MESA VERDE BURNS      To view a video, click on your connection speed (56k or 300k)
Location: Colorado    Length: 3.25 min        56k      300k    56k      300k
Intense forest fires in July and August of 2000 causedthe greatest natural destruction in the 95-year history of Mesa Verde National Park, a national and international archaeological treasure containing an abundant record of ancient Puebloan life. See recently filmed scenes of unprecedented devastation that will scar the landscape for generations to come. A peaceful blanket of snow now protects the ground, but the spring thaw of 2001 threatens hundreds, and possibly thousands, of prehistoric sites with massive erosion.