Volunteers needed Saturday
Laboratory employees and the public can volunteer to perform maintenance work on a trail within the Lab's Technical Area 71 on Saturday (October 18). The Volunteer Task Force is cooperating with the Lab in this effort, which is an Eagle Scout project organized by scout Grey Wilburn.
The maintenance on about a half-mile of trail is needed to prevent further damage to nearby archaeological sites dating from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries, said Dan Pava of Risk Reduction (ENV-RRO) and the Lab's Trails Working Group chair.
The current trail is a short distance from the Pajarito Acres area of White Rock and has an entrance from NM 4, thus it sees a lot of foot and bicycle traffic. There currently are three defined archaeological sites on the part of the trail to be bypassed, each containing a set of "roomblocks," or former living structures. Many artifacts, including ceramics and stone tools are scattered on the surface of the sites, but there is evidence that some casual collection has been done at the site.
Moving the trail away from these sites provides greater protection for them and fewer opportunities for illegal collection activities, Pava explained.
Laboratory employees can volunteer by contacting Pava at 7-7360 or Craig Martin of the Volunteer Task Force at cmartin@losalamos.com by e-mail. Release forms will be available on-site that morning and are required to be signed by all volunteers.
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