46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE'S SUBMERGED RESOURCES CENTER BASED IN SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, FOR ITS OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS WITH UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY.

WHEREAS, in 1975, national park service archaeologists were requested to study the effects of reservoir flooding on archaeological sites and their work became a model for federal agencies to use in reservoir mitigation work; and

WHEREAS, by 1980, the national park service recognized the importance of underwater cultural sites and created the submerged cultural resources unit, now called the submerged resources center, which is responsible for the care and nurturing of all park-held underwater sites, including shipwrecks, inundated Native American sites and landings, places where water and earth meet; and

WHEREAS, the submerged resources center's team has developed procedures for underwater mapping and video imaging that have been acclaimed and adopted throughout the nation and around the world; and

WHEREAS, much of their work is directed toward preserving and restoring shipwrecks and other valuable sites so that these sites can be visited by park visitors for years to come, saving such sites from the ravages of treasure hunters; and

WHEREAS, like detectives trying to solve a murder, using data including the ship's position, placement of artifacts and the position of rigging, the team's archaeologists piece together the story of a ship when it went down and their studies offer insights into historical events and lead to greater historical and anthropological comprehension; and

WHEREAS, the team leads projects throughout the United States and its territories and often works on international sites when requested; and

WHEREAS, the submerged resources center disseminates its philosophy, which is "divers should take only photos and leave only bubbles", and develops interpretive materials to enable divers to better enjoy and understand shipwrecks; and

WHEREAS, the team calls the submerged resources center in Santa Fe its home, as this landlocked site offers a central location to a dive team that is required for duty in parks from Alaska to Guam and Hawaii to the Dry Tortugas; and

WHEREAS, the team, with the assistance of Senator Domenici's office and the New Mexico natural history museum, gave school children and veterans of World War II an opportunity to witness the team's work, via live broadcast to the New Mexico natural history museum from underwater in Pearl Harbor, and, during the broadcast, the children and veterans were able to speak directly to the teams's divers on the bottom of Pearl Harbor as they examined the USS Arizona; and

WHEREAS, the center has also shown live broadcasts from New Mexico's Rock lake and the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa; and

WHEREAS, the center designed an underwater dredge to remove tons of sediment clogging the natural artery feeding over three thousand gallons of water a minute to one of the top ten diving locations in the United States, the Blue Hole, and has worked with and trained New Mexico state police divers in removal operations, thereby enhancing the natural beauty of the area and ensuring the economic prosperity of the business community of Santa Rosa; and

WHEREAS, the center has provided assistance to the New Mexico state police by providing sophisticated underwater technology to assist them in searching for victims of drowning tragedies and murder; and

WHEREAS, the center ran a shipwreck study seminar in 1981, in partnership with the school of American research in Santa Fe, which resulted in the publication by the university of New Mexico press of Shipwreck Anthropology, a work recognized to set new standards in theory and methods for shipwreck archaeology; and

WHEREAS, other major research projects include a shipwreck survey of ten major vessels at Isle Royale national park; a survey of ten radiation-laden shipwrecks of the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, including the USS Saratoga; major underwater surveys of the Hawaiian Islands and Palau; an underwater survey of the Aleutian Islands in partnership with the United States navy pacific fleet; a survey of the wreck Brig Somers off of Veracruz, in partnership with the Mexican government; underwater surveys of Guam, Truk Ponape, Kosrae and the Marshall Islands in Micronesia; a shipwreck survey of Dry Tortugas national park; and uncovering and evaluating the confederate submarine H. L. Hunley off Charleston harbor; and

WHEREAS, the center was the primary contributor of material on underwater archaeology to the congressional office of technology assessment's report on prehistoric preservation technologies; and

WHEREAS, for thirty years, under the leadership of retired chief, Daniel J. Lenihan, and the current chief, Larry Murphy, the submerged resources center in Santa Fe has built a reputation for innovation and technological sophistication in submerged resources research and is an internationally recognized center of excellence for underwater archaeology;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Santa Fe's submerged resources center be recognized for its invaluable contributions to the preservation of prehistoric and historic sites and for its contributions to scientific procedures and technologies in underwater archaeology; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the submerged resources center and its scientists, divers, staff and volunteers be honored as "stewards for an international heritage"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the submerged resources center.