The Montezuma County commissioners heard an update on the status of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument on Monday.

Monument Manager LouAnn Jacobson reported on topics ranging from cultural-resource stabilization and mapping to new brochures, recreation and stalled federal funding.

The monument’s main attraction will be at Lowry Ruins near Pleasant View, a collection of pueblos and kivas dating back 800 years.

"Lowry will be the focal point, but unfortunately it has deteriorated quite a bit and needs a lot of preservation," Jacobson said.

Monument officials’ immediate priority is saving Lowry Ruins from further deterioration, she said. Plans are being discussed on how to best protect the low-lying structures, especially at what is known as Kiva B.

A replacement roof there, installed in 1985 to protect the site, is failing and pulling apart ancient masonry. The resulting gaps are allowing water to seep into the ceremony room, causing irreparable damage to a once-impressive painted mural.

Jacobson said that officials are leaning toward building a shelter structure over the entire site as a solution rather than replacing the one roof. An environmental assessment listing all of the alternatives for the Lowry Kiva will be put out for public comment this spring.

Anticipating increased visitation, monument managers will target another site for improved trail access and site interpretation and stabilization, but which one has not yet been announced.

A database on the natural and cultural resources is being developed, Jacobson reported. Some 16,000 to 18,000 sites are being documented and targeted for protection, interpretive signs or further study.

Law-enforcement rangers are on staff and on patrol. Monument signs are on order, and an informational kiva will soon be installed at the Goodman Point entrance to Sand Canyon.

In addition to a new logo, two glossy brochures are being developed for the area, one for Lowry, and the other for the overall monument.

"That one will be more general, focusing on backcountry ethics, safety and rules at the monument," Jacobson said, adding that the brochures will be available soon.

Existing roads and trails are being inventoried and will eventually be officially mapped, but not before the public planning process is complete. That process will be coordinated with GIS mapping and road inventories completed or in the works by Montezuma County planners.

Jacobson said that there have been many calls from people concerned about the official border of the 164,000-acre monument located on BLM land west of Cortez and stretching to the Utah border. The border is being surveyed now, but no major changes are expected, she said.

"We had some fearful calls from people worried about access to private inholdings or grazing leases. We are assuring them that those accesses will be protected, despite rumors otherwise," Jacobson said.

The monument, proclaimed by President Clinton in May under the 1906 Antiquities Act, was created to protect sensitive cultural and natural resources from looting, vandalism or neglect. It also provides the general public education about ancient human history.

That means managing the area to control where people go, whether on foot, bicycles, cars or ATV’s.

National monuments restrict such travel to existing trails and roads, meaning some popular four-wheeling areas may be closed off.

"There are areas where there has been some ‘challenge driving’ off the road without permission to do so or proper permits, so those will have to be cut back to comply with the rules of the proclamation," Jacobson said.

Risley Canyon was mentioned as one of those areas being improperly used for off-road-vehicle use.

Wood and vegetation gathering, long allowed within the vast BLM region, will also be analyzed and updated under the new monument, with some areas possibly being closed off in order to protect the environment.

Monument managers are in a quandary as they try to prevent an onslaught of curious visitors from overwhelming the region’s sensitive ruins, while working on a shoestring budget. A federal hiring freeze is also hampering staffing plans that will eventually put 13 specialists in charge of the monument.

Full federal budgets for planning at this and other newly designated monuments have also been stalled as the new Bush administration settles in. The creation of a local advisory committee to help with the long-term management plan is also on hold indefinitely.

Regardless, the word is out, with more words set to be printed soon. Jacobson said that National Geographic, Modern Maturity, Archeology Magazine, Sunset, and the Journal of Southwest Archaeology are planning articles about Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Other items of interest relating to the monument:

• The new Canyons of the Ancients Monument website is www.co.blm.gov/canm/index.html.

• A hydrology study will take place within monument boundaries. It will focus on stream flows in Cross and Yellow Jacket canyons.

• Mike Jensen of the BLM is the monument’s new range specialist. He will deal with grazing leases held inside the monument borders.

• Interpretive signs are slated for Sand Canyon Pueblo. BLM employees have also cleaned up barbed wire and other debris in Sand Canyon, including torching an abandoned well house rife with hantavirus-prone mouse droppings and other safety hazards.