Because it is private property, the crater cannot be part of the national park system. Only federally owned land can house a national monument, so it is merely a national natural landmark. The good part of that is that it doesn’t get closed when the government shuts down, as occurred in 2013 when I started writing this chapter. The other good thing about private ownership is that the Barringers have a vested interest in preserving the crater, and it is indeed considered the world’s best-preserved meteor impact site—though its relatively recent origin helps a lot too.
I think I am slowly growing to dislike Dr. Randall, along with her writing.
Also, she completely discounts the Native Americans.
