19–010

Calendar No. 202

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " SENATE ! 1st Session 108–94

HIBBEN CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH ACT 

OF 2003

JULY 11, 2003.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 643] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 643) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, 

in cooperation with the University of New Mexico, to construct and 

occupy a portion of the Hibben Center for Archaeological Research 

at the University of New Mexico, and for other purposes, having 

considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment 

and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof 

the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hibben Center Act’’. 

SEC. 2. LEASE AGREEMENT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of the Interior may enter into an agreement 

with the University of New Mexico to lease space in the Hibben Center for Archaeological Research at the University of New Mexico for research on, and curation of, 

the archaeological research collections of the National Park Service relating to the 

Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument. 

(b) TERM; RENT.—The lease shall provide for a term not exceeding 40 years and 

a nominal annual lease payment. 

(c) OPERATING EXPENSES.—The lease may require the Secretary to contribute a 

pro rata share of the Hibben Center’s annual operating expenses, in addition to any 

nominal annual rent. 

(d) IMPROVEMENTS.—The lease shall permit the Secretary to make improvements 

and install furnishings and fixtures related to the use and curation of the collections. 

SEC. 3. GRANT. 

Upon execution of the lease, the Secretary may contribute to the University of 

New Mexico up to 37 percent of the cost of construction of the Hibben Center, not 

to exceed $1,750,000. 

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SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. 

The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with the University of New 

Mexico, Federal agencies, and Indian tribes for the curation of and conduct of research on artifacts, and to encourage collaborative management of the Chacoan archaeological artifacts associated with northwestern New Mexico. 

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be 

necessary for the purposes of this Act.

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of S. 643 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to enter into an agreement with the University of New Mexico, to 

leave space in the Hibben Center for Archaeological Research at 

the University, and to provide a grant to the University for the 

Federal share of the cost of construction of the Hibben Center. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Chaco Culture National Monument was established in 1907 to 

protect the prehistoric sites and archaeological resources located in 

Chaco Canyon. The monument was redesignated as Chaco Culture 

National Historic Park in 1980. The University of New Mexico 

(University) originally owned a significant portion of the land located within the boundaries of the park and from the 1920s to 

1947, conducted archaeological research there. 

In 1949, the University conveyed to the United States all right, 

title, and interest of the University in and to the land in the park 

and entered into a memorandum of agreement with the National 

Park Service (NPS) establishing a research partnership with the 

park. 

Since 1971, the NPS, through memoranda of understanding and 

cooperative agreements with the University, has maintained a research museum collection and archive at the University. Both the 

NPS and the University have large, significant archaeological research collections stored at the University in multiple, inadequate, 

inaccessible, and cramped repositories. Insufficient storage at the 

University makes research on and management, preservation, and 

conservation of the archaeological research collection difficult. 

To remedy this problem, the University recently constructed the 

Hibben Center for Archaeological Research. The Center is a stateof-the-art museum facility to store and research the University’s 

and the National Park Service’s archaeological holdings and archives related to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park and 

Aztec Ruins National Monument. 

S. 643 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make a grant 

to the University to contribute the Federal Share of the cost of construction of the center, and to enter into along-term lease to use 

a portion of the center. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 643 was introduced by Senator Domenici on March 18, 2003. 

The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 643 on 

June 10, 2003. At the business meeting on June 25, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 643, as amended, favorably reported. 

In the 107th Congress, a similar bill S. 3138, was introduced by 

Senator Domenici on October 7, 2002. 

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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on June 25, 2003, by unanimous vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 643, if amended as 

described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

During its consideration of S. 643, the Committee adopted an 

amendment in the nature of a substitute. The substitute removes 

the congressional findings and definitions, and clarifies the lease 

agreement. 

The substitute amendment is explained in detail in the sectionby-section analysis, below. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 titles the bill as the ‘‘Hibben Center Act’’. Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement 

with the University to lease space in the Center for research on, 

and curation of the archaeological research collections of the NPS 

relating to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec 

Ruins National Monument. 

Subsection (b) states that the lease shall provide for a term not 

to exceed 40 years and a nominal annual lease payment. 

Subsection (c) states that the lease may require the Secretary to 

contribute a share of the Center’s annual operating expenses. 

Subsection (d) states that the lease shall permit the Secretary to 

make improvements and install furnishings and fixtures related to 

the use and curation of the collections. 

Section 3 authorizes the Secretary to contribute up to 37% of the construction of the Center, not to exceed $1,750,000, to the University. 

Section 4 authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative 

agreements with the University, Federal agencies, and Indian 

tribes for curation, research, and to encourage collaborative management of the Chacoan archaeological artifacts associated with 

northwestern New Mexico.

