Posted for Rex Dalton

A uranium-rich peak in New Mexico that is sacred to 30 Native American tribes was named this week as an endangered historic place by the US Natural Trust for Historic Preservation.

The 3,450-meter Mount Taylor is known as Tsoodzil, or turquoise mountain, to the Navajo; it also has deep significance for tribes like the Zuni and Acoma. With uranium prices high in recent years, the historic classification is seen as an attempt to save or limit the culturally rich volcano from further mining.

The highest point in the Cibola National Forest, the mountain was named in 1949 1849 after General Zackary Taylor, president at the time. Studies show the majestic volcano that dominates horizon west of Albuquerque was active 1.5 million to 3.3 million years ago.

The trust listed 11 sites in total:

Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, Mass.

Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, Texas

Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, Calif.

Dorchester Academy, Midway, Ga.

Human Services Center, Yankton, S.D.

Lāna‘i City, Hawai‘i

The Manhattan Project’s Enola Gay Hangar, Wendover Airfield, Utah

Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, N.H. to Kittery, Maine

Miami Marine Stadium, Virginia Key, Fla.

Mount Taylor, near Grants, N.M.

Unity Temple, Oak Park, Ill.