Pinal County Arizona
Florence AZ (September 12, 2013) – Pinal County Supervisors Cheryl Chase, Todd House and Pete Rios joined U.S. Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ CD1) for an open house to learn more about a bill designed to increase the acreage of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
The bill, H.R. 2497 – titled the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Boundary Modification Act of 2013 – would add 413 acres of culturally significant land to the monument. Congresswoman Kirkpatrick introduced the bill in July with bi-partisan support from fellow Congressmen Gosar, Grijalva and Pastor.
“It’s great to see support grow for this bill,” Rep. Kirkpatrick said to a room filled with supporters of the expansion. “We are standing on ground that is one of the most significant sites in the world. It is some of the best persevered 13th century land. This bill is trying to tie together the 13th century Hohokam and 21st century America.”
In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison placed the Casa Grande Ruins aside as the first federal archaeological reservation in the United States. Twenty six years later, the Ruins were placed into the National Park System as a national monument. Currently the Casa Grande Ruins are the top tourist destination in Pinal County.
“U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi introduced a bill in the 109th Congress to modify the boundaries,” said Pinal County Supervisor Cheryl Chase. “Congresswoman Kirkpatrick introduced a bill in the 111th Congress that passed out of committee and was eventually voted down in the House. I’m pleased she is trying again with this new bill. We can hope the third time is the charm.”
The Great House at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
The boundary modification would take in land that belongs to private individuals, the State of Arizona, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management.
“This would be a significant improvement to the monument,” said Pinal Supervisor Todd House. “It looks like everyone is on board to increase the amount of archaeological sites in this area. We are early in this process, but the partnerships needed to make the modification go forward are already in place.”
Looking at a map of the proposed sites to be added to the national monument indicate that land to the west, directly east, and by Adamsville, Arizona, all have significant Hohokam sites that were a part of a larger community in the 13th century.
“This could be a good shot in the arm for the local Coolidge economy,” said Pinal Supervisor Rios. “The Casa Grande Ruins Director said that over a million dollars is spent locally from people who visit the Ruins. If this bill will increase the tourism, historical perspective, and the money spent in Coolidge (AZ) and Pinal County, I am all for it.”
This SedonaEye.com article by Joe Pyritz, reporting from Florence AZ.
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I’m not a fan of Ann Kirkpatrick and won’t vote for her but think she’s doing a good turn for Pinal economy. Politicians are a dime a dozen. When a politician does do a good effort people should say so and when they don’t people should say so or the politician is not worth a cent. I think most of what she does is useless and she only cares about lining her future pockets like with the copper mine. In this case she did the right thing to save a valuable piece of history.
Faith: This may be the only iffy good thing Ann Kirkpatrick has ever done since she was first elected in Northern AZ.
Agree with you that Politicians are a dime a dozen and I’m still of the idea that Ann isn’t worth a cent.
Why?
Having grown up in the area of these ruins and watching them continue to crumble for decades the issue has never been one of adding more land mass surrounding the stately and very historic 13th century relic – It has always been about protecting it/them from the elements with much more than the large and pitched shed roof that exists. Go to: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument – http://www.nps.gov/cagr/ – National Park Service to see the actual structure and then ask yourselves this question; adding some 400+ acres is going to protect the ruin? How will that land protect it?
http://www.nps.gov/cagr/historyculture/ is another site or just go to Wikipedia and put in Casa Grande Ruins.
As far as I can tell she is still all about herself and tagging on the back of anything She thinks will make her look good! If she really wanted to stop being a no cent politician I think she would be asking for money to put sides on the roof and create a building where the elements would no longer carve away this wonderful piece of history.
Ann won a seat in the most insanely large redistricted segment of our state. She is in over her head and not worth a cent. She was voted out of Northern Ariz and then voted in by folks who don’t know her. Can’t she find another job?
Shouldn’t her efforts be spent to get rid of Obama Care or at least fix it? Or at least get a structure that would actually save the Casa Grande Ruins?
what does kirkpatrick thinks about wes idea of a structure? money for that?