“They were just a lot of people… doin’ the best they could…”

http://www.amazon.com/Capitan-New-Mexico-Coalora-History/dp/1609494512/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335273922&sr=1-1

As I was reading Gary Cozzen’s most recent book CAPITAN NEW MEXICO: FROM THE COALORA COAL MINES TO SMOKEY BEAR I found myself wishing that every small town could have such endeavors and works. Thanks History Press for making short documentations like this available. There are plenty of wonderful vintage photographs of bygone times in this slice of rural Americana. Sure, at times it read like something out of Genesis with a chronology of relationships, but that will certainly provide context for future generations. Most importantly it left me wanting to find out more: always a clear indication of good educational works. I can foresee this spawning additional research and voyages of historical discovery. To say it has sex, mystery & murder would be true, but it mostly chronicles the basic facts of well-over a century of an important place in the annals of this “Land of Enchantment.” It reminds me again to sing songs of praise for those that came before us, as the folksinger John Stewart reminded us in the ballad: Mother Country: “ya know they were just a bunch of people, doin’ the best they could… and they did it pretty up-and-walkin’ good…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWwayDfJtkE

Thanks Gary, can I get you to write one now for Burbank and Malibu (California)?

Special People... Special Places...

Review by Rick Smith:

Worth Fighting For: A Park Ranger's Unexpected Battle against Federal Bureaucrats & Washington Redskins Owner Dan Snyder. Robert M. Danno. Honor Code Publishing, LLC. 2012. ISBN 13: 978-0-9852807-0-3

     “An observer not intimately familiar with the details of this story might ask: why is one of the most talented and honored rangers in the NPS, chief ranger in three different parks, Chiricahua, Bryce Canyon, and C&O Canal, now assigned as the staff park ranger for the National Capital Region, duty stationed at Antietam with no discernable duties, while still being paid as a ranger with law enforcement duties? If that makes Ranger readers curious, they only have to get this book to find out why. I highly recommend they do.
     Several issues of Ranger ago, I reviewed the book that dealt with the investigation regarding Billy Malone, the Indian trader at Hubbell Trading Post. I said that was a hard book for me to review because of the initial botched investigation of Malone and because the author's portrait of National Park culture did not ring true with my own. This is also difficult for me to review, but for different reasons. Danno's portrait of his career in the NPS is like a travelogue of wonderful places and experiences. He worked as a seasonal in Whiskeytown, Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Grand Canyon.
    

In addition to the parks above, he was a permanent in the Virgin Islands, Channel Islands, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone. During his time as a ranger, he married his wife, Mary, they had three children, and lived a life that he describes as inspirational and exciting. He did the requisite number of rescues, dealt with medical emergencies, arrested bad guys, and assisted uncountable numbers of visitors. He became a ‘ranger's ranger’, was nominated twice for the Harry Yount award (http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/harry-yount-award.htm ), received the Department of the Interior Valor award, and the Meritorious Service award. He speaks in awe of his assignment at Madison Junction in Yellowstone and of his pride of being a ranger in the "mother park". This is all the stuff of a very successful career and it makes great reading.

     What was difficult for me is to read what happened next, beginning in March of 2005, when Danno was notified that his work conduct at the C&O Canal was being investigated two weeks after he reported to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) that the park superintendent was acting improperly with a boundary issue. He was stripped of his law enforcement commission, assigned to another park, all the items were removed from his office and transported to his home by park employees, including his awards, tool kits and other items that a ranger keeps in his or her office. Sometime after that, his home was raided and items were removed by the NPS (while he was out-of town). He was subsequently arrested, ordered face-down on a marina dock, and carted off in handcuffs. All this for a two-time nominee of the Harry Yount award?

