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Chimney Rock is home to natural wonders and man-made artifacts. President Obama recently
designated the area in southwestern Colorado a national monument and Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack attended a ceremony honoring the event. We’re honored to steward this landscape
and these ancient buildings. We recognize we have an equally important role to maintain
this as a living landscape for today’s tribes and Pueblo communities. The Chimney Rock site
is home to two rock pinnacles and ruins of buildings built by the Ancestral Pueblo People
about a thousand years ago. It will be managed by the USDA Forest Service in collaboration
with tribal, community, state, and federal partners. I’m excited about the Forest Service’s
role in preserving and protecting this area and enhancing it. We’re enlarging the area
by several thousand acres that will be additionally protected. So, it’s just a really great
day. The Ancestral Pueblo People regard Chimney Rock as a spiritual and culturally important
area. As I was sitting here, I was looking up and I could almost see my ancestors. I
could almost see them looking down upon us. I could almost see them with a happy heart
as now they know they will continue to be protected by the U.S. Forest Service. Chimney
Rock National Monument encompasses four thousand seven hundred twenty six acres of the San
Juan National Forest in Southwestern Colorado. It's hoped the new designation will encourage
more visitors and boost the area economy. For the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I’m
Bob Ellison.