Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank both my colleagues for their kind words on this legislation. Madam Chair, the Yucca House National Monument is in Montezuma County, Colorado, very near to my hometown of Cortez. It is one of the largest archaeological sites in southwest Colorado, preserving a Montezuma Valley ancestral Puebloan site that is unexcavated. If you were to look at it quickly, you might see just several mounds of rocks, but it contains some valuable information that answers questions that we have about large, active farming communities that existed in the area centuries ago. In 2019, Yucca House National Monument celebrated its 100th birthday. Yucca House National Monument is surrounded by private land, and access is granted through an easement on private property. The owner of that property has experienced trouble with traffic and parking, and the arrangement is interfering with his ability to be able to manage the farm. A private landowner adjacent to the national monument is now seeking to be able to donate 160 acres to the monument to further protect archaeological sites and cultural resources and to alleviate access issues. The land has been studied and determined to be appropriate for inclusion in the national monument. The donation would facilitate a new access road to the monument and parking for visitors.…”