By Wendy Gragg

Tribune-Herald staff writer

With a ceremonial turn of dirt, the development of the Waco Mammoth Site officially got under way Thursday.

“It’s beginning. It is beginning, at last,” Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy said at the groundbreaking.

Officials expect the site to be ready for visitors in about a year. But National Park Service representatives said Thursday that public input within the next 30 days is going to be critical to the site’s future.

The site, which includes the remains of two dozen ice age Columbian mammoths, is being developed as a science education attraction by the city of Waco and Baylor University.

Mammoth fervor could be found across Waco on Thursday, from the groundbreaking at the dig site, where the first local mammoth bone was found in 1978, to Mammoth Day at Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum Complex. The museum event included Rapoport Academy Middle School science teacher Jill Barrow signing copies of her book Mammoths in Waco and an invitation for guests to see the museum’s new life-size Columbian mammoth mural.

Mammoth activities continued Thursday night when the National Park Service sought public input on the site’s future.

“This is a critical time because we really need to hear their thoughts and views,” said Michele D’Arcy, project manager with the National Parks Service. “There may be a different way to manage this site that we haven’t thought of yet. We’re not representing a position one way or the other tonight.”

Thursday night’s audience aired questions and concerns, including worry about the future of federal funding for the National Park Service. One attendee suggested the site be funded privately, rather than become a burden to city taxpayers.

Gloria Young, with the Waco Mammoth Foundation, said the free-market had already spoken, with donations of more than $3 million toward the project.

Paul Barron, one of two men who found the first mammoth bone in 1978, didn’t weigh in on a management solution, but said he wanted to know the site would be under strict supervision during construction.

“I don’t want someone to destroy a (mammoth) bull skull with a backhoe,” he said.

D’Arcy also briefly went over a report based on the park service’s “special resource study.”

There are currently four scenarios for management of the site:

* Option A would leave the site under the management of the City of Waco and Baylor University.

* Option B would expand the partnership, with the city of Waco taking the lead role. National natural landmark status would be actively pursued, allowing the city to seek technical assistance from the National Park Service for site resource preservation, interpretation and educational research.

* Option C would make the site a new unit of the national park system, in partnership with the city of Waco, Baylor University and others. The National Park Service would take lead responsibility for ensuring the protection, scientific study and visitor enjoyment of paleontological resources, enlisting the help of its partners.

* Option D would put ownership and operation of the site completely in the hands of the National Park Service.

City Manager Larry Groth has said the third option seems to strike the right balance, allowing the city a say in the development while benefiting from National Park Service resources.

The special resource study states that option C is the most effective and efficient option. The study also finds that options B and C are the two most environmentally efficient, the least intrusive and damaging to the environment.

The study also estimates that option C would carry an annual cost of $300,000 for the city and $345,000 for the National Park Service. Option D would cost the National Park Service more than $700,000 a year. And option B would cost the city $300,000, the Mayborn Museum $45,000 and the park service $25,000 a year. The costs to the city and Baylor under option A were not available late Thursday.

D’Arcy said public input on the site and its management will be used to help shape the recommendation that will be submitted to National Park Service leadership. The park service will then submit a final recommendation to government officials in November.

The four management scenarios are listed at www.wacomammoth.org. The National Park Service special resource study on the Waco Mammoth Site can be found at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?parkID=73&projectId=12000. Public comment is welcome through Sept. 20 on the National Park Service Web site.

Staff writer J.B. Smith contributed to this story.

wgragg@wacotrib.com

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