Other Controversies
Suburban development is now another enemy of the Petroglyph Nation Monument site. The city of Albuquerque NM succeeded with their plans to build a 4 lane highway directly through the site itself. The 2.7-mile project implemented a much needed transportation corridor while enhancing the natural surroundings and minimizing the roadway footprint. For example, creative additions such as using a short concrete masonry unit retaining wall that mimics the black basalt rock in color and texture was used, along with various pieces of public art along the roadway and a footbridge over the road were installed. The boulders with inscribed petroglyphs were relocated, so none were destroyed. The issue was featured in the documentary, Reclaiming Their Voice: The Native American Vote in New Mexico & Beyond.
The Petroglyph National Monument is a major asset for the City of Albuquerque and New Mexico but its rich trove of cultural and natural resources is threatened by the inability of the City and the National Park Service (NPS) to cooperatively manage the two-thirds of the monument that is City-owned land, according to documents posted on June 6, 2012 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result, there are no consistent management standards or patrols protecting the invaluable rock art for which the Monument was created.
Under a five-year Cooperative Management Agreement, National Park Service and the City specify the delegation of their respective responsibilities for the monument. The City, however, refuses to allow NPS rangers to patrol or enforce Park Service rules on City lands, which constitute the bulk of the monument. Due to City service cutbacks, most of the Petroglyph is left unpatrolled. In a July 25, 2011 letter to PEER, NPS Intermountain Regional Director John Wessels stated –
“However, the NPS currently has no agreement with the City of Albuquerque that holistically authorizes NPS to enforce the entirety of 36 CFR Part 2 on lands owned by the city….We would welcome such an agreement and we have, in the past, proposed such an agreement with the City, but the City has not acceded to this proposal.”
"It is a disgrace that ancient rock art is obscured by both years of debris and last weekend’s vandalism,” Daniel Patterson Southwest Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Director added. “Petroglyph is not just a regional but a national treasure which deserves the same protections as other national parks.”
The 2008 Cooperative Management Agreement must be renewed by May 2013. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has launched a citizen petition and national campaign to persuade Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry to allow NPS to provide full monument protection in the upcoming cooperative management pact. To show your support of Petroglyph National Monument add your signature to Clean-Up Petroglyph
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