Section 5 authorizes the appropriations necessary to carry out 

this Act. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of this 

measure has been requested but was not received at the time the 

report was filed. When the report is available, the Chairman will 

request it to be printed in the Congressional Record for the advice 

of the Senate. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 643. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. No personal 

information would be collected in administering the program. 

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Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. Little, if 

any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 

643, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

On May 29, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of the 

Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting forth 

Executive agency recommendations on S. 643. These reports had 

not been received at the time the report on S. 643 was filed. When 

the reports become available, the Chairman will request that they 

be printed in the Congressional Record for the advice of the Senate. 

The testimony provided by the NPS at the Subcommittee hearing 

follows:

STATEMENT OF D. THOMAS ROSS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, 

RECREATION AND CONSERVATION, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present 

the Department of the Interior’s views on S. 643, a bill to 

authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with 

the University of New Mexico, to construct and occupy a 

portion of the Hibben Center for Archaeological Research 

at the University of New Mexico, and for other purposes. 

The Department of the Interior supports S. 643, as the 

completion of the Hibben Center would be the final step in 

carrying out the Federal government’s responsibility for 

the protection the archaeological resources that were collected during the Chaco Project in the 1970’s. Although 

there are significant costs associated with this legislation, 

the bill directly supports a key park mission by authorizing a better curatorial facility for park resources. This 

legislation would authorize an appropriation of $3,772,000 

for construction costs, tenant improvements and costs associated with a long-term lease for a portion of the Hibben 

Center at the University of New Mexico. The facility will 

provide for the protection of the cultural resources taken 

from Federal lands at Chaco Culture National Historical 

Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument. The project is 

currently on the National Park Service (NPS) five-year list 

for line item projects and passage of this legislation is necessary for Federal funds to be expended. There would be 

no additional annual operating for maintenance expenses 

to the Federal government beyond the existing level expended for the current substandard facilities. 

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

Chaco Canyon and the University of New Mexico (UNM) 

have been partners since Chaco Canyon National Monument was founded in 1907. From 1907 to 1949, the State 

of New Mexico owned sections of land within the monument’s boundaries for the benefit of UNM. Since its Anthropology Department was founded in 1929, UNM has 

been a leader in Southwestern archaeology. The university 

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conducted an archaeological field school in Chaco Canyon 

from 1929–1948 and excavated many important sites. Students from virtually every college in the country participated in these field schools. Dr. Frank C. Hibben was a 

teaching assistant at the UNM field school, and remained 

interested in Chaco throughout his long career. The UNM 

field schools produced extensive museum collections still 

held by UNM. 

In 1949 the university deeded its land to the United 

States government. Since then, the UNM–NPS partnership has continued through a series of formal agreements 

to conduct research and to care for the UNM and NPS 

Chaco museum collections. Since 1970, the main NPS 

Chaco collection has been housed on the UNM campus. 

Today the NPS Chaco Collection contains approximately 

1.5 million artifacts, representing nearly 6,000 years of 

prehistory and history. In 1980, Congress expanded the 

monuments’ boundaries and created Chaco Culture National Historical Park to preserve and interpret Chacoan 

resources and to facilitate research. Chaco Canyon is on 

the National Register of Historic Places and in 1987 was 

designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and 

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. 

For the past 100 years archeologists have considered 

Chaco Canyon to be one of the most important pre-Columbian archaeological regions in the United States. In 1970 

Congress created the Chaco Project—a multi-year, multidisciplinary research partnership with the University of 

New Mexico to study Chacoan archaeology. The milliondollar project was the largest archaeological project in the 

country at that time, and it generated the bulk of the 

Chaco archaeological collections. However, the Chaco 

Project did not address the long-term storage needs of the 

collections. In 1983, UNM committed itself to providing 

temporary storage space for the collection until a joint 

UNM/NPS repository could be built. However, the UNM 

storage space was rapidly filled to capacity. Over the past 

20 years, the collection (including office and work space) 

has spilled over into inappropriate and substandard spaces 

throughout the UNM campus. 

Both NPS and UNM have long recognized that the storage facilities provided by UNM are inadequate and do not 

meet DOI standards for the care of archaeological collections. The need for a repository for the cultural resources 

has been acknowledged in numerous planning documents 

for Chaco Culture NHP and Aztec Ruins NM, including 

the Chaco Culture National Historical Park 1985 General 

Management Plan, 1987 Memorandum of agreement with 

the University of New Mexico, 1990 Resource Management 

Plan and the 1993 Collections Management Plan. In 1987, 

UNM and NPS museum staff began planning a new 

curation facility that would house the archaeological collections of both institutions and meet all federal standards. 

