By Kelsie Hahn

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Community support and legislative champions were the keys to turning Glen Rose’s collection of dinosaur tracks into a nationally known state park, locals say.

The tracks were discovered in 1909, garnered media attention in 1938, and the site was purchased by Texas in 1968 and opened to the public in 1972. But the real story is behind the scenes, said Dorothy Leach, Somervell County Historical Commission archivist and lifelong resident of Glen Rose.

“It was a community effort for years to make these tracks available to the public,” she said. “It had been a dream of the Chamber of Commerce and the historical groups, and, of course, all the political entities were interested.”

Residents of the city and county began pushing for the tracks to be recognized and protected in the 1960s, she said, as the county couldn’t afford to develop the site itself.

“They were trying every avenue,” she said. “I think it took all that effort at the local level to really keep it before the legislature and the public’s eye.”

The effort paid off, drawing State Sen. J.P. Word of Meridian and U.S. Rep. Bob Poage of Waco to the park’s cause.

And when Texas increased funding to its state park programs later that decade, Dinosaur Valley State Park was born, Leach said.

It was also designated a National Natural Landmark in 1968.

Like Glen Rose, Waco has its share of community support and legislative champions pushing for the creation of the Waco Mammoth Site. The Waco Mammoth Foundation has raised $3.4 million in donations and pledges, enough money for the city to develop the site itself, projecting the site will open in late 2009 or early 2010.

Waco, too, is striving for a national park designation, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, has publicly supported the site and helped it through the process of receiving national recognition.

Representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service plan to hold one more public hearing this fall before submitting their report, which must then go through several layers of approval before going before Congress, Waco City Manager Larry Groth said.

Though the city is developing the site and plans to co-manage it with Baylor, Groth said they’re hoping to share some of the management with the National Parks Service as well.

Dinosaur Valley State Park’s designation as a National Natural Landmark comes with several advantages, said Billy Baker, the park’s manager.

“It means we get grants every once in a while from the National Park Service; they monitor the site. If we have a possible situation where it might deteriorate for some reason, we’ve got the National Parks Service on our side,” he said.

“Any national recognition that you could get would be beneficial. There’s always a possibility of funds for investigation, preservation and all that.”

Waco’s community support, relationship with Baylor and hopeful outlook with the National Parks Service could all serve to make the Mammoth Site a success, Baker said.

“I think they’ve got a good thing there,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great deal.”