Heather Cory

Rosie Pepito, Chief of Cultural Resources at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, shows off a big horned sheep horn that is kept on file at the Park Service’s museum repository for research and records on Oct. 7. Pepito was one of three to win the 2007 Appleman-Judd-Lewis Award for her work in preserving America’s cultural resources.

By Dave Clark (contact)

Thu, Oct 16, 2008 (midnight)

From the Alaska bush country to the rugged coasts of Hawaii's Molokai island, Lake Mead National Recreation Area cultural resources chief Rosie Pepito has worked in some of the world's most remote locales.

It was only when her Blackberry started functioning again after a 60-mile trek on an Alaskan dirt road that she learned she had won national recognition last month.

Pepito was one of just three National Park Service employees to win the Appleman-Judd-Lewis Awards in September, honoring excellence in cultural resource management.

"It was quite a shock," Pepito said. "I was pleasantly surprised."

Pepito joined Lake Mead in 1997 after previous stints at Joshua Tree and Yosemite national parks. Yosemite beckoned her toward the Park Service in 1985, with the encouragement of rangers who noted her regular visits.

"I loved the outdoors — the scenery," Pepito said.

She frequently escapes to the Alaska wilderness as part of a National Park Service cultural resources team. There she sees wolves, eagles, grizzlies and black bears, who on her latest trip were preparing for hibernation.

Her recent work focused on the historic Kennecott Mines, where she was tasked with moving and cataloging heavy mining artifacts. The trek was not easy. She said her group experienced two flat tires on a preliminary trip. There was also no outside communication. Nonetheless, she called the trip amazing.

Pepito's work also helped her meet her husband, when she was assigned to work eight months in the Kalapaupa National Historic Park, a colony where victims of Hansen's disease or leprosy were sent in the 19th century. Her future husband was the chief ranger.

Some of the colonists' descendants still live there. As the community has died off, Pepito has catalogued their belongings, returning each year.

"We want to preserve the whole history of what happened there," Pepito said.

She called the effort logistically challenging.

"The only way to get in is to take mules, hike down steep cliffs or fly," Pepito said.

That was not her only work in Hawaii. On the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, she was sent to Oahu to conduct pre-interviews with veterans of the attack.

"We were trying to capture as much oral history as possible, prepare them to relive a moment in their lives that was so traumatic," Pepito said, recalling that she was prepared with a box of tissues. "They were just pouring their hearts out about what happened."

Pepito majored in physical anthropology. Much of Pepito's expertise has been derived from on-the-job training, working with what she called renowned anthropologists and archaeologists in the field.

"Rosie just has outstanding skills in working with people to develop common objectives and a shared purpose to get things done," said Kent Turner, Lake Mead's chief of resource management. "The award recognizes the amount of dedication and enthusiasm she brings to the job."

Pepito listed undertaking a complete survey of underwater resources at Lake Mead as one of her biggest accomplishments. She also spent six years getting Spirit Mountain eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The sacred mountain, located in Lake Mead's Christmas Tree Pass, is considered the spiritual birthplace for six tribes in a region stretching all the way to Mexico. To attain the listing, she first had to fully understand its historical significance.

"I worked with tribal elders and got to learn their traditions and see how they used the land," Pepito said.

And that was just one facet of her efforts toward compiling an ethnographic assessment for all of Southern Nevada. She acknowledged that at times such work can be tedious.

"You're dealing with the bureaucracy, making sure you have funding," Pepito said. "It's hard sitting in the office."

But she said she loves being in the field and working with her peers.

"My favorite part is getting to know so many people," she said.

Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or dave.clark@hbcpub.com.