Though the facilities at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument aren't as old as the fossils the site protects, at times it seems like they are.
The tiny visitor center, a cabin dating to 1924, is home to mice, has a sinking foundation, no fire suppression system, and not enough space to display fossils, according to officials. And the building where most of the site's fossils are stored, an A-frame cabin built in 1965, has similar problems.
Not surprisingly, monument officials are looking forward to the day when they can break ground on a $2.9 million visitor center and research center.
"It will just be a much more meaningful experience to connect people with what’s going on in the park, and there will be more fossils to see,” park Superintendent Keith Payne told the Colorado Springs Gazette.
While National Park Service officials in charge of the agency's construction schedule have given a tentative approval to the visitor center, right now funding is not expected to arrive until .... 2011.
Support Essential Coverage of Essential Places
Comments
Sounds like a project for the Centennial if I ever heard of one. But I suppose that FLFO doesn't have any friends with money....
---
jr_ranger
http://tntrailhead.blogspot.com
http://zinch.com/jr_ranger
http://picasaweb.google.com/north.cascades
President, CHS SPEAK (CHS Students Promoting Environmental Action & Knowledge)
Founder and President, CHS Campus Greens
As a National Park completist, I took the trek from Denver to "tour" Florissant and I was embarrassed by the "visitor's center" and the unfliching pride of the only on-site ranger who put on his best face while enduring the limitations of his position there. This is the shame of the NPS and I could not recommend this park for visitation as it reflects badly on our nation.
I hope you dropped a few bucks in the donation box... every dollar counts. Sounds like a few extra mouse traps could make or break your experience there... ;-)
-- Jon Merryman
I´m the Lorax who speaks for the fossils
which have been here since long before all the apostles.
And I´m also in charge of the lizards and newts
who played in the swamp in their lizard-skin suits
and happily lived, eating fossilized fruits.
NOW...thanks to your selling my park to the state,
there´s not enough people concerned of their fate.
And those people who visit from Kalamazoo
just won't even stop -- they'll just drive right on through!
-- with apologies to Theo LeSieg ;-)
The sentiment is well taken, but I'm not certain that the only tag that draws cross-country trekkers ends with National Park, National Monument, National Preserve, etc. While the majority of state managed facilities are indeed lacking in many areas of grandeur, most notably in their food and lodging aspects, what lies within the boundries of the parks (e.g. scenery, solitude) is more often than not well worth the extra time and effort. Bear in mind however, the main reason that the state parks do not offer these ammenities is the fact that they generate a minute revenue stream based largely on the fact that they don't collect admission fees, and the fees that they do charge are generally about half of similar NPS facilities. Not surprisingly, the proximity of ammenities to these "ugly sister" parks are many times conveniently located in the surrounding communities, many of which rely heavily on the annual influx of travel season tourist dollars, and are either adjacent to or a very short commute from the parks. (There are exceptions however, and you may find yourself literally stuck with either McArches or the gas station QuickieMart, which will probably be in the same building.) And VERY few state parks lack for tent and hard-side camping facilities, just pillow-top beds and in-room jacuzzi tubs. I guess it depends on which of the following options suit you best: 1) pack in your own meals and temporary residence, 2) camp at the park and head into town for breakfast and dinner, concentrating on the local cuisine to optimize your experinece, 3) complain to the staff that they are missing the opportunity of a lifetime by not having built a 5-star hotel / spa in anticipation of your arrival, or 4) miss out on the opportunity to expand your appreciation for some historically significant portions of the history of our country, highlighting the best and worst of our heritage on a national, regional and local level.
At least I'm not looking to climb the ladder.....
---
jr_ranger
http://tntrailhead.blogspot.com
http://zinch.com/jr_ranger
http://picasaweb.google.com/north.cascades
President, CHS SPEAK (CHS Students Promoting Environmental Action & Knowledge)
Founder and President, CHS Campus Greens
C'mon Frank, look at the tree rings. Obviously it's Sequoia affinis, which is most closely related to today's semprevirens.
Kurt...you kill me...in a good way!