[MSN] {Spam?} Congress had urgent reasons for expanding the boundaries of Petrified Forest National Park in 2004: to protect resources outside the park that were even richer than those within.

[MSN]

Treasures at risk
Apr. 6, 2008 12:00 AM

Congress had urgent reasons for expanding the boundaries of Petrified Forest
National Park in 2004: to protect resources outside the park that were even
richer than those within. 

Fossils from the dawn of dinosaurs. Ancient ruins with clues to the rise of
pueblo life. Grassland where pronghorns roam. And the eye candy of sweeping
vistas, unbroken by development.

Four years later, Congress still hasn't taken step two: actually acquiring
the land. 

This is like cutting a hole in your front door to put in a lock and then
refusing to buy it.

About half of the 125,000-acre expansion is federal and state land while the
rest is private ranchland with four major owners. 

They all supported the boundary change. They're all willing to sell or make
a trade. They've all been waiting since national park planners recommended
the expansion in 1992. 

Yet virtually no money has been allocated to do the deals. The National Park
Service has managed to buy just one sliver of land. Rep. Rick Renzi's
attempt at a land exchange fell apart, tainted by allegations of
self-dealing. 

Now, land prices are higher, looters are pillaging sites and one exasperated
landowner is putting his property on the market. 

Congress needs to come up with what amounts to a modest investment - $20
million is one estimate - to keep this precious landscape intact. 

And it's incredibly precious. 

The fossil record goes back more than 220 million years to the Triassic
Period, when the Earth had one major continent. Northeastern Arizona was a
tropical swamp with the 200-pound ancestors of frogs and salamanders. The
age of dinosaurs was just dawning. Scientists say this is the most important
place in the world to study their early evolution. 

In 2002, a researcher found a completely intact skeleton of a phytosaur, a
large aquatic reptile, on private land that now lies within the new park
boundaries. 

Other private tracts contain extensive archaeological sites. The Wallace
Tank Ruin, eight centuries old, has an estimated 400 to 600 rooms. Nearby
are remains of small, earlier communities. These are windows into the past
that can help piece together the story of how humans survived and thrived in
this stark area. 

Without the protection afforded in the national park, which has ramped up
its security measures, all these treasures are at risk. The wave of
subdividing property into ranchettes of five to 40 acres is bound to arrive
some day. The damage from fragmenting the landscape would be compounded by
the lack of legal protection for archaeology on private property, unless
burial sites are involved. Even now, the landowners around Petrified Forest
don't have the means to stop trespassing and looting in remote areas. Pots
and dinosaur bones can sell for thousands of dollars, but the loss to
science is immeasurable when they're stripped out of context. 

Rep. Raul Grijalva, R-Ariz., recognizes "time is running out." As chairman
of the national parks, forests and public lands subcommittee, he is pursuing
the big picture with package of funding that would lead up to the 2016
centennial of the national park system. The idea has been in the works for
several years, with differing views over the source and size of the
government contribution. 

For the short term, Grijalva plans hearings about the backlog of National
Park acquisitions, the plans to deal with them and the appropriations that
would be needed. 

The clock is ticking louder and louder for Petrified Forest. Non-profits can
provide a stopgap by buying and holding land until the government is ready
to acquire it. The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land and the
Grand Canyon Trust are among the groups that have the experience to step in.


But, as Grijalva points out, they must have legal assurance that the federal
government will follow through.

The rest of Arizona's delegation should put solid support behind Petrified
Forest. 

In testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 2004, paleontologist David
Gillette of the Museum of Northern Arizona explained the extraordinary
research and educational opportunities at Petrified Forest. 

The secrets in its rocks and artifacts can help us understand such modern
challenges such as biodiversity, the role of fire in the ecosystem and
endangered species. Students and teachers can dig for dinosaurs, getting a
real-world down-and-dirty experience in scientific methods. 

"Gut-wrenching stories of predator-prey interactions, floods that carried
trees as large as giant redwoods into colossal logjams and the humble
beginnings of our modern world can be pried from the rock at Petrified
Forest National Park and the expansion areas," Gillette said. 

Arizona has a world-class treasure. We can't afford to leave it unprotected.


http://www.azcentral.com/

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