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stewardship of the land
Feb. 3rd, 2018 06:03 pmA couple of years ago, Britt and I found out about an older couple who had bought ten acres of land forty years ago, on the mesa above downtown where Fort Lewis College is; they'd built their house on a prime spot right on the rim, but were now looking to sell off most of the land to help fund their retirement. The catch was that in order to build another house, it would need to be formally subdivided and brought into compliance with city codes, and that would be expensive enough that it really only made sense if the buyer subdivided into a small development and sold lots. After much discussion we went for it, and Britt started yet another "career" as a developer, creating this small subdivision which I named Arrowhead Ridge. (Ours is Lot 1. It's not as big as it looks; everything "above" the old driveway that goes to the existing house is a steep slope down the edge of the mesa. We are not making money on the development, just offsetting the cost of our own lot a little.)
Why "Arrowhead Ridge"? And why the large area designated Open Space in the lower left corner of the development? Well, the city of Durango requested that we do an archaeological survey before digging. And oh my goodness, the things the archaeologist found! Bone needles, potsherds, and yes, arrowheads. The whole mesa-top had been a Basketmaker III/Pueblo I period site, but since nearly all of the modern development had been done without such surveys, there's little surviving evidence of the early inhabitants. We decided it was important to preserve what we found, and protect it, and to cover it in such a way that if we ever get the funds, we can uncover and stabilize the ruins we found.
And because of this, our development was nominated for and won an award for "outstanding achievement in historic preservation" from History Colorado! This short video shows the site, and some of the finds, and has interviews with Britt and the archaeologist he worked with. I'm super proud even though all I did was come up with the name. :-)
Why "Arrowhead Ridge"? And why the large area designated Open Space in the lower left corner of the development? Well, the city of Durango requested that we do an archaeological survey before digging. And oh my goodness, the things the archaeologist found! Bone needles, potsherds, and yes, arrowheads. The whole mesa-top had been a Basketmaker III/Pueblo I period site, but since nearly all of the modern development had been done without such surveys, there's little surviving evidence of the early inhabitants. We decided it was important to preserve what we found, and protect it, and to cover it in such a way that if we ever get the funds, we can uncover and stabilize the ruins we found.
And because of this, our development was nominated for and won an award for "outstanding achievement in historic preservation" from History Colorado! This short video shows the site, and some of the finds, and has interviews with Britt and the archaeologist he worked with. I'm super proud even though all I did was come up with the name. :-)