Arizona parks face the axe.

From NPR – “As states across the country scramble to close budget gaps, many are targeting state parks. Arizona is the first to go through with it. In February, the state closed five of its 30 parks, and a number of them contain fragile archaeological sites.”

That includes Homolovi Ruins State Park in northern Arizona.

“Homolovi stands to lose a lot if it remains closed. Home to more than 500 ancestral Hopi sites, the area has been ravaged for centuries by looters, searching for relics to sell on the black market. The worst of it was during the 1970s, about a decade before Homolovi became a state park.”

Interestingly enough, local volunteers have stepped into the picture to protect Homolovi. That includes “Karen Berggren, who has managed Homolovi since it opened 23 years ago.” Now she works with no salary.

Let’s make a prediction – in this Age of Meaningless Dribble, the odds are that local volunteers do as good a job of protecting Arizona’s parks as the State did during the fat years.

Let’s hope so.

posted by Mudd