The countdown to the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary has begun, and as a neighbor to one of the 407 national parks in the country, Durango will be joining in the celebration.
Last week, the #Find YourPark initiative was announced as part of the build-up to the April 2016 festivities. Honorary Co-Chairs first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush invited Americans to tell stories about their favorite national park.
And the Mesa Verde Foundation soon will begin collecting stories about Southwest Colorado’s World Heritage Site and how it has affected people’s lives. Mesa Verde is one of only 14 out of 407 national parks so designated. It also is considered one of the 24 most popular national parks, according to the National Parks Foundation.
“It’s the only cultural national park,” said Margie Deane Gray, executive director of the Mesa Verde Foundation. “People in Durango don’t think of Mesa Verde as their own park. I hope this #FindYourPark helps them realize how lucky they are to have this park so close.”
Deane Gray is working with a local donor to be able to bus students from third to fifth grades from throughout the region to the park.
“It’s amazing to me how many kids don’t have a clue about what the park has and what the park represents,” she said.
Sue Johnson-Erner and Betty Lieurance are the co-chairwomen of the committee that will oversee activities from the park side of the event.
“We’re hoping to start in the fall, possibly with a night at the museum for kids and a sunrise tour of Balcony House,” Johnson-Erner said, explaining that many activities will depend on fundraising success.
“But we’ll kick it off officially during the holiday open house on Dec. 10, when we’re planning to light up Cliff Palace as well as Spruce Tree House with luminarias.”
Collaboration among various organizations is beginning. Charles Leslie, the director of the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, has applied for a grant to bring a Native American dance troupe in for performances at both the hall and the park.
“We’ve kind of come full circle,” Lieurance said. “The railroads built hotels where passengers could stay at national parks like Glacier, and people were killing them by loving them to death. Now, with all these electronic gadgets, people think they don’t actually have to go outside anymore. We’re saying, come on, breathe the fresh air, see what we have, enjoy.”
abutler@ durangoherald.com
