A promise unfulfilled: three years ago, Congress passed legislation expanding Petrified Forest National Park, setting aside more than 100,000 acres of land that fascinate geologists and paleontologists alike. But things haven't quite turned out the way they were supposed to.

National Parks, March, 2007 by Vanderpool, Tim

Mike Fitzgerald stands within a vanished world, his work boots crunching loose white gravel as he sidesteps fossil remains along a path teeming with petroglyphs. Amiable and lanky, he is a cowboy by birth. But recently, he has become an impromptu tour guide, hauling visitors to the primordial treasures strewn across his Twin Buttes Ranch in northern Arizona.

Fitzgerald doesn't relish his new role. But he's revealing this hidden world to outsiders in the hopes that they'll persuade Congress to protect it. Still, he isn't holding his breath. Today, he's among several ranchers ...