Laserfiche WebLink
<br />I.,., <br /> <br />.".". <br />.~ <br /> <br /> <br />':0'" <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />----"" <br /> <br />, " The OenverP051 I $haUfl5\11nley <br />Rising 700 feet at the base of the Sangre de Cristo <br />Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes, above. are the <br />highest in Nonh America. At right, Steve Chaney, the <br />park's superintendent, shows how fine the grain is. <br />. ~..'- <br /> <br /> <br />Dunes gaining support <br />as future national park <br /> <br />,:~ <br />, , <br />~ <br /> <br />By Ejecta Draper <br />Denver ?C~l Four Comers Bureau <br /> <br />n-Cola., have said thcv don't ('on~ <br />sider the 39,OOO.acre, nO-fOOl: <br />high sandpile in the San Luis Val; <br />ley diverse or special enough to <br />win naliona! park SLatus. <br />It JUS! is..'1'L a Yellowstone or a <br />Yosemite. opponents say. <br />Still, the governor, mOSl of :b~ <br />ColorOldo congression<ij oeJeg". <br />ticr. ane Inlerior Sec:re~a:"\' Bruce <br />Babbitt are pushmg to ;;j'"Y.t- ti,e <br />natIOnal monumen: Co]cra[jG-S <br />f(l~r: c, Oil: :(;:,:.:f na r~. ,,- ., ,.,' _ <br /> <br />GREAT SAND DUNES NA. <br />TIOi'iAL MONUMENT _ All it <br />~i:lkes to form dunes is sand, wind <br />..nd time. <br />All that was reouired for na- <br />ture to sculpt the tallest dunes in <br />Nort}. America, the Great Sand <br />Dunes, was a broad va!Jev and a <br />gre..: flYer bt!tween two' moun- <br />~l~ :~ng~~ ~o~:er:ng H.COO fee: <br /><:nl.; m,..e..:J,.( <br /> <br /> <br />National status <br />doesn't define <br />park popularity <br /> <br />DUNES frcm Page is <br />The ~ature Co~rva.'::cy, an in. <br />te:-national nonprofit conservation <br />FOUP, says the spot holds the most <br />ex:ensive wetlands in tbe Rocky <br />:>loumains. The dunes also shelter <br />;ix soecies of insect !ound nowilere <br />eise on Ear..n. <br />Sen. Wavne Allard, R.Colo.. wbo <br />;\'ould be the Senate sponsor oi pro-- <br />posed iegisia:.:on:o ma:;e:he du.'1es <br />2 n:nional park, said Wed:."lescay L~ <br />~tirar.go that he has held six town <br />::-:edings this month in every coun. <br />:~. aroll.,d tbe Great Sand Dunes <br />~;<l:ionai Monumeot. The response <br />,0 ;lark desigr.ation was ur.iformly <br />posl;:ive, be said. <br />"Enthusiasm was runni.'lg high." <br />:\ila:d said. .'Tbere was DO ou~~ght <br />opposition." <br />?'IaUonal Park Ser....ice officials <br />ha....e said they most ILl:el)' would <br />support a cha."lge ~ designation of <br />the du."les from monumen;: to park <br />ii given significant expansion of <br />the mo::nunent's boundaries. An ad- <br />ditional 138,000 acres would give <br />the Park Service an intact natural <br />system that could endure for centu- <br />,ies. said Steve Chaney. monurne:.t <br />suoeri::1tende!lt. However, he said, <br />t.'le total area of CODct!'D lyi:1g out. <br />side current monument boundaries <br />is ~~O.OOO acres. <br />It really isn't as simple, C.oaney <br />said. as protecting the crescent- <br />shaped duneland, which covers <br />rou~hlv 39 seuare miles of the <br />monume:l:'s total 60 SQuare miles. <br />The 'cfuies ire' 'jiist "ilie 'tip 'o:-tbe <br />iceberg," Park Service scientists <br />say. <br />Park Se:-....ice officials at the <br />CLOnes said they don't necessarily <br />exoec: to receive more funC1.'1g Ii <br />tOe monument is designated a <br />:lark. Nor does ~t number of vis!. <br />~ors necessaril',. i!::.crease \\"her. a <br />:':lonument is -made a park. Ai. <br />though SOI:le parks DaVe seen gai::s <br />oi cp to 15 percent after the oame <br />c!Jange, some of the nation's most <br />';:sited at;.ractions are :latio::ai re- <br />ereatio:: :?reas and seastores. ac, <br />cording tv the Park Se:-:ice. 70t.::. <br />:HS ;!Ie :nos: interested i:: ~ow <br />~:.:c:::hereistoseea::c::o :ha::::::: <br /> <br />Protecting the dunes <br /> <br />If the Great Sand Dunes National <br />Monument beccrr.es a ~.ational park. <br />officials wam to safeguard <br />surrounding areas that are vital <br />10 the d:.:nes'eccsystem. <br /> <br />the type of designation. <br />From the Park Service's tier- <br />spective, Cha.'1ey saie., park desig- <br />nation is really about pe..1Ilanen! <br />. protection for a site and drawing <br />hounda.;es that encompass critical <br />resources. <br />The origm of the massive dunes <br />is the Sat: Jua:l MoU!:tains at the <br />woes: end of the \.alle):,_according to <br />mo:a:!:lent erliib'its and literat:.t!"e. <br />Tbe San Juans have soed billions of <br />grains of sand, some sc:-aped away <br />by alpine glacie:rs during the Ice <br />Al!'e. Creeks and nvers carried the <br />sa'nc! to t":e Rio Grande, which me- <br />andered !trough the San Luis Val. <br />le\' a!lC the