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At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, The Facilities Seem Almost as Old as the Fossils

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By Kurt Repanshek - September 3rd, 2007

Among the fossils found at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument are this trio of petrified redwood stumps. NPS photo.

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.

Comments

Submitted by admin on September 5, 2007 - 11:12pm.

I too have been to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and have been appalled as well. Its really a shame, as this place has some of the most truly amazing fossils found anywhere in the world - insects so finely preserve in stone that you can even see the veins in the wings! Thanks for bringing this appalling situation to a wider audience!


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