Tribal members tour Curation Center

Courtesy Photo | Members of the Colorado River Indian Tribes pose with Natural Resources and Environment Affairs staff after touring the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Archeology and Paleontology Curation Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., Dec. 29, 2016. The group, from Parker, Ariz., visited the center as part of a library field trip. (Official Marine Corps photo by Kelly O'Sullivan/Released)  

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

01.05.2017

Courtesy Story

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

Story and photos by Kelly O’Sullivan

Fourteen members of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) based in Parker, Ariz., visited the Combat Center Archeology and Paleontology Curation Center as part of a CRIT Library field trip Dec. 29, 2016. After a greeting and introduction to the installation’s environmental and cultural preservation programs by Lt. Col. Timothy Pochop, director, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs (NREA), the group was introduced to the Combat Center’s resident ambassador desert tortoises, Thelma and Louise, in the Curation Center’s tortoise garden. It was the first time many of the visitors had seen a tortoise up close. “They’re very heavy,” Patience Laycock, 9, observed after holding Louise. Nora Hotch, biological sciences technician, NREA, who gave the group a quick lesson in desert tortoise habitat and behavior, confirmed the two were heavier than usual, noting they most likely took advantage of recent rains to hydrate. After their session with the tortoises and tour of the Curation Center’s various gardens, the group toured the facility’s display room and archives with Charlene Keck, collections manager and D’Anne Albers, cultural resources specialist, NREA.

• Date Taken: 01.05.2017
• Date Posted: 01.05.2017 14:37
• Story ID: 219367
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US