ABQjournal NM: Chaco Canyon Meeting Set Despite Concerns, By Leslie Linthicum, Journal Staff Writer

The Hopis call Chaco “Yupqoyvi” (“the place beyond the horizon”) and, along with other pueblos, trace some of their early history to the ancient towns that now attract historians, archaeologists and tourists to the park.

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/602139nm10-13-07.htm

Chaco Culture Historical Park is a national park that encompasses ruins of pueblo towns that date to the 9th century. It has been named a World Heritage Site and, despite its remote location— at the end of more than a dozen miles of rough dirt road in northwestern New Mexico— it attracts about 80,000 visitors each year.

Citing safety concerns, the county government decided to improve the entrance access. It paved with a chip-seal coat the stretch of County Road 7900 that leads off U.S. 550 to County Road 7950 and plans to pave 7950, which leads to the park’s entrance.

Opponents of a paved road say that it will inundate Chaco with more cars, recreational vehicles and high-volume tour buses, and that the park’s archaeological treasures will suffer under large crowds. …

[State and federal transportation officials and San Juan County have scheduled a public hearing next week about proposed improvements to the road that leads to Chaco Canyon.] The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday [10/18/07], with public comments to be taken at 7 p.m. It is in the San Juan County Commission chambers at 100 S. Oliver Dr. in Aztec.