By Marisa Young | Reporter
This summer, the Waco Mammoth National Monument will celebrate its 10 year anniversary of becoming a recognized site by the National Park Foundation. This designation was the result of over six years of hard work between the park staff and Waco community, according to National Parks Service Site Manager Raegan King.
After two failed attempts to achieve national monument status in 2009 and 2011, King said the success came rather unexpectedly.
“A group called the National Parks Conservation Association heard about our story,” King said. “They proposed a new model of park management, where the partners stay put instead of letting it all become federal.”
Empowered by lobbying assistance from the NPCA and this new management model, King and her team made their way to Washington D.C. in 2014.
“You have to convince the president’s cabinet that this is a good thing to sign off on, for him to write the executive order,” King said. “We advocated for the park and said, ‘This is a partnership model, so you don’t have to worry about it being too expensive on the federal budget, and … so it helps the city economy.’ And it finally worked.”
On July 10, 2015, the NPS officially entered the partnership between the park, the city of Waco and Baylor, making the Waco Mammoth Monument the 408th unit of the National Park Service.
This designation, King said, opened the doors for Waco Mammoth National Monument to receive federal funding and extensive research resources.
“[National Monuments] are just amazing places that tell different types of history and culture of the U.S.,” King said. “There’s a deep responsibility by the U.S. … that these places need to be available to our public.”
Compared to the initial 20,000 annual guests at its opening, the park now receives over 100,000 guests yearly, coming from all 50 states and over 83 countries. King said this monument holds the only fossilized nursery herd of Columbian mammoths on the globe, making it a truly unique site.
“You get to see the real fossils in the ground — it’s called an ‘in situ’ fossil bed — and you do not see that ever,” King said. “This could be a once-in-a-lifetime viewing for most people because when you go to a museum you see the skeleton up in the air.”
New Braunfels sophomore Mackenzie Slater attended a tour at the Waco Mammoth National Monument and said it proved to be an interesting experience.
“I had never been to anything like that before,” Slater said. “I had a good time and thought it was very intriguing.”
Slater said she feels the conservation of sites such as the Waco Mammoth National Monument is a worthy and necessary cause.
“I think it’s important right now, especially because of all the climate problems that are going on,” Slater said. “Having places like national [sites] is important to upkeep our environment and remind people of the beauty that Earth can be.”
