As Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument celebrates 50 years, concerns about its future arise

By Pat Hill pat.hill@pikespeaknewspapers.com
Aug 28, 2019 Updated Aug 28, 2019

Florissant Fossil Beds 50th Anniversary

A place with one of the most significant fossil collections in the world, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument holds a story, of people, passion and persistence.

The story begins a little more than 50 years ago when developers were just hours away from clearing the land to start building houses. Never mind that the land was vibrant with revelations — knowledge imparted by buried fossils, birds, insects, the redwood stumps.

In a form of the idiom “over my dead body,” a group of ladies, led by the late Vim Wright of Florissant and paleobotanist Estella Leopold, set out from Denver with the idea of throwing themselves on the ground to stop the bulldozers.

As it turned out, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction at the last hour, a result of a lawsuit brought against the developers by Victor Yannacone, Jr.

Last week, hundreds of people celebrated the 50th anniversary of the monument, 6,000 acres preserved in 1969 by the U.S Congress for the National Park Service.

Speaking in the amphitheater, flanked by petrified redwood stumps on either side, Yannacone recalled that moment in time.

“Florissant, the site of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, is all about people who live here,” he said. “Nobody else did it — you did it, your parents, grandparents, your paleobotanist, your alpine biologist,” Yannacone said, referring to Leopold and Betty Willard. “They had a friend in Denver who thought he could help; he was a mountain climber, Dick Lamm, and his brother Tom Lamm.”

Yannacone joined the fight after a phone call from Leopold. “’You gotta come save Florissant,’” Yannacone said, quoting Leopold. “For the next half hour she cried about fossils. We changed our plans, hopped on three or four planes, to wind up at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.”

Yannacone, with the Lamm brothers, joined the fight. “We didn’t have any help. The Environmental Defense Fund, which Carol (his wife) and I created, wasn’t interested in spending resources in this tiny area,” he said.

The New York attorney took a romantic, almost mythical, view of the Defenders of Florissant, as they called themselves. “It was just the people who lived here … with their own deep passion for this land,” he said. “And the one thing — it’s different today — is that the respect and reverence for the land carried over to your representatives in Washington, your senators. They were behind you — no one else was. And eventually it got to court.”

Yannacone repeated the story of the women who were prepared to stop the bulldozers those many years ago in order to preserve the area’s natural resources. “The people have protected this area, continued where the Indians left off,” he said. “This is a monument to the people. And it always will be where there are people like you who will stand up and fight for it.”

But Yannacone concluded with a warning. “I leave you with one sad thought. There is talk throughout the backrooms of Washington that this monument is too big and should be cut by 3,000 to 4,000 acres and the land opened up to development, second homes, ranchettes,” he said.

There were gasps from the audience. “You’re going to have to do it again,” he said. “Hopefully, it will be easier this time and you won’t have to lie in front of bulldozers. Thank you for the opportunity and God bless all of you and God bless all of us.”

Land donation expands Monument

After navigating through Teller County traffic Aug. 17, Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn announced that he had sponsored the bill that allowed the acceptance of the anonymous donation of 280 acres along the northwestern boundary of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Lamborn recognized the role of Teller County Commissioner Norm Steen, who testified before Congress about the importance of the legislation. “The expansion provides critical access to the monument’s western boundary for wildland fire protection and for completing hazardous-fuel mitigation projects,” said Lamborn, who is a senior member of the Congressional Natural Resources Committee.

As well, the expansion is a buffer between the monument and the adjoining developed land, in addition to offering more recreational opportunities and increasing wildlife habitat, Lamborn said.

As far as Yannacone’s warning about a possible cut to the acreage, Lamborn said he was unaware of the talk in Washington. “I have not heard a single word of that and, if anyone ever proposes that, I for one, am going to fight that tooth and nail.”

The audience cheered.

While also unaware of the backroom talks, the Monument’s superintendent, Theresa Johnson, looked on the bright side. “We can share the message of how important it is to preserve the monument and how valuable it is to share this place,” she said, speaking a few days later.

Yet vigilance is key.

“Just like anything — what Congress gives, they can take away at their discretion,” she said. “Nothing is necessarily forever; it’s for our benefit to help the general public understand the value, appreciate and support the Monument.”