said, "There is a backstory to each of the photo contest entries, and the contest is a fun, interesting and educational way to share the history and heritage surrounding America's national historic landmarks."

Vondy's photograph and those of 12 other 'honorable mention' photographers will appear in a National Park Service National Historic Landmark 2012 desk planner.

Please visit this link so you can perhaps be inspired to share your own views in next year's contest. Specifics of the 2012 contest will be released in the spring, so photographers might want to take pictures of national historic landmarks with an eye towards next year.

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Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass: please click here for specifics about events at Pecos National Historical Park.

There are also other related events in New Mexico:

February 18-19, 2012: In Socorro, there will be a reenactment of the Battle of Valverde, a major Confederate success in the New Mexico campaign of the Civil War by Texas Volunteers. This is not an NPS event.

May 4-6, 2012: El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, Santa Fe, NM: reenactors will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in New Mexico over three days. The NM Civil War Commemorative Congress, NM National Guard, and other organizations will participate. This is not an NPS event.

June 6-8, 2012: Fort Union Junior Ranger camp public program for families with focus on NM education-based curriculum planning for learning about the Civil War in the Southwest. This is an NPS event that will take place at Fort Union National Monument.

August 3-12, 2012: Las Vegas NM Heritage Week.

August 11, 2012: Fort Union Candlelight Tours--Civil War theme. Closing event for NM Heritage Week.

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Also in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the NPS has developed books to help tell this complex story. Richly illustrated and compellingly written, these publications are valuable tools for those who are interested in learning more:

• Hispanics and the Civil War: From Battlefield to Homefront - Hot off the press, this book explores the lives of Hispanic people who were swept into the conflict that divided the nation in 1861. It examines the many and varied motives of the 20,000 men who chose to fight, as well as the countless civilians who lent hearts and hands on the home front. This book helps Hispanic Americans understand that the Civil War is their story, too, and helps all Americans to discover the little known but significant contribution Hispanics made at this moment in US history and to the continuing struggle for equal rights that would follow. It is part of a series on the little-known stories of various ethnic groups in the Civil War.
• Slavery: Cause and Catalyst of the Civil War - This NAI award-winning book proposes that a number of issues ignited the Civil War - states' rights, the role of the federal government, preservation of the Union, and the economy - but that all were inextricably bound to the institution of slavery. It follows with a concise explanation of these concepts as well as the African American perspective from the resistance movements to the fight for freedom.
• The Civil War Remembered - In addition to the military story, this book, part of the NPS handbook series, includes powerful essays illuminating other perspectives on the Civil War written by eminent historians on an array of topics. Chapters include "The Changing War," "Women Amidst War," "The Civilian Experience," "The War and Westward Expansion," and "The Civil War in American Memory." Edited by Bob Sutton and John Latschar, it is a "must-have" for both park interpreters and visitors who seek to understand the history and legacy of the Civil War.

Developed with the assistance of superintendents, historians, park staff, and Washington and regional program offices throughout the National Park Service and beyond, the first two books were designed by Graphic Works, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia; the third was designed by The Donning Company Publishers of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The NPS has made a small supply of the Hispanics and the Civil War: From Battlefield to Homefront available to all Civil War/Civil Rights related parks, at no cost, for outreach to schools and Hispanic organizations.

The three publications retail between $3.95 and $10.95. To help launch the new publication, though, Eastern National will offer 40% discounts to other associations, bookstores, historical sites, and similar organizations to make these publications readily available to visitors. All three books will be also available to NPS employees at a 25% discount through February 2012. The books may be obtained at any Eastern National outlet or online at http://www.eparks.com/store/.

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2011 Leupp Kiln Conference Held at Pecos NHP. Anyone who has ever wondered how the ancient potters of the Southwest made their wares had a chance to see and learn about those techniques at Pecos National Historical Park on September 3, when a gathering of potters from around the Southwest offered demonstrations.

Visitors watched and asked questions about non-modern ceramic firing as participants undertook clay building, polishing, painting, and firing during this archeological ceramic research event. The conference began in 2003 when Tim Wilcox, an archeologist, artist and potter, held the first gathering in Leupp, near Winslow, AZ.

Click here for a link to the organizers' website.

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The Historic Preservation Fund is supported by revenue from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. The National Park Service administers the fund on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior and uses the majority of appropriated funds to distribute matching grants to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.

"Throughout the country, HPF grants and other federal historic preservation programs help sustain and revitalize communities," National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis said. Grants and programs funded by the HPF encourage private and nonfederal investment in historic preservation efforts nationwide. Recent achievements of the HPF can be found in its annual report. For information about other National Park Service preservation, conservation, and recreation assistance programs available to communities, please visit this link. For the full news release concerning the grants, please click here. 

