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Verde Views June 2009, Issue 7
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Free Park Entrance
on July 18-19 and August
15-16!
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If ever there was a reason to visit your national parks,
this could be it:
fee-free weekends!
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced that
the National Park Service will offer three fee-free weekends this summer to
encourage Americans seeking affordable vacations to visit these national
treasures. "During these tough economic times, our national parks provide
opportunities for affordable vacations for families," Salazar said at a recent
press conference. "I encourage everyone to visit one of our nation's crown
jewels this summer and especially to take advantage of the three free-admission
weekends." The first free weekend was June 20-21, and the next two will occur on
July 18-19 and August 15-16.
There are 391 national park units across the country in 49
states; 147 of them charge an entry fee. During the peak summer season in Mesa Verde
National Park, the
entrance fee is $15 per vehicle and $8 per motorcycle. These entrance fees will
be waived during the fee-free weekends this summer.
While visitors will still need to purchase the $3 ticket for
ranger-led tours of Balcony House, Cliff
Palace and Long House,
there are several free sites including Spruce Tree House, Step House and the
Mesa Top Loop sites. Tour tickets may be purchased at the Far View Visitor Center
from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm daily. Cliff Palace Twilight Tour tickets are also sold
for $10 per person, presented by the Mesa Verde Institute in partnership with
the National Park Service; proceeds benefits Mesa Verde National Park.
Mesa Verde's park partners will also be offering special
promotions and discounts on the fee-free weekends. MVMA will give away one
artifact postcard with every purchase in their Far
View Visitor
Center and Chapin Mesa
Archeological Museum
stores. Aramark, the park's concessionaire, will give a free kids water bottle
with any retail purchase of $35 or more in any of their retail outlets in the
park. Also, for their half-day ranger-led bus tours, with the purchase of two
adult tickets, they will donate a free child's ticket.
For more information about fee-free weekends or MVI's
Twilight Tours, please call the MVMA office at 970-529-4445 or toll-free at 800-305-6053.
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Welcome to "Verde Views," the e-newsletter for Mesa Verde
Museum Association members and friends. This periodic publication will keep you
informed about Association news and events, park happenings, new products and
special sales.
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Now Accepting Registration for Three-Day Photography
Workshops
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Join Professor Eugene Balzer, senior photography faculty
member at Northern Arizona University,
for a three-day workshop capturing the visual wonders of Mesa Verde National Park. In sessions appropriate
for both the novice as well as the experienced photographer, Gene will guide
you through the finer points of taking the best portraits of Mesa Verde's
spectacular cultural and natural features using your own digital or film camera.
Included are exclusive, extended visits to the park's most popular cliff
dwellings (Cliff Palace and Balcony House), along with a
backcountry excursion to Mug House, a site which is not currently open to the
public. Knowledgeable National Park Service rangers will be on hand to answer
all your questions about the resources. Two nights lodging and all meals from
Friday lunch through Sunday lunch--including two dinners at the famed Metate
Room--are included with registration.
Two sessions are being offered this year due to the
program's popularity; join us on either August 14-16, 2009 or October 16-18,
2009 and rediscover Mesa Verde through photography! This workshop is presented
by the Mesa Verde Institute, a nonprofit field seminar program of the Mesa
Verde Museum Association. All proceeds benefit Mesa Verde National Park. New this year: all MVMA
members are eligible for a 20% discount off this Institute workshop
registration fee.
To learn more about this unique program or to sign up,
please click here.
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Park Point Fire Lookout Receives National
Historic Lookout Register Certification
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Park
Point Fire Lookout in Mesa
Verde National
Park was placed on the National Historic Lookout
Register (NHLR) in a short ceremony at the lookout on June 10, 2009. The NHLR
is maintained by the American Resources Group, and is a cooperative effort of
the Forest Fire Lookout Association, National Forestry Association, National
Woodland Owners Association, US Forest Service, Department of the Interior
agencies, and state foresters.
The
NHLR is currently focusing on the 2,000 remaining fire lookout towers of the
8,000 that once stood across the country. There are currently 757 lookouts registered
in 47 states. In Colorado
there were only six lookouts staffed during the summer of 2008, and Park Point
Lookout was one of them. At one time
there were 29 lookouts in Colorado,
of which only 16 still exist.
