The United States Forest Service, a Department of the United States Department of Agriculture has some really cool and amazing programs set up in which you, as citizens can partake in. The entire Mesa of the Grand Canyon is rich in archelogical history and sites. This program has utilized volunteers like you and me to unearth many amazing sites, to recreate and map thousands of petroglyph sites, and even participate in archealogical digs; one if whicb turned up a 1000 + year old villiage! How cool is that! The archaeologist's role has changed substantially over our Forest Service tenure. The Forest Service was originally hired to conduct archaeological surveys prior to timber sales, we now coordinate the forest's Arizona Site Stewards program; manage projects involving volunteers; conduct educational programs across northern Arizona; conduct Passport in Time (PIT) projects; facilitate tribal consultations for forest managers; maintain heritage databases in the forest's Geographic Information Systems; nominate sites to the National Register of Historic Places; and survey, record and protect sites in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
Some of the programs also are in unison with Arizona state via the States Parks and Trails department. The Arizona site Steward Program. The Arizona Site Steward program was developed by Governor Bruce Babbitt and his Archaeology Advisory Commission in an attempt to support the protection of cultural sites on public lands. Starting with three regions and four partners, the program has grown to encompass the entire state and 32 local, state, federal and non-profit partners. Currently administered by Arizona State Parks, the program is supported by the Arizona State Parks Foundation – a 501(c)3.
Site Stewards are volunteers dedicated to protecting and preserving cultural resources and the heritage of Arizona.
The Arizona Site Stewards Program is an organization of volunteers, sponsored by the public land managers of Arizona, whose members are selected, trained and certified by the State Historic Preservation Office. The chief objective of the Stewards Program is to report to the land managers destruction or vandalism of prehistoric and historic archaeological and paleontological sites in Arizona through site monitoring. Stewards are also active in public education and outreach activities. All questions concerning the Site Steward program, training, application, and recognition should be directed to Sean Hammond, Site Steward program coordinator, at (602) 542-7130.
The Passport In Time is a volunteer cultural heritage resources program sponsored by the US Forest Service, and which now includes such partners as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), some State Parks and work with Historicorps. PIT volunteers work with professional archaeologists and historians on public lands throughout the U.S. on such diverse activities as archaeological survey and excavation, rock art restoration, archival research, historic structure restoration, oral history gathering, and analysis and curation of artifacts. The professional staff of archaeologista, historians, and preservation specialists will be your hosts, guides, and co-workers. Please visit the link above for more information on the PIT program.
More than 6,000 archaeological and historic sites have been recorded on the Kaibab National Forest, which represents an incredible amount of historic and pre-historic information. The majority of these sites are associated with "Cohonina," who occupied the Kaibab between AD 700 and AD 1100. They left stone houses, pottery sherds, stone tools, grinding stones and rock art across the forest. Williams Region Arizona Site Stewards monitor many of these sensitive sites, helping to report and deter vandalism.
The Canyon itself, which is is bordered on both rims by the Kaibib National Forest,are an estimated 1000 caves, and of those, 335 have been recorded. Even fewer have been mapped or inventoried. Today, only one cave is open to the public -- the Cave of the Domes on Horseshoe Mesa. The rest of the caves are only open to research and perhaps you would be lucky enough to get aplace in this research opportunity by volunteering for one of these amazing programs!