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The State of the Birds 2011. America's public lands and waters, ranging from national wildlife refuges to national parks and forests, offer significant opportunities to halt or reverse the decline of many bird species, according to the Department of the Interior's State of the Birds 2011 report, a collaborative initiative involving federal and state wildlife agencies and scientific and conservation organizations.

Nevertheless, although there is tremendous potential for bird conservation, one out of four bird species on public land are in peril, the report finds. Effective management and conservation efforts are critical to making a difference in whether certain bird species slide toward extinction. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar notes that "although we have made enormous progress in conserving habitat on public lands, we clearly have much more work to do."

The full State of the Birds report assesses the distribution of birds on nearly 850 million acres of public land and 3.5 million square miles of ocean. Here's a link explaining the science behind the report. Full text is available at stateofthebirds.org.

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Science Learning Network. For a series of new National Park Service-centered science learning videos, go to the North Coast Cascades Science Learning Network (SLN) website and begin with "Taking the Pulse of the National Parks." Each movie is approximately four minutes long. Students will discover how park scientists preserve park ecological health and historical riches; see a glimpse of daily fieldwork; and find information about glaciers, intertidal zones and wind-swept prairies.

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NPS New Mexico web page. The work of the National Park Service touches almost every county in the country-regardless of proximity to a national park. Communities invite NPS to provide expertise and grants, review tax credit projects, and make surplus federal land available for parks and recreation facilities. The goal of the new web pages is to tell what NPS does in 394 parks and in national programs that benefit communities. Only those who know about the agency's work can benefit from it-so, according to NPS Director Jon Jarvis, "we are building relevance both inside park boundaries and in neighborhoods across the country." To access the New Mexico site, please click here.

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Where the bison roam. Bison are central to the history of so many indigenous people in the U.S., including those who lived at the Pecos Pueblo. Thanks to a breakthrough agreement, now bison from Yellowstone National Park will roam freely across 75,000 acres in southern Montana where for years the animals were shipped to slaughter by the hundreds. The deal, expected to be made final by mid-April, involves five state and federal agencies and several American Indian tribes and still limits where buffalo can go during their winter migrations. Officials say those that move beyond the newly opened habitat and head north into the Paradise Valley will continue to be culled to protect livestock against a disease carried by the wild animals. Some Republican state lawmakers have argued that opening new territory to bison sets a dangerous precedent that could increase the livestock industry's exposure to disease. Meanwhile, wildlife advocates have sought even more habitat for bison, such as the Dome Mountain area in the Paradise Valley.

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Civil War website. The National Park Service Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the Civil War is meant to draw attention to the larger arc from Civil War to Civil Rights and give the war and events of a century and a half ago "meaning to 21st century Americans," according to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. As part of this effort, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis recently laid out many features the public will find during the commemoration's next five years, including a new website that provides a comprehensive calendar of events for the anniversary period, historical features and resources designed to illustrate the relevancy of events that occurred 150 years ago.

The Civil War: 150 Years will provide information about the hundreds of events planned at National Parks around the country. Other features of the website include:

Civil War Reporter - Follow the adventures of Beglan O'Brien, a fictional Civil War era correspondent, whose reports on events from 150 years ago are streamed to the website via Twitter. In addition to the above-noted website, he can also be followed directly on Twitter (CivilWarReportr) and Facebook (Civil War Reporter).

Reflections - Taken from the essays that appear in the upcoming The Civil War Remembered handbook, America's foremost historians reflect on the Civil War and its larger meanings in American history. In the first essay, "Defining America," Dr. James McPherson, professor emeritus at Princeton University and author of Battle Cry of Freedom, examines how the issues at the heart of the Civil War remain relevant today. New essays will appear three times a year.

Then & Now - How do the events of 150 years ago continue to influence the America of the 21st century? Timelines and links to historic documents, photos, lesson plans and other resources illustrate the surprising parallels.

Links - The website also includes links to other Civil War resources on nps.gov, including the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System and the websites for the more than 70 National Park sites that tell the story of Civil War and its enduring legacies.

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Can you hear me now? A new publication provides educational information and tips so visitors can reduce noise while furthering their appreciation of the unique soundscape that each national park has to offer. It provides compelling explanations about the important role of natural and cultural soundscapes, both in terms of visitor enjoyment and ecosystem health. Here's the link for "A National Park Guide: Protecting and Enhancing Soundscapes."

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