Subject: [caving] Climbing Chalk Graffiti on Top of Pictographs at the Box There has been a serious incident at the Box, in the large shelter upslope and northeast of the parking lot, with the large zigzag and diamond-pattern pictograph. Someone used climbing chalk to make their own form of pictographs just right of the large pictograph. This is vandalism of the most serious kind and a federal crime. But even worse, under the public lands agencies' and numerous outdoor groups' backcountry and front country use ethics - Leave No Trace - this is extreme unethical behavior. Further compounding all this is the person(s) who did this may have thought they were doing their thing next to the main panel as a cutesy thing - and I hope not as a statement - and avoiding the pictographs, but they put the vandalism right on top of faded pictographs! They probably did not "see" the pastel tones of the faded pictographs where they did their graffiti vandalism. Hopefully we can figure out how to remove the chalk without further impact. Hueco Tanks studies show that pictographs usually have some type of calcium carbonate occlusion, and when I worked there as an interpretive specialist in the mid '80s, we were able to actually remove modern enamel paint from pictographs because of the protective occlusion. Under the Climbing Club's volunteer agreement with BLM to help manage in the Box, please do everything you can to influence resident and visiting climbers to avoid the pictographs, and certainly never, ever do graffiti in pictures or names. In fact, one of the projects we'll be working on is to continue to try to remove that green paint enamel up near that shelter (which also happens to cover some faded pictographs). Last semester I conducted a tour among some Club officers to look at the problem in general. There are some pictographs that have climbing chalk from climbs very near them. What to Look For: Most of the pictographs in the Box are Archaic-style, which generally dates from + 3,500 BC to 300 AD. The pictographs are mostly red, but also faded to light red or orange colors. There are also white and black pictographs in various locations - mostly the shelters or protected overhangs. During the tour we found a white Puebloan (Piro-style) mask in the main pictograph shelter we had not seen before. So even people experienced at looking for pictographs always need to check themselves out. Avoidance Techniques: I don't know of any standard of how far away climbers should avoid pictographs, but in our tour we discussed avoiding the known shelters. When preparing to climb at a place that could have pictographs, always take a good look and think in pastel tones for red, black, white, yellow. If they are there, then best to move over to an alternate location, note it for the Club and any internet resources and let Kevin Carson or I know about them. I've taken a hard look at all the established route locations and haven't seen anything. But it's in establishing new routes and in bouldering that the hard look must be taken. Prior to rappeling, the landing location needs to be looked at the insure that there is nothing on the wall just above it. Most pictographs at the box appear to be about chest or head-level; some are right down at ground level and some actually extend into fill. There do not seem to be any higher above ground or at the top of talus than a 6-foot person can reach. Thanks for your assistance on this aspect of the Box, Mike Mike Bilbo Outdoor Recreation Planner/ NM Leave No Trace & Treadlightly Coordinator Socorro Field Office 901 S. Highway 85 Socorro, New Mexico 87801 Desk Phone 505-838-1278, Fax 505-835-0223 http://www.nm.blm.gov/recreation/socorro/socorro_rec_home.htm