11 Most Endangered
West Mesa Petroglyphs
Year Listed: 1988, 1989, 1990
Location: New Mexico
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Deterioration, Development, Natural Forces, Neglect
The more than 15,000 West Mesa petroglyphs located outside of Alberqueque, NM are thought to have been created over a period of 3,000 to 5,000 years by hunter-gatherers, Anasazi farmers, and Spanish sheep herders. This area, a sacred Native American site, is threatened by development and individual vandalism.
Update
In early January 2006, a New Mexico District Court judge handed the Trust a heartbreaking defeat, denying a motion to enjoin the City of Albuquerque from construction of a 1.6 mile extension of the Paseo del Norte through the Petroglyph National Monument and Las Imagines Archeological District. The City has already begun construction of the Paseo del Norte expressway, including the blasting of a 165-foot wide and 100-foot deep trench through the West Mesa Escarpment.
