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A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STATE PARKS DIVISION OF THE ENERGY, MINERALS

AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY

STUDY ON POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS INVOLVING MIMBRES CULTURE

SITES.

WHEREAS, the Mimbres people were the most significant

expression of the Mogollon culture, one of the three

prehistoric civilizations of the American southwest; and

WHEREAS, the Silver City area, including the Mimbres and

Gila River valleys, contains numerous Mimbres sites; and

WHEREAS, some of the Mimbres pueblos built during the

classic period of that culture in the eleventh century are

among the largest in the southwestern United States; and

WHEREAS, the Mimbres people developed sophisticated

canal irrigation technology; and

WHEREAS, the Mimbres culture is epitomized by

distinctive and strikingly painted black-on-white pottery

that is recognized as the consummation of several formal,

pictorial and iconographic prehistoric traditions in the

American southwest; and

WHEREAS, Mimbres pottery is internationally known and is

among the most famous prehistoric American art styles; and

WHEREAS, many Mimbres sites have been vandalized or

destroyed and the remaining sites are threatened by further

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vandalism and illegal pot-hunting; and

WHEREAS, development of interpretive and visitor

education programs will help protect Mimbres sites and

enhance public understanding and appreciation of New Mexico's

cultural heritage; and

WHEREAS, a 1989 national park service study found the

Mimbres culture to be of national significance, stating,

"Even without Mimbres black-on-white pottery, the Mimbres

culture would be an extraordinary development in the

southwest...Mimbres sites probably represent the earliest

large, aggregated, pueblo-like settlements in the

southwest...and the Mimbres employed canal irrigation

apparently several centuries before the Anasazi"; and

WHEREAS, presently, the Mimbres culture is not the focus

of any state or national park; and

WHEREAS, the Mattocks site in Mimbres valley, recognized

since the 1880s as one of the most significant Mimbres sites,

has been acquired by the Silver City museum society for

development as an educational interpretive center, to be

known as the Mimbres culture heritage site; and

WHEREAS, the Mimbres culture heritage site is located

along the trail of the Mountain Spirits, a state and

federally designated scenic byway, on the route between the

City of Rocks state park and the Gila cliff dwellings

national monument; and

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WHEREAS, cultural tourism is known to be an important

contribution to New Mexico's economy; and

WHEREAS, development of the Mimbres culture heritage

site as a cultural tourism destination, interpretive site and

recreational and educational facility creates mutually

beneficial opportunities for collaboration and partnership

with the state parks division of the energy, minerals and

natural resources department;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state parks division of the

energy, minerals and natural resources department be

requested to study the feasibility of a partnership with the

Mimbres culture heritage site and other Mimbres sites in

developing visitors' facilities and programs to educate the

public about the Mimbres culture; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the parks division report

its findings to the appropriate legislative interim committee

by December 1, 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the secretary of energy, minerals and natural

resources and to the director of the state parks division.