General Management Plan, Development Concept Plan: Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico

Summary

This document contains a general management plan/development concept plan (GMP/DCP) for the recently enlarged Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The GMP/DCP revises and updates a GMP approved in 1979, and many of the concepts in the earlier plan have been carried forward. The current GMP provides a general strategy for managing lands within the expanded boundary. It includes an analysis of critical resource values and an overall management zoning concept. Land protection proposals are summarized in the GMP and described on a tract-by-tract basis in the Land Protection Plan that is being circulated concurrently. Other GMP and DCP proposals include establishment of markers along the newly authorized boundary by agreement with current landowners; an improved interpretive program to provide opportunities for greater personal contact between visitors and interpretive staff; a regulated access system in the primary ruins area during peak periods; relocation of the campgrounds to provide a more desirable camping setting above the 100-year floodplain; continued monitoring of activities near the park to reduce their impacts on park resources; an increase in the ruins maintenance program and limited backfilling of excavated rooms to bring stabilization up to an acceptable standard; and renovation or development of utility, waste disposal, and communication systems. The proposals are expected to have few adverse impacts on cultural and natural resources. Impacts on resources within the newly expanded boundary will be minimized primarily through land exchanges, existing regulations, and cooperative agreements. No impacts on endangered species, floodplains, or wetlands are anticipated. Impacts on the local economy may result because mineral activity will be largely excluded, but the extent of these impacts is unknown because the recently authorized addition lands have not been thoroughly investigated for mineral resources. The GMP/DCP will guide management and use of the park for the next 10 to 15 years.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Repository(s): Salt River Project, Tempe, AZ

Prepared By(s): United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service

Record Identifiers

Salt River Project Library Call No.(s): E81.O43N53 1985

Salt River Project Library Barcode No.(s): 00030457

File Information