Tyuonyi Pueblo in Frijoles Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, Historic Fire Tower. Courtesy/NPSBANDELIER News:
Bandelier announces that entrance fees will not be collected this Saturday, April 21, to kick off National Park Week.
According to Superintendent Jason Lott, “It’s a great time to visit Bandelier before temperatures and visitation rise.” Bandelier provides opportunities for short walks to see archaeological sites, long hikes out into the Bandelier Wilderness, bird watching, taking photos of plants, wildlife, expansive or up-close landscapes – and even sitting at a picnic table in the shade and just relaxing. The bookstore in the Visitor Center will be offering all items at a 15 percent discount.
Remaining National Park Service fee free opportunities are Public Lands Day Sept. 22 and Veterans Day Nov. 11.
As well, on Saturday, an art exhibit called The Edge Effect: re-Imagining the East Jemez Landscape will open inside the Historic Fire Lookout Tower at Bandelier National Monument. The art exhibition will be open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through May 6. This exhibit is a partnership between Bandelier National Monument and the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) in Los Alamos.
Artists Kathleen Brennan and Shawn Skabelund designed this site-specific, place-based installation inside the historic fire lookout at Bandelier National Monument as part of the East Jemez Landscape Futures project, which is a collaborative, landscape-scale approach to help guide future planning and research efforts in the severely altered landscapes of the eastern Jemez Mountains. The Edge Effect art installation will explore historical boundaries that divide the East Jemez landscape and often divide the human communities as well.
Visitors at the installation will also be able to record their stories of changes in the East Jemez for the oral history archives.
“As land managers and scientists, we don’t commonly use art as a way of communicating with the public” says Jeremy Sweat, Chief of Resource Management at Bandelier National Monument. “This is a great opportunity to engage the public about fire science, and to reach out to people who care about these places, but may not have a background or interest in science or land management.”
For more information on the art installation, visit www.peecnature.org. For information about the East Jemez Landscape Futures project, visit www.eastjemez.org.
The Bandelier Visitor Center is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weather permitting, the park is open every day during daylight hours, except Christmas and New Year’s Day. For more information, contact the Bandelier Visitor Center at 505.672.3861 x 517, or check out the park website at www.nps.gov/band or the Facebook page at BandelierNPS.
