IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The National Park Service has shelved a blistering internal report that details a "decade of dysfunction" as the agency allowed dozens of illegal construction projects to cause significant damage to an ancient Iowa burial ground that Indian tribes consider sacred.
Titled "Serious Mismanagement Report," the document blasts the park service's failed stewardship of the Effigy Mounds National Monument from 1999 to 2010 and says the case should serve as a wakeup call for agency employees at all levels to avoid similar violations.
Last week, NPS deputy regional director Patricia Trap told a resident who requested a copy of the 15-page report that it didn't exist. She later told The Associated Press that it did exist but hadn't been "agency approved." She said the document will contribute to — but be replaced by — another review that is looking at the root causes of problems as well as what went right during that time.
Critics say the agency is trying to suppress the harsh report to soften its findings.
"They're trying to avoid accountability, which goes all the way to the director. That's why this report 'doesn't exist'," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which helped uncover the damaging projects. "Apparently, the park service doesn't want a wakeup call."
The monument, in northeast Iowa along the Mississippi River, includes more than 200 ceremonial and burial mounds that are considered sacred to the descendants of the builders, who are affiliated with numerous tribes.
The report says 78 construction projects costing a total of $3.4 million were approved there in violation of federal laws meant to protect archaeological resources and historic sites. The construction of boardwalks, bridges, roads and a shed damaged land around the mounds, and many had a "complete lack of compliance" as employees failed to conduct the mandatory environmental reviews and tribal consultation.
More at the Associated Press
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2015/National-Park-Service-shelves-report-finding-decade-of-dysfunction-in-effigy-mounds-scandal/id-b19875c1a9574c0293e7358eb7676ba5
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road