Preserving Past For Future
Archeologists tour Porterville Historical Museum Part of effort to reopen Sequoia National Forest
Porterville Historical Museum treasurer Susan Uptain never knew barbed wire could be so important.
“They were interested in the barbed wire,” said Uptain about a group of archeologists, who toured the Porterville Historical Museum on Tuesday.
The archeologists were interested in the barbed wire displayed at the museum because barbed wire could impact the ability to reopen the entire Sequoia National Forest if it’s determined to be culturally and historically significant. That’s the job of the archeologists from the Great Basin Institute as they’ve been working since May 1 in the Castle and Shotgun Fire scar areas of the forest that made up the Sequoia Complex, collecting data on culturally significant artifacts they may find.
And it may even be barbed wire that’s wrapped around trees, said Mason Seymore, one of the archeologists. So Seymore said being able to see the barbed wire at the museum was helpful in determining if barbed wire found in the forest could be culturally significant.
Anything that’s more than 50 years old the archeologists find in the forest must be collected even a beer can from the “hippy days,” Seymore said. Anything could have cultural significance, he added.
“All of that falls under the protected laws,” said Seymore about anything found that has cultural and historical significance.
But of course the archeologists work has been put on hold due to the Windy Fire. And it’s likely a group of archeologists will be back here next year to do their work again in the area burned by the Windy Fire.
So in the meantime the archeologists have been recording their data until they can return to the forest which could be
weeks before the Windy Fire is contained. Or as another archeologist, Gina Wetzel, put it, the group was going through the Sequoia Complex area “until the (windy) fire put a wrench in things.”
But Wetzel also added the chance to tour the museum was helpful. “There’s only so much the internet can give you,” she said.
The archeologists were walking 10 miles a day in the forest until there work was stopped by the Windy Fire. While the work is challenging, Seymore said it’s also rewarding as they can come across something that hasn’t been “seen or touched for a 1,000 years potentially.”
There are numerous groups such as the Great Basin Institute that work with the forest service when it comes to the effort to reopen portions of the forest that have been burned, including botanists and wildlife specialists. “There’s a lot of different moving parts,” Seymore said.
They all work to “make sure the forest is safe to come back to,” he added as far as the use of the forest trails and for recreation is concerned.
The archeologists added they look for anything culturally significant that needs to be protect in various cultures, including Native American and logging sites.
And the archeologists are also working with the effort to remove hazardous trees from the forest to make sure the removal of the trees doesn’t do damage to any cultural or historical sites when it comes to reopening the forest or the building or rebuilding of homes in the forest.
The Great Basin Institute was founded by
the University of Nevada in Reno in 1998 to promote environmental research, education and conservation throughout the West. The Institute is designed to provide research that supports science-based adaptive management of public lands.
When the Windy Fire is contained, the archeologists will return to the forest and will be doing their work as long as possible until winter conditions no longer make it possible. In the meantime, the group will continue to record their data and could take field trips to other historical sites such as the Zalud House down the street from the museum. “We’ll put it on our list,” Seymore said.