When then-President Bill Clinton used the Antiquities Act to designate the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in 2000, there was a small but vocal opposition concerned that the designation would detract from the Montezuma County canyon country’s remote and rugged stature, bringing throngs of federal regulations, along with crowds from afar. While the designation has certainly attracted visitors who appreciate the stunning scenery and rich archaeological resources ensconced in the monument, as well as lasting protections for the irreplaceable landscape and treasures it contains, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument has not wrought the negative impacts some had feared. In fact, the story has been largely positive.
As the monument commemorates its 15th anniversary, it is instructive to look back at the impetus for its designation. The monument comprises 178,000 acres of the highest-known density of archaeological sites in the United States – with 8,000 identified thus far. This concentration of Southwestern heritage is integral to our understanding of Ancestral Puebloan culture in general, with specific insight into hunting, agriculture, geology, botany, ceramics, hydrology, astronomy and architectural practices. That such a rich archive of this history exists in such a stunning, remote and yet accessible setting is a boon to Southwest Colorado and to American culture in general.
The Bureau of Land Management caretakes the Canyons of Ancients, and, in its management plan, ensures that existing grazing and rights-of-way are in place at the time of the monument’s designation remain protected, while also enshrining and highlighting the archaeological treasures within the monument’s broad boundaries. This balance makes Canyons of the Ancients an important local resource for those who have historically used the federal lands for recreational and agricultural purposes, while protecting their irreplaceable cultural, historic and environmental resources.
This has had a positive economic impact on the monument’s surrounding communities. From 2000-2008, Montezuma County’s population grew 5 percent, while jobs grew by 10 percent, and income increased by 15 percent per capita, according to a study by the Headwaters Institute. Though not necessarily causational, the monument certainly has not harmed the Montezuma County economy and, in fact, appears to have reinforced previous growth trends. In a community where nearly one-quarter of the economy is linked to tourism and the service industry, Canyons of the Ancients represents an important draw for travelers, particularly when added to the region’s vast complex of important archaeological sites including Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon National Historic Park south of Bloomfield, Chimney Rock National Monument in Archuleta County, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument’s 15th anniversary is indeed worthy of celebration. Its designation has protected, in perpetuity, a wide array of resources definitive to the history – ancient and otherwise – of the Southwestern U.S. A federal investment in that history and the landscape that holds it is wholly appropriate, particularly given the benefit such an investment brings to local communities.
