MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, Colo.-
More than 100 years after being established, this national park in the southwestern corner of the state is set to expand by more than 350 acres under a bill sponsored by Colorado’s senators.
The Mesa Verde National Park Boundary Expansion Act of 2007 was approved by a committee Wednesday and heads to the full Senate for approval. It is sponsored by Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo.
If approved, the bill would acquire and incorporate 324 privately owned acres at in the northeastern corner, at the entrance to the park.
The legislation also authorizes the expansion of the park to include a 38 acre parcel that has been donated by the Mesa Verde Foundation.
Mesa Verde contains 52,073 acres of mesa tops, canyon alcoves and more than 4,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans.
