An Evolving Partnership: the San Juan National Forest, the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association and a New National Monument.

Summary

Chimney Rock National Monument, designated by President Barack Obama on September 21, 2012, is located within the San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado. The 4,726 acre monument preserves and protects hundreds of prehistoric sites (including a Chacoan outlier great house and kiva) and resource gathering and use areas associated with the ancestors and families of numerous Native American groups with ties to the greater American Southwest. The stewardship and sustainability of this significant landscape rest on the Forest Service and its partners, including its relationship with the Chimney Rock Interpretive Association (CRIA). CRIA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer organization, currently manages day-to-day operations at the monument under a special use permit with the Forest Service. Following the designation of Chimney Rock as a National Monument, recreation, tourism, educational outreach and research activities continue to increase. As the need for management support and oversight of the Monument grows, this unique collaboration between the Forest Service and CRIA will morph and mature through opportunities and challenges in its evolution.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Celebrating the Contributions of a Community of Preservation: Forest Service Partners and Volunteers

Keywords

Spatial Coverage