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<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.
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<br />
<br />Dunes gaining support
<br />as future national park
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<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,.(
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<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'
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<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,
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