centuries with its lead <br />or" sand and sediments. Vi'heo the <br />Rio Grande changed cou..rse, great <br />deposits oi sand we:-e exposed to <br />winds that swept across valley to <br />the nor.beast. <br />The winds pushed t~e sand :::to <br />t::e great oar:ie: 0: tlle Sa.::;re de <br />C:~SIO :'loun~aj:,.s_ The lig::ter par- <br />::::::es ::-:ace It ove~ mOL::::,,~ oas. <br />ses. :n:: ~ea..ie, san::: :,as co:ie:::ec <br /> <br />for thousaDCS of years at the foot <br />of the range. The restless wind con- <br />tinually sculpts and reshapes the <br />heaping sand into star dunes, ridge- <br />shaped, transverse and barchan <br />dunes. The relatively high moisture <br />content of the dunes renders them <br />remarkably stable. <br />Around the dunes lie expansive <br />formations calied the sand sheet <br />and tbe sabkha. The sand sheet <br />supports sparse vegetatio?-- incl~d. <br />log the rare bee plant ane dazzlmg <br />sunflowers. This sand deposit is <br />witbout the active, slippmg faces <br />of dunes. The sabld:a. rarely found <br />inland, is a sand deposit hardened <br />by mi!lerals precipitatec out of the <br />"e"ion's abuodant water. Even <br />lli;ugb the_ 5;<lbkha. under C'.Jtrent <br />conditions, is 'a:,out as n'":m as coo;' <br />crete, it is also a pote::ual source <br />of sa:ld for the dunes, said monu- <br />ment geologist Andr~~ Valdez. <br />The movement of sane 1:1 and out <br />of tile dunes is depende=-t on the' <br />natural processes within. all sand <br />deposits and the watersned, and <br />disruptions couid diminish the du- <br />nefieid as well as threaten rare <br />pla!:t and i....sec: species. , <br />i\le<iano and Sand cree!{S, which <br />flow around t!Je dune mass, also <br />displa.; a:1 interesti."lg phenomenon <br />caflec'surge flow. <br />Ridl!es of sane beile in the <br />eeek$", hoJc.i:!~ back ;':lore a:!d <br />:T.O:'2 water, T!::e fo~c'2o:':!1'2 water <br /> <br />eventuallv breaks down the ridges, <br />ser.ding sUrges oi water do\\.-"O the <br />creek beds. <br />Although the minimal ,additional <br />ac:-eage needed for long-term pro- <br />tection of the dUDes and its water. <br />sbed is 138,000 acres, the Park Ser- <br />vice or conservation partners <br />ideally should safeguard much <br />more, 'Chaney said. <br />The Baca Ranch has more than <br />49,000 acres of sand sheet and <br />more than 3,000 acres of sabkha. <br />T3e Nature Conservancy is at. <br />tempting to purchase the rancb <br />from tb.e Cabeza de Vaca Land and <br />Cattle Co., a ccnsortium of land. <br />and water-develooment interests <br />iliat f€<ieral officials see as the big- <br />gest threat 10, be dunes. The "ex. <br />pa.'lSion eifor: aiso could include <br />public access to Kit Carson Peak. <br />one of onh' two H.90o-ioot (Alora. <br />do peaks in private ownership. <br />The !'ia:ure Conservancy also <br />owns or co...~ro!s H.OOO acres of <br />sanc sheet and 54..000 acres of sab- <br />ba adjacem to tile monument on <br />its Medano-Zapata Ranch. just ac- <br />cuired in June 1999. Chaney sale. <br />t'he co;:.servancy's man2gement <br />olans for the land are not in con. <br />hie: wit.'J Park Se;vice aims a::::d <br />that the ranc~ has been a gooc <br />neighbor. <br />Cha::ev also woeJd like to adG to <br />2 park 4~.OOO acres of walersnec it. <br /> <br />Colorado's <br />Great Sand <br />Dunes, at 750 <br />, feet, the tallest <br />dunes in North <br />America, are <br />'just the ~ip of <br />the iceberg' of <br />the fragile eco- <br />system that ;1's <br />par. of. Nations <br />Park Service <br />scientists say. <br />The process <br />has begun tc <br />make the na. <br />tional monu. <br />ment a national <br />park. but much <br />surrounding . <br />land must be <br />obtained to p;o- <br />teet the full e~::: <br />system_ <br /> <br />SnallnStanley <br />The~Post' <br /><1, ' <br /> <br /> <br />'< ;-'_.~ <br /> <br />Tlle:Jen~'Pos:ISn8unSlan,~' <br />Steve Chaney, superintendent o~ the Great Sand Dun?s Nation2 <br />Monument. looks out over the great expanse of dunes In the earl) <br />hours of a recent morning. <br /> <br />the Rio Grande :'iational Forest <br />and al:nost 27,000 of s2br.ba on <br />near!!... state and on...ate lanas a:l.d <br />national forest. . <br />The re::>ort.ed asJ.-.im: price for ~he <br />Baca Ranc::: a!or:e :.s S35 ~llior:. <br />several congressional officials <br />s<!ic. <br />1:: s::ite of :.be cos: a~c OOS:a::::es <br /> <br />raised - and ir. spite of :.he fae <br />t;la: the dunes' '.giant sane ",eace: <br />c:!mei cricket" is not as appea1i,ll~ <br />a~ a ye!lo.....stone gTizz.!y - Clao€': <br />saic ~a: orote-:tion 0: sue::' va <br />traC'.s.::::e.pi~sofarare.f:3.;! <br />ant compiex sys.e,;... is ces::J:: <br />ar:c see:r.s a::ainabie, <br />