KANAB — Developer Milo McCowan's plan to protect and preserve archaeological treasures found on his land just west of downtown Kanab is being hailed as a unique way to enhance the value of his property.

McCowan owns about 270 acres of open, rolling land that slopes gently on both sides of Kanab Creek as it meanders away from the Vermillion Cliffs. McCowan's plan, which he said would take at least 15 years to accomplish, includes selling 700 to 800 home sites and setting aside up to 25 acres to protect the ruins that belonged to the prehistoric Virgin Anasazi people.

"The physical area of the ruins is about five acres, but we want to put a buffer of around 20 acres around it," McCowan said. "Part of the reason I wanted to do this was I want people to live here that are interested in archaeology. It's like having their hobby right in their own back yard."

Utah State Archaeologist Kevin Jones praised the idea.

"This just sounds like a fantastic initiative by the developer," he said. "Each one of those archaeological sites is like a one-of-a-kind family book. If they're bulldozed or built over, we lose any chance of learning anything about those people. It would be a loss to all of us."

Doug McFadden, a retired Bureau of Land Management archaeologist, surveyed the property for McCowan.

"There are 14 prehistoric and one historic site that range in time from perhaps as early as 100 B.C. through 1200 A.D.," McFadden said. "The sites represent the very earliest agricultural society and their development for 1,200 years. It's significant in the sense that all the time periods are represented."

Among the evidence waiting to be excavated are signs of pit houses, slab-lined storage cists, one large pueblo, and masonry rooms used for storage and living quarters, McFadden said.

"These sites have been known for a long time and have been of interest to professionals," he said. "I was really pleased that Milo was interested in preserving them. It's very rare for a private developer to have this kind of interest in prehistoric history."

One Colorado landowner has already used this idea of incorporating archaeological sites within a housing development. At Indian Camp Ranch, a 1,200-acre project near Cortez, Colo., with 35-acre home sites, more than 200 Anasazi ruins are scattered throughout the development.

Property owners are allowed to excavate sites on their land only under the guidance of an approved archaeologist and must protect the dig, submit an archaeological report and donate all artifacts to an on-site museum upon their death.

While McCowan isn't planning on anything so specific for his development, he said he does want to build a museum and open some sites to the public.