State parks threatened in Nevada, Colorado and Montana

The National Park Trust listed the following Western parks threatened from encroaching development, inadequate facilities or overuse:

NEVADA:

-Washoe Lake State Park, about 15 miles south of Reno, with views of the Sierra Nevada and Carson Range.

-Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, about 110 miles southeast of Reno, with fossils of giant marine reptiles that swam the warm ocean covering Nevada 225 million years ago.

-Valley of Fire State Park, about 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, with sandstone more than 150 million years old and Indian petroglyphs that are 3,000 years old.

-Lahontan State Recreation Area, about 35 miles east of Reno, with fishing, boating and camping along 69 miles of shoreline along the Humboldt River.

-Rye Patch State Recreation Area, about 30 miles southwest of Winnemucca along the Humboldt River, with fishing, boating and camping.

COLORADO:

-Roxborough, about 30 miles southwest of Denver, with red-rock area.

-Barr Lake, about 20 miles northwest of Denver, with 300 species of waterfowl.

-Chatfield, about 20 miles southeast of Denver, with hiking, biking and a lake in the foothills.

-Cherry Creek, about 15 miles southeast of Denver, a prairie of gentle hills and bird viewing, and a reservoir.

MONTANA:

-Bannack, about 80 miles south of Butte, the site of the state's first major gold discovery and its first territorial capital.

-Makoshika, near Glendive in eastern Montana, with fossils of tyrannosaurus and triceratops.

-Rosebud Battlefield, about 120 miles southeast of Billings, site of an 1876 battle between Sioux and Cheyenne Indians and the U.S. Cavalry.

-Pictograph Cave, near Billings, home to prehistoric hunters where more than 30,000 artifacts have been found.