BLM archaeologists protecting our heritage

WORLAND – Imagine traveling to Wyoming and seeing a real ghost town - a ghost town that has never been touched by any other man, you are the first to see it. Or imagine going hiking and finding a cave filled with petroglyphs or other archaeological finds.

Bureau of Land Management Worland Field Office archaeologists Marit Bovee and Dora Ridenour are working hard to protect Wyoming's archaeologic resources such as described above, specifically in the Big Horn Basin.

When they are not drowning in paperwork they are monitoring known sites, conduct inventory on sites that haven't been inventoried, public outreach and teaching school children about the importance of learning from the past.

Some of the paperwork they do is considered the "Non popular, there are a number of regulations and policies which protect culture resources and on a daily basis we make sure that the compliance for power poles, oil pads or bentonite mines comply with the regulations" Bovee said.

They also work hand in hand with the area tribes to make sure that sites are preserved and that can still be accessed by those tribes. "We do a lot of tribal consultation because a lot of the things we are dealing with are associated with modern tribes," Bovee said.

Programs for the school children are another important aspect of their jobs. Field trips, job shadowing and career days are great opportunities to educate. "Public education is key to keeping our resources intact," stated Ridenour

Collecting either by hand or with shovels and screens destroys too many sites making them "null and void" Ridenour stated. "Too many sites have been destroyed by graffiti and bullet holes," Bovee and Ridenour stated. To protect the sites they have to be continually monitored by the archaeologists and with ranger patrol or by keeping the sites' location a secret.

The BLM and their archaeologists have a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to collecting artifacts and they are as follows:

DO – Photograph.

DO – GPS.

DO – Leave the item alone.

DO – Inform the BLM office of your find with the picture and GPS.

DO – Leave the item for others to enjoy.

DON'T – Touch the item.

DON'T – Collect it.

DON'T – Disturb the area surrounding it.

Developed BLM archaeological sites managed by the Worland Field Office that are open to the public and worth the trip are:

- Legend Rock near Thermopolis

-Big Cedar Ridge Fossil Area between Worland and Ten Sleep

-Medicine Lodge near Hyattville

-Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracks – East of Greybull

According to the BLM website, "Long-abandoned archaeological sites offer important insights into the ways in which human activities and the environment have been linked together through time, and how seemingly minor cultural practices can contribute to substantial environmental change. Discovering, studying, and understanding the evidence of past human influences provide us with important lessons about how we should be using our lands today."