CHIMNEY ROCK – Chimney Rock National Monument won’t open to the public until mid-May, but a few very special guests got advance access Wednesday.
Butch Blazer, U.S. Department of Agriculture deputy undersecretary for natural resources and environment, and Jodi Gillette, White House senior policy adviser for Native American affairs, joined about 30 Southern Ute Indian Montessori Academy students in a visit to the ancestral Puebloan ruins beneath Chimney Rock’s twin spires.
The field trip for the students and the Washington, D.C., officials was meant to celebrate Let’s Move! in Indian Country, the national initiative spearheaded by first lady Michelle Obama.
The initiative, which aims to fight childhood obesity in Indian Country through physical activity and good nutrition, celebrates its two-year anniversary this month.
Holding the Let’s Move! in Indian Country event at the historic Chimney Rock site was a way to combine cultural and wellness education, Blazer said.
“With the very special significance of this area, we could educate young people about Chimney Rock and take the opportunity of having them with us to celebrate Let’s Move!” he said.
The setting also fit with the initiative’s emphasis on looking to the past for guidance on healthful lifestyles, Gillette said.
“A lot of what has been built here today has to do with crops and what has been planted and part of the Let’s Move! initiative is looking at how we used to live, how we used to feed ourselves, how we used to be active,” she said. “It’s not necessarily becoming somebody else, but remembering who we are and what we did, and that’s what will make us healthier.”
The trip also was a chance for several federal officials, including Gillette, to see Chimney Rock for the first time.
This year will be Chimney Rock’s first full season as a national monument after President Barack Obama used the executive authority provided under the 1906 Antiquities Act to give the area its new designation last September.
Monument status has helped put Chimney Rock on the map in Washington D.C., federal officials said.
“This is a very significant site,” Gillette said. “We’re always looking to do different types of celebrations (for Let’s Move!), and this seemed like the right place.”
She was on the domestic policy council that worked on the proclamation establishing Chimney Rock as a national monument.
This year likely will be a transitional year to get a feel for what changes to expect with the area’s status change, said Wendy Sutton, an archaeologist with San Juan National Forest’s Pagosa District.
The Chimney Rock Interpretive Association, a nonprofit that conducts daily tours and manages the site’s visitor center, is planning to expand its capacity in anticipation of increased visitations, said Alan Saltzstein, a volunteer with the association. The nonprofit is considering adding more tours to its daily schedule and this spring trained 20 additional volunteers to bring the number of tour guides up to 80, Saltzstein said.
The association also plans to offer an online booking system on the federal website www.recreation.gov that will allow people to make advance reservations.
With the area’s limited parking likely to become more of an issue, the monument was awarded a grant to buy shuttles that will bring visitors to the upper parking lot at the base of the ruins.
And the Forest Service soon will begin work on a long-term management plan that is required under Obama’s proclamation, Sutton said. The planning process will require extensive public input and environmental analysis, she said.
While the visit to Chimney Rock likely was a highlight, Gillette and Blazer are in the area for other events, as well, including meetings with tribal leaders and a roundtable discussion today about Strikeforce, a USDA program focusing on rural development, outreach and partnerships.
The Department of Agriculture has made the Four Corners a priority area within the program, said Max Finberg, a senior adviser to the secretary.
ecowan@durangoherald.com
