Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will be at Mesa Verde National Park this weekend, but park officials say they’re not expecting him to issue any proclamations regarding a possible new monument west of Cortez.

Babbitt will be at the Far View Lodge attending the annual meeting of the National Park Foundation’s board of directors, a group approved by Congress to fund-raise for the park service, said Will Morris, a spokesman for Mesa Verde.

The foundation, which is comprised of 20 board members including National Park Director Robert G. Stanton, is scheduled to meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Morris said.

The board meetings are private, and Babbitt has scheduled no public appearances or news conferences, Morris said.

Tim Ahern, Babbitt’s press secretary, did not immediately return messages left Wednesday, and John Wright, an information officer at Babbitt’s office, said he knew nothing about Babbitt’s visit to Mesa Verde.

Morris said that any protestors will be required to stay in Mesa Verde’s long-established "First Amendment area" opposite the Far View Visitor Center.

"Just like on any other day, if people come up to the park, we’re obligated to provide a place for them to protest, but it’s going to be far away from where they’re actually meeting," Morris said.

In an April 13 phone conversation with the Montezuma County commissioners, Babbitt said that he planned to ask President Clinton "in the very near future" to issue a proclamation establishing a national monument for roughly 164,000 artifact-rich acres west of Cortez. Babbitt said oil and gas drilling and carbon-dioxide extraction, which provide about 30 percent of the county’s property taxes, definitely would be allowed on the new monument, although many local residents fear that a monument designation would cut down on multiple uses of the area.

Grazing will also be allowed within the monument, Babbitt said.

Babbitt told the commissioners that he would keep them informed of the possible monument designation as he worked through the proclamation process, saying "You won’t get up and read about this."

Commissioner Kent Lindsay said Wednesday that he was unaware that Babbitt was coming to Southwest Colorado this weekend.