The
Park Point Fire Lookout is perched on the park's highest elevation at 8,571
feet; it was designed by preeminent NPS architect Albert H. Good and built by
the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939. It has an octagonal floor plan,
approximately 17 feet in diameter. The lookout is constructed of native
sandstone, quarried on Chapin Mesa and worked by hand to emulate the stylistic
appearance of other Modified Pueblo Revival building in the park. It is also an
example of the 1920's National Park Service Rustic style that adapted
structures to blend with their immediate landscapes.
Park
Point Fire Lookout tower is currently eligible and has been nominated for the
National Register of Historic Places.
In the photograph above (courtesy of Rosemarie Salazar,
NPS), Superintendent Larry Wiese (l) and NPS Fire Management Officer Allan
Farnsworth (r) display the official NHRL certificate.
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Free Programs Continue this Summer
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The free Four Corners Lecture Series continues in July, and
we invite you to make your plans now to take in these extraordinary offerings. The
Lomayestewa Family will perform traditional Hopi dances on July 4 and 5 in the
Chapin Mesa Ampitheater, Mesa
Verde National
Park at 11 a.m., noon, 2 and 4 p.m.; they will
also perform on July 5 at the Cortez Cultural Center at 6:30 p.m. Davina Two
Bears will speak on July 17 at the Cortez Rec Center on an exploration of
anthropological and archeological "stories" about Navajo history and origins.
Joseph H. Suina will discuss the Cochiti Experience on July 23, 6:30 p.m. at
the Crow Canyon Campus. Sally Cole will speak about changing perspectives on
Colorado Plateau rock art, July 26, 1 p.m. at the Anasazi Heritage
Center. Wrapping up the
month's slate, Don Whyte will deliver his intriguingly-titled talk, "Let Me
Walk in Your Shoes while My Moccasins are Being Analyzed," July 31, 7 p.m.,
Cortez Rec Center.
The Four Corners Lecture Series offers free programs for the
public from May through October at a variety of locations in Cortez, Dolores, Durango, and Mesa Verde
National Park. It is
sponsored by the Mesa Verde Institute (an educational program of the Mesa Verde
Museum Association), the Anasazi Heritage Center,
ARAMARK, Cortez Cultural
Center, Crow Canyon
Archaeological Center,
Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies, KSJD Dry Land Community Radio,
and the National Park Service.
We hope to see you at a program this year! Click here to
view the entire schedule.
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Collectible Autographed
Centennial Book Series
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We are pleased to offer limited edition, signed, boxed sets
of the Mesa Verde Centennial Book Series, which was published by the Durango
Herald Small Press in cooperation with Mesa
Verde National
Park, Mesa Verde Museum Association and The Center of
Southwest Studies at Fort
Lewis College.
Each of the seven books is signed by the author(s) and the set is contained in
a handsome, sturdy slip case. These sets are numbered and will only be
available while supply lasts.
This award-winning series of books about the people and events that have shaped
the park was written in observance of the 100-year anniversary of the
establishment of Mesa
Verde National
Park. Taken individually, each book examines an
important historical element of the development of the park. As a set, these
seven works present the reader with a rich mosaic that is the history of Mesa Verde
National Park. A must for
every park supporter's collection, this autographed set normally retails for
$150. For a limited time, the signed set is specially priced at $125! (Due to the special nature of this offer, the
MVMA member discount does not apply.)
Click here to
order your sets today!
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The Mesa Verde Museum Association, in cooperation with the
National Park Service and Mesa
Verde National
Park, assists with and supports various
interpretive programs, research activities, and visitor services. We are a
501(c)(3) nonprofit providing educational and interpretive material to visitors
of Mesa Verde
National Park through an active
publishing program and the operation of retail bookstores online, in the park,
and in Cortez, CO. Our services enhance the visitor
experience and promote stewardship of Mesa Verde's world-renowned
archaeological resources and natural landscapes. Proceeds from all Association
operations are donated to the park's interpretive, research, and education
programs.
You
are receiving this email from Mesa Verde Museum Association because you
are a member or purchased a product from us. To ensure that you
continue to receive emails from us, add info@mesaverde.org to your
address book today.
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