     While Danno had disagreements with the acting superintendent at C&O Canal over issues related to incident command and felt that the acting superintendent's damage assessments following Hurricane Isabel were dishonest in order to get more money for the park, the real problem was Washington Redskins billionaire owner Dan Snyder clear cutting trees on his estate to improve his view of the river. This was a major sensation in the Washington, D.C. newspapers. According to Danno, he had consistently warned the acting superintendent that this was a violation of law and policy, and should not be allowed - which the acting superintendent was advocating. Danno now believed, that Snyder did not act on his own and that the acting
superintendent gave him permission to do the cutting. Danno filed a whistle blower complaint with the DOI OIG and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
     A year later, the OIG investigative report came out. Incredibly, it concluded that the decision to allow the tree cutting had come from the NPS Director Fran Mainellla's office and that the special assistant to the director, Dan Smith and the now-superintendent of the C&O Canal, Kevin
Brandt, had not been truthful with the investigators. It did not, however, recommend any discipline against these employees and referred the case back to the NPS for appropriate action. Yes, that's right; they recommended that the NPS director's office discipline itself. It is not surprising to learn that the NPS did not take any further action. 

     Nine months after he was arrested, Danno was indicted on one charge of theft of government property. His trial began in January, 2009. I found the sections of the book dealing with the author's preparations for the trial and the trial itself to be fascinating. It is particularly interesting to read the account of his attorney punching holes in the testimony of the chief ranger of NCR, the person who had taken the items from Danno's office and transported them to Danno's house, among the very items that he was now accused of stealing. It's an incredible story! The jury found Danno not guilty in minutes. Some of the jurors waited until he left the courtroom to
congratulate him.
     It's a happy ending, right? Wrong. Three and a half years after the not guilty verdict, the NPS still has not taken any disciplinary action against those involved in the Snyder tree-cutting incident, nor has it restored Danno to any position of authority worthy of his experience and abilities - they just put him in a closet and let him sit. 

     I have known Rob Danno for 20-25 years. I have the highest regard for his honesty and integrity and the greatest respect for the variety of field ranger skills he possesses. If all he says is true, which a OIG investigative report confirms, this is another stain on the leadership of the National Park Service. I wonder how many more of these kinds of incidents have to occur before the NPS realizes that the low marks it receives in OPM 's "best places to work" surveys, specially in leadership, are fully justified?

This is a cautionary tale for those NPS employees who believe that whistle blowers will be protected from reprisal by their agency; they won't be. It is also a look at agency behavior that is hard to imagine. While the book is well written and engrossing, at the end I was disheartened. Like Danno, I loved my career with the NPS. It is hard to believe that it has become just another government bureau. I think Horace Albright warned us about that.”

Sugarloof during Horseshoe II

             I too know, and have worked with Rob Danno. We worked putting together the Intermountain Regional Chief Rangers Conference in Tucson, AZ (’98); one that is still talked about as a model of excellence. When I wrote a piece about my memories of being a visitor at Yosemite during the 4^th of July riots (’70) he responded with many positive memories of his own. Last year when I was “fighting fire” on the Horseshoe II incident and assigned to the Chiricahua National Monument area, I found myself again thinking of Rob, and so many that have willingly given so much (including their live- at least one right there at Chiricahua) to protect our special places. I, for one, want to say: THANK YOU Rob!

more Special Places

Today being Orthodox Easter Sunday, thoughts are of rebirth, renewal and the many gifts of spring. Though there are many losses and tragedies around, many hitting close-to-home… I find myself thinking of blessings and thanks to those before us that have given us our present.

So often I’m involved with trying to protect special places far & near, and recently I’ve been involved with one near my own backyard. Site LA (NM Lab of Anthropology) 125568, also known as Spirit Haven Shrine, has had some recent grading that has exceeded what local authorities expected. I’ve been asked several times, and again most recently due to this incident, what differentiates a shrine from a “pile of rocks?” The short answer is: ongoing cultural significance and use. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) has a designation for “Traditional Cultural Properties” (TCP). This locale might be a TCP, depending on recent uses.