Finding funding for such a facility was the main stumbling 

block. In 1997, Dr. Hibben made a commitment of $3 milVerDate Jan 31 2003 17:11 Jul 13, 2003 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR094.XXX SR094
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lion to help fund a new research and curation facility at 

UNM, and he asked Chaco Culture NHP to partner with 

him. In 2001, the park’s project to match Dr. Hibben’s 

funding for a new curation facility was added to the NPS 

Line Item Construction Program for funding in FY 2003, 

pending Congressional authorization. In the FY 2004 priority list this project is slated for funding FY 2006. 

The Hibben Center for Archaeological Research was designed to sit adjacent to the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. The building is three stories with a full basement. During planning it was decided that UNM would occupy the basement and the ground floor; the NPS would 

occupy the entire second floor and three-fourths of the 

third floor. Due to Dr. Hibben’s advanced age and failing 

health, UNM proceeded with the construction of the 

Hibben Center. which was dedicated in October 2002, a 

few months after Dr. Hibben’s death. Dr. Hibben’s funds 

completed the building shell and build outs of the basement and ground floor. The NPS will build out the second 

and third floor with passage of S. 643. 

NEED FOR THE PROJECT

The current storage conditions of the world-class Chaco 

Museum Collection are substandard and pose a threat to 

the preservation and security of the artifacts and archives. 

The bulk of the archaeological collections are stored in a 

room in the UNM Anthropology Building, built in 1937. 

This room has no temperature or environmental controls, 

no smoke detection of fire suppression system, and only a 

rudimentary security system. Aging plumbing pipes that 

run through the ceiling of the room frequently leak, exposed phone and data lines pose a fire risk, and insect infestations are a constant problem. This space is currently 

at 99% capacity. The remainder of the NPS archaeology 

collection is housed in the Maxwell Museum warehouse. 

The conditions at the warehouse are the same, except 

there is no heating, cooling or ventilation system in the 

building at all. Lighting fixtures were finally added a few 

years ago. Due to the nature of the structure, rodent and 

insect infestations are an ongoing problem. Rodents have 

destroyed some of the Maxwell Museum’s collections. This 

facility exceeded 100% capacity several years ago, and the 

16′ high wooden shelves are overloaded with boxes and are 

unsafe. The Chaco Museum Archive is housed on the third 

and floor levels in the stacks of UNM’s Zimmerman Library, built in 1950. The stacks have no temperature or 

environmental controls, no fire suppression system, and no 

security system. The antiquated evaporative cooling system in the library fluctuates dramatically during the summer season, pouring excessively harmful humidity into the 

archive. Dust from the aging building covers everything. 

The main storage room has built-in structural shelving 

supports that are so closely spaced that map cases will not 

fit between them. One map case sits in a hallway because 

it will not fit through a narrow, non-code, non-ADA compliVerDate Jan 31 2003 17:11 Jul 13, 2003 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR094.XXX SR094
7

ant emergency exit door. Flights of stairs link the archive 

storage room and the office, and there is no elevator access 

to the archive office. 

None of the storage areas meet DOI standards set forth 

in 36 CFR 79, Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections (1990) or NPS museum 

standards. The poor storage conditions contribute to the 

deterioration of the collection. The lack of adequate security puts the collection at risk especially given the large 

(25,000+ students), urban university setting. The lack of 

ADA access violates federal law. The dispersed storage, office, and workspaces make it impossible to efficiently and 

effectively manage or use the collection. The overcrowding 

of storage and workspaces makes providing research access, mandated by 36 CFR 79, extremely difficult. 

BENEFIT OF THE PROJECT

The NPS is committed to supporting the Department 

and Secretary Norton’s 4 C’s initiative of cooperation, consultation, and communication, all in the service of conservation and believe this project supports that goal. Partnerships are a cost-effective way of doing business. If the 

NPS were to construct a new facility on its own, it would 

cost more than three-and-a-half times as much. Under this 

project, the NPS will invest now in tenant improvements 

and will enter into a 40-year lease with UNM at a cost of 

$1 dollar per year. UNM will bear the annual operations 

and maintenance cost. As a result, the cost of this facility 

to the federal government, amortized over the forty-year 

lease, will be $5.60 per square foot. A comparable GSAleased space would cost $20.00 per square foot. 

This project will also involve a partnership between two 

NPS parks: Chaco Culture NHP and Aztec Ruins National 

Monument. These parks share the World Heritage Site 

designation because of their close archaeological relationship. Under this project, Aztec Ruins NM archaeological 

collections will also be stored in the Hibben Center, making research of Chacoan culture more centralized and efficient. 

In addition to the monetary benefits, this project will 

continue a collaboration which, since 1949, has been a 

model of Federal and state partnerships. The NPS will 

continue to benefit by having its Chaco Museum Collection 

housed in a research university setting, with the attendant 

advantages, while UNM will continue to benefit by having 

a World Heritage Site collection readily available to its faculty and students for research and training. 

That concludes my testimony. I would be glad to answer 

any questions that you or the members of the subcommittee may have.

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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 643, as ordered reported.

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