GILA CLIFF DWELLINGS Administrative History

Development Planning

In mid-1962, prompted by the recent expansion of the monument and the imminent completion of the Copperas road as far as the Gila River, work began on developing a package master plan for the monument. The initial MISSION 66 prospectus had recommended that "a modest public building" be constructed at the mouth of Cliff Dweller Canyon regardless of whether the area became a state monument or remained with the Park Service. [44] The revised prospectus reported that the mouth of Cliff Dweller Canyon was prone to flooding, and it recommended that a slightly more elaborate but still modest building be located within walking distance of the TJ Ruin. [45] This building, it was suggested, "should house the permanent superintendent's office, an attractive lobby, possibly with room for a continuous recorder projector orientation presentation, one ample display room, a workroom with a small dark room in one corner, and a storeroom." [46]

Following the proposal to jointly occupy the TJ administrative site, Fred Kennedy, the regional forester, drafted a letter to his counterpart in the Park Service. Kennedy outlined some planning specifics, including recommendations that the architectural design and building specifications be done by the Park Service as the predominant user. His own agency would review the plans, of course. [47] He also suggested that the administrative building have a lobby arranged so that both agencies could install exhibits. Until a cooperative agreement was signed in July 1964, Kennedy's letter served as a basis of understanding between the two agencies, and—along with the MISSION 66 prospecta—it guided the process of developing a master plan.

During the planning process, the most debated topic was the location of the visitor center. At an interagency meeting in July 1962, Volney J. Westley, a landscape architect with the Region III office the Park Service, recommended that the center be located east of Cliff Dweller Canyon near the tent-fly headquarters, observing that most drivers would pass up the TJ road spur and continue directly to the cliff dwellings. [48] Housing and utility buildings could still be located on the joint administrative site near the TJ Ruin, he added. Complicating this proposal, however, was the fact that the site he specified for the visitor center was Forest Service land, and its development would require a special-use permit or even a joint agreement like that proposed for the TJ administrative area.

Given the limited amount of space at the mouth of Cliff Dweller Canyon and the hazard of windfall from a grove of large cottonwood trees, Sam Servis, then assistant supervisor of the Gila National Forest, also recommended at the same meeting that a camping area not be developed there but instead near Scorpion Corral, a location on Forest Service land that might also mitigate a potential problem of overcrowded parking at the monument.

A year later, the mouth of Cliff Dweller Canyon had again been abandoned as a location for the visitor center because of flood danger, and three other sites had been eliminated for the same reason as well—Scorpion Corral, Doc's Cienega, and Pine Flat. [49] Only the TJ area and a site called Pine Terrace appeared to be safe from floods, and the latter site was not appropriately located.

In June, however, during a meeting between agencies at the Heart Bar headquarters, yet another location for the visitor center was proposed to the director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. [50]

The proposal was complicated. If the Forest Service could trade grazing rights in northern New Mexico for title to some of the Heart Bar land, then it would enter into a cooperative agreement with the Park Service, permitting the latter agency to locate a visitor center/administration building near the Heart Bar headquarters. Included in this building would be space sufficient for a district headquarters for the Gila National Forest and at least one office for the game department. All three agencies would share exhibit space in the lobby. In addition, all utility buildings and residences could be located on the TJ administrative site or on other nearby land that was managed by the Forest Service.

This proposal appeared to solve a lot of problems for the Park Service. The location was clear of the flood plain, the main approach road to the monument would pass close by, room for parking was ample, good drinking water was easily available, and there were pleasant views of the TJ area. The proposal foundered, however, on the issue of property values, [51] the reluctance of the local game commissioner, [52] and the need to obligate money before the start of the new fiscal year. [53]

As a consequence, the original TJ administrative withdrawal area was again designated the best location for the visitor center—by default. The long dialogue between agencies was not in vain, however, having shaped the final plan for development in several ways. One improvement, for example, was the planned addition of a contact station at the mouth of Cliff Dweller Canyon, an addition that addressed earlier concerns about drivers who might bypass the TJ road spur. Another improvement carried over from the failed Heart Bar proposal was the idea that headquarters for the Wilderness District of the Gila National Forest be included in the visitor center. A headquarters was a more substantial need than had been anticipated in 1960, when only temporary quarters for a crew of four to six men, a utility building, and corrals were proposed. In short, the final Master Plan for Gila Cliff National Monument evolved as a product of site constraints, changing perceptions on the part of both agencies about their own needs, and a lot of very cooperative and creative dialogue.

The 1964 Cooperative Agreement essentially divided responsibility for developing specific projects specified by the master plan. The agreement permitted the Park Service to develop a contact station on Gila Forest land near Cliff Dweller Canyon, and it authorized a joint headquarters at the TJ site, which both agencies would finance together and in equal amounts. Specifically, the Park Service would pay for the visitor center/administrative building and carry that structure on its property records; the Forest Service would pay for landscaping, roads, and bridges and carry those improvements on its property records. Each agency would carry on its own property records any other buildings that it had constructed, including residences, barns, corrals, etc. [54]

Although first proposed as a compromise between competing needs for the limited space on the forks of the Gila, the joint occupation of the TJ administrative site did indeed save money for each agency, as well. In mid-1958, before joint occupation had been proposed, the Park Service tentatively approved the expenditure of $423,700 for capital improvements at the monument. [55] Ten years later, the agency had only spent $350,000 to complete its share of development at the administrative site, which included two residences. In a similar way, initial projections for five permanent staff were reduced by 1968 to a superintendent and a ranger. Also employed by the Park Service were a receptionist and a maintenance man, but their services were shared with the Forest Service, as was the obligation for their salaries.

Bidding for the first contracts to develop the joint administrative site were closed in June 1964. The visitor center was completed in 1966, but remained closed to the public until 1968, when a bridge across the Middle Fork was completed.