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Designated a national monument in 1916 for its "tremendous ethnographic, scientific, and educational" values, Bandelier was expanded multiple times to encompass more than 33,000 acres. Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and the ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier protects more than 2,500 archaeological sites, representing one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric sites per acre in the world. The park also preserves several Civilian Conservation Corps buildings and furnishings, constructed between 1933 and 1940, which garnered a National Historic District designation in 1987.
According to the park's business plan, Bandelier is challenged by a shortfall of $2.5 million and a need for an additional 47 FTEs for a total of 101 full-time employees. Because of insufficient staffing, Bandelier cannot provide educational programs or on-site tours to more than 300 school groups that visit the park each spring. Adequate funding would allow the staff to meet these needs, respond to the hundreds of requests for off-site classroom programs each year, and reach out to diverse local communities. The park lacks funding to adequately assess and mitigate the deterioration of structures-such as pre-Columbian dwelling chambers carved into the cliffs-that are threatened by erosion and surface water runoff. Biological expertise is needed to monitor threatened and endangered species such as the peregrine falcon, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, and the Southwestern willow flycatcher.
Last fall, Bandelier's protection rangers were rotated to high profile parks like the Statue of Liberty to guard against terrorists. As a result, the park's backcountry archaeological sites were vulnerable to looters until the local friends group raised funds to pay a member of the Student Conservation Corps to monitor the sites, and perform minor trail work and search and rescues as necessary.
This summer, Bandelier is hiring only three of four seasonal interpreters-potentially affecting educational opportunities for visitors.
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