Nels Nelson

Some background information includes: “The important shrine is well known to both Eldorado and surrounding residential communities attested by the fact that… blading at the hilltop was initially reported by concerned neighbors. American Museum of Natural History archaeologist Nels Nelson actually knew of the site as early as 1912 when he performed excavations at the nearby sites of Chamisa Locita (LA 4) and Pueblo Alamo (LA 8). The hilltop shrine is an important religious structure associated with these large Pueblo ruins dating to the A.D. 1300s. The Santa Fe Archaeological Society worked on the Chamisa Locita Pueblo in the 1960s. Salvage excavation occurred at Pueblo Alamo before the site was nearly completely destroyed by the construction of the I-25 Intersection in 1971. The site was officially recorded in 1998 and has been part of the State Historic Preservation Office records for well over ten years. The site has been deemed significant enough by the professional archaeological community for inclusion with the nationally recognized Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act. The site is one of a limited number of known earth-navel type shrines important to Pueblo religion and for its information potential for prehistoric ceremonialism and ritual. Both the hilltop shrine and the Chamisa Locita Pueblo are within the nominated boundary for the National Registry for Historic Places in relation to the Galisteo Protection Act project. Native American consultants with the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act Project are additionally concerned over… blading activities at the shrine, as they thought the site was protected. More about the prehistory and history of Eldorado can be learned from the book Windmills and Dreams available for purchase at the ECIA office in Eldorado.”

As was brought to my attention recently: “This important New Mexico and National cultural treasure (emphasis added) has occupied this hilltop as a religious shrine for some 800 years now and deserves respect, consideration, and preservation within permitting and county management activities. Please voice letters of concern regarding the importance of the site and the coordination of site protection within proposed development plans at this locality. Please share this information with any appropriate concerned friends and neighbors.

Address Letters to:

Wayne Dalton                                   Liz Stefanics    
Building and Development Supervisor  Board of County Commissioners, Chair
Growth Management Department       Commission District 5
Santa Fe County                               P.O. Box 720

P.O. Box 276                                    Cerrillos, New Mexico 87010

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

I believe that this potential NRHP TCP should be protected: as it has been passed onto us, so should we provide for future generations. Which reminds me of another potential TCP that turned 50 this year (making it eligible for the NRHP): Dodger Stadium. Several years ago I made a pilgrimage with Blake Roxlau, longtime NM Highway Dept. archaeologist & Cubs fan, to Wrigley Field and informally evaluated TCP criteria. I have no doubt that Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and now Dodger Stadium are important community locations, that inspire long journeys, and result in ritualistic behaviors (Amen, to that Dodger Dog) and lots of prayer. Have a great Easter (and spring) amigos y amigas…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Church 



Hi ho, Silver… away…

Johnny Depp as Tonto

Some of you have asked how Justin is doing, and like most parents of a 20-something we often “don’t know.” He and a group of friends followed their acting pursuit passions to Chicago last summer; he is now back in the “Land of Enchantment” working as an extra on the filming of the Lone Ranger movie. As career Ranger, that seems fitting. In fact, as I reflect back decades to my childhood pal, a dog I grew up with called Int’l Champion Fremar’s Cable Car (see March 22 post of him on the cover of Sports Illustrated) that I named Tonto when he was a puppy. Then of course, my 1^st permanent NPS Ranger position was at Tonto National Monument (AZ), so it seems natural he’d be in this picture with some more famous folks.

Even though working at present in “the industry” (where extras are just considered “props that eat”) he is looking at making a career move: on Saturday evening we learned that Justin has been accepted to next year's law school class at UNM & is wait listed at American Univ. (in DC).  He is still hoping to hear from Northeastern (Boston), USC, Loyola-Marymount, Southwestern (LA), Golden Gate, & Cal Western (San Diego). As a life-long Dodgers and Saints fan (he couldn’t help it thanks to dad’s teams [after all he was conceived while we were livin’ in Nawlins bay-bee]), he is accustomed to pain, anguish & frustration. Could be the makings for a good counselor.