---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 410hhh"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "410hhh"
heading: "Findings"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/410hhh"
units:
  - "Chapter 1 — National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores"
  - "Subchapter LIX–FF — Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve"
---

# §410hhh. Findings


Congress finds that—

- (1) the Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4) in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Colorado was established by Presidential proclamation in 1932 to [preserve](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=7) [Federal land](/usc/16/3102.md?p=2) containing spectacular and unique sand dunes and additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations;
- (2) the Great Sand Dunes, together with the associated sand sheet and adjacent wetland and upland, contain a variety of rare ecological, geological, paleontological, archaeological, scenic, historical, and wildlife components, which—
  - (A) include the unique pulse flow characteristics of Sand Creek and Medano Creek that are integral to the existence of the dunes system;
  - (B) interact to sustain the unique Great Sand Dunes system beyond the boundaries of the existing [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4);
  - (C) are enhanced by the serenity and rural western setting of the [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A); and
  - (D) comprise a setting of irreplaceable national significance;
- (3) the Great Sand Dunes and adjacent land within the Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4)—
  - (A) provide extensive opportunities for educational activities, ecological research, and recreational activities; and
  - (B) are publicly used for hiking, camping, and fishing, and for [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) value (including solitude);
- (4) other public and private land adjacent to the Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4)—
  - (A) offers additional unique geological, hydrological, paleontological, scenic, scientific, educational, wildlife, and recreational [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8); and
  - (B) contributes to the protection of—
    - (i) the sand sheet associated with the dune mass;
    - (ii) the surface and ground water systems that are necessary to the preservation of the dunes and the adjacent wetland; and
    - (iii) the wildlife, viewshed, and scenic qualities of the Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4);
- (5) some of the private land described in [paragraph (4)](#4) contains important portions of the sand dune mass, the associated sand sheet, and unique alpine environments, which would be threatened by future development pressures;
- (6) the designation of a Great Sand Dunes [National Park](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=5), which would encompass the existing Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4) and additional land, would provide—
  - (A) greater long-term protection of the geological, hydrological, paleontological, scenic, scientific, educational, wildlife, and recreational [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) of the [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) (including the sand sheet associated with the dune mass and the ground water system on which the sand dune and wetland systems depend); and
  - (B) expanded visitor use opportunities;
- (7) land in and adjacent to the Great Sand Dunes [National Monument](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=4) is—
  - (A) recognized for the culturally diverse nature of the historical settlement of the [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A);
  - (B) recognized for offering natural, ecological, wildlife, cultural, scenic, paleontological, [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13), and recreational [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8); and
  - (C) recognized as being a fragile and irreplaceable ecological system that could be destroyed if not carefully protected; and
- (8) preservation of this diversity of [resources](/usc/16/410hhh–1.md?p=8) would ensure the perpetuation of the entire ecosystem for the enjoyment of future generations.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 106–530, § 2, Nov. 22, 2000, 114 Stat. 2527.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Short Title

Pub. L. 106–530, § 1, Nov. 22, 2000, 114 Stat. 2527, provided that: “This Act [enacting this subchapter and provisions listed in a table of National Wildlife Refuges set out under section 668dd of this title] may be cited as the ‘Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act of 2000’.”