Sacred Sites Research Inc

What it reported doing in 2025

Identify, protect, and preserve North American Indian sacred sites. Despite experiencing a considerable delay due to the US Government shutdown, Sacred Sites Research, Inc. (SSR) had a successful year. Below is a summary of our key accomplishments. An important change in SSR board membership is that Julie Francis and Mary Hopkins agreed to serve on the board. They replace Carolyn McClellan and Bonita Newman. We thank Carolyn and Bonita for their service and welcome Julie and Mary. A key task was undertaken on the Carlsbad project, now in its third year with SSR and Versar, Inc. The task was to revisit a half-dozen sites in Lincoln National Forest to collect information that was missing from the initial recording in 2024. Although we then planned to start recording major sites in Carlsbad National Park, we are unable to access the park in the government shutdown. Fortunately, however, Guadalupe National Park was partially open, and we were able to reach and record eight sites in that park. So, while we planned but failed to get to 10 to 12 sites in Carlsbad National Park, we did get to 8 sites in Guadalupe National Park. Most of the year was spent finalizing panel drawings and writing the reports for the sites where fieldwork is already completed. Some of these are from large sites like Last Chance Canyon with 38 panels while others are small with a single panel like White Oaks Spring. Once panel drawings are complete the descriptions are finished and draft copies of the site write-ups are sent in for editorial review and preparation for publication. SSR taught a workshop for the American Rock Art Research Association in Visalia, California. Laurie White, Karen Steelman and Lawrence Loendorf were the instructors for the workshop, which was well attended with 25 participants. Carl Davis and Sara Scott were recipients of a SSR award to record an important rock art site south of Dillon, Montana. Mark Willis was a major participant in that project where the final panel drawings were completed by Daivd Kaiser. Davis and Scott are in the process of completing the site description and preparing the final report. A notable accomplishment was the publication of a book titled Ten Steps for Recording Pictograph and Petroglyph Sites: Methods and Technologies. Written by Nancy Stone and Lawrence Loendorf, the book was published by University of Utah Press. In another effort, Lawrence Loendorf and Marvin Rowe travelled from New Mexico to Pueblo, Colorado to collect a sample of the paint on a pictograph that is part of a display in the Pueblo Museum. We then transferred the sample to Karen Steelman who processed it for a plasma oxidation date. A list of published works and presentations by board members is below: (Listed by lead authors) Publications Board members highlighted Loendorf, Lawrence, Karen Steelman and Carolynne Merrell 2025 New Radiocarbon Ages for the Painted Coulee and Spring Gulch Pictograph Sites. Archaeology in Montana 36(1):35-49. Loendorf, Lawrence, Julie E. Francis, William Eckerle, Spencer Pelton and Mark Willis 2024 The Wold Rock Art District, Wyoming(48JO4513): Geoarchaeology, changing landscapes and estimating ages of rock art. Plains Anthropologist 69(270):102-127. Neely, James, Blas Castellon-Huerta, Samuel Wilson, Mark Willis and Chester Walker The Scorpion Mound Complex: An Effigy Mound Site with Possible Functional/Ceremonial Significance in the Tehuacn Valley of Puebla, Mxico. August 2025. Ancient Mesoamerica. DOI: 10.1017/S0956536125000070. Mark D. Willis and Satoru Murata LiDAR Mapping of Areas in the Vicinity of Biscayne and Rock Stone Pond. Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2024 Field Season. Marieka Brouwer Burg and Eleanor Harrison-Buck, Editors. Occasional Paper, No. 13. Department of Anthropology University of New Hampshire Report submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize 2025 Koenig, Charles W., Amand

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 34.5%; rating input score 35
• Program expense ratio: 99.6%; rating input score 100
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Limited
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 65.3%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.97; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -29.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings