County purchases Paint Mines buffer/ Dream of park is closer to

Add another patch of prairie land to El Paso County's growing collection in the Paint Mines area south of Calhan.

The El Paso County Commission on Monday approved the purchase of 275 acres of gently rolling plains just north of the scenic Paint Mines formation, which features rainbow-hued sandstone-and-clay rock formations as well as archaeological and paleontological treasures such as American Indian arrowheads and bison bones.

The $206,490 deal moves the county one giant step closer to its ultimate goal of turning the unique Paint Mines region into a 780- acre public interpretive park in eastern El Paso County.

"It's a significant piece to the puzzle," said Susan Johnson, the county's supervisor of planning and resource management.

It will be at least next year before the public gets a look at the land it's buying.

The latest acquisition brings the county's land purchases in the area to about 670 acres, Johnson said.

That leaves 110 acres, in three privately owned parcels, that the county is pursuing. Included in that land are the Paint Mines' most unusual geological formations - eroded spires and pinnacles in shades of pink, tan, white and lavender.

The county has received appraisals of the remaining 110 acres and is negotiating with the landowners, Johnson said. In the past three years, the county has spent about $466,000 to acquire Paint Mines- area land.

The county commissioners approved the latest purchase by a 4-1 vote. Chairman Chuck Brown and Commissioners Duncan Bremer, Jeri Howells and Ed Jones voted yes, and Betty Beedy cast the lone dissenting vote. Beedy said she believes government should limit its ownership of land.

"There's no justification for buying it," Beedy said. "We just took away more private property from the tax rolls."

The county bought the latest piece of land from a private estate.

The next step, in addition to continuing negotiations with landowners, will be to seek a grant to pay for a site-planning study, Johnson said.

"Since we do have some archaeological sites there, we need to make sure those resources are protected," she said. "If we're laying out trails, planning parking areas and determining access, we need to have some in-depth planning done."

If enough archaeological evidence is found on the Paint Mines land, the area could be nominated for inclusion in the National Registry of Historic Places.

"That's part of what make this different for county parks," Johnson said. "We've got regional parks. We've got some historic parks. But this is the first major archeological site we've been involved in. That's exciting."

Part of the newly acquired county land may be opened to public access on an "extremely limited" basis in the next year, Johnson said.

- Scott Smith may be reached at 636-0232 or scotts@gazette.com

Story editor Bill Vogrin; headline by Barry Noreen

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