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KSJD Newscast - February 24th, 2016

  • Closure of popular cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park present challenges to visitor expectations during centennial celebrations.

The closure of the most-visited cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park presents “a unique challenge” for keeping visitors interested and engaged. That’s according to management support specialist Cristy Brown with the park. The National Park Service announced Tuesday that Spruce Tree House, located within a short walking distance of the park’s museum on Chapin Mesa, will remain closed indefinitely while stabilization is done. The site was closed in October of last year after a rockfall, and a subsequent examination found other rockfall concerns. In addition, ongoing stabilization work at another popular site, Cliff Palace, means a somewhat shorter season during which that cliff dwelling is open for guided tours. Brown says the park’s interpretive staff is looking at ways “to continue providing a complete visitor experience while maintaining public safety”, such as continuing special backcountry tours to lesser-known cliff dwellings. The Spruce Tree closure comes as the Park Service celebrates its centennial year and visitation is expected to be high throughout the system. Brown says in 2015, Mesa Verde saw around its historic average of 550,000 visitors after three years of lesser numbers. Park officials are expecting as many as 600,000 in 2016.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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