Plans to expand Yucca House National Monument and replace its public access point have been delayed.
Located in southern Montezuma County, the little-known 33-acre monument is rich with unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan ruins. It is currently accessed via County Road 20.5 through a public easement across the private Box Bar ranch.
Last year, ranch managers and owners expressed frustration that visitor parking interfered with farm-equipment traffic. They asked the county to officially abandon the public road, but easement language attached to the deed requires an alternative route be established to the monument before that can happen.
The problem appeared to have a quick and generous solution when Bernard and Nancy Karwick decided to donate 160 acres of adjacent land to the monument. All that was needed was a boundary adjustment, and a new access route could be installed that doesn’t interfere with the ranch.
But Cliff Spencer, superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park, which manages Yucca House, informed Montezuma County commissioners this week that because of the large expansion, a legislative bill is required.
“It is not a minor administrative boundary change, so it has to go through a more formal process in Congress,” Spencer said. “Acquiring the parcel will allow us to shorten the road (across the ranch) and avoid conflicts.”
He said federal laws only authorize parks and monuments to acquire land on their own in certain circumstances. Generally they can only accept land within the park boundary from willing sellers or as a donation.
The proposed land donation is outside the established boundary, and would increase the monument almost sixfold, necessitating Congress approval.
“By going through the legislative boundary route, this will also give the public and local community a greater voice in how that land is managed,” according to a National Park Service memo on the issue.
Park officials estimated getting a bill passed through Congress to accept the donation and expand the park boundary could take up to two years.
Current access is confusing, and the plan is seen as a good solution. If it goes through, officials want to relocate public access and parking to the eastern edge of the proposed expanded portion, then create a half-mile trail to the main ruin trail loop.
Also upon approval, the NPS plans to further develop the existing opportunities in the area for the public to explore social dynamics, hierarchy, ceremony spaces and migrations of the Ancestral Puebloan community.
Infrastructure to accommodate additional acreage and visitors would be minimal, and may include a parking lot, restroom, and formalized trail system with interpretative wayside exhibits.
Yucca House was established in 1919, and is open to the public. Guided tours of the 13th century ruins can be arranged through Mesa Verde National Park.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
