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The National Park Service warns that the rush to install President Trump's border wall threatens to damage or destroy nearly two dozen archaeological sites in Arizona. The NPS report, which was obtained by the Washington Post, details 22 locations inside Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, particularly near Quitobaquito Springs, which has been the home of humans for at least 16,000 years.
“Quitobaquito, as we know it, may be destroyed before anyone has had a chance to evaluate the consequences of the current actions,” said Rick Martynec, an archaeologist who conducts surveys inside the adjacent Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Construction inside Cabeza Prieta and Organ Pipe began last month, with bulldozers and excavators rumbling across sites that have not been fully surveyed.
Kevin Dahl, Arizona senior program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, was more direct. “Archaeology takes time, and they [CBP] have a deadline," Dahl said. “Putting a wall there is insane.”
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We’ve historically lived in this area from time immemorial. We feel very strongly that this particular wall will desecrate this area forever. I would compare it to building a wall over your parents’ graveyards. It would have the same effect.”
