GRAND JUNCTION – In advance of this Senator Hickenlooper’s public meetings, community and business leaders from across the state are voicing their support for action on the Dolores Canyons National Monument.

WASHINGTON, DC—This morning, Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout delivered over 103,000 petition signatures to the Biden administration from individuals voicing support for protecting the Dolores Canyons National Monument.

A monument designation supports what hunters have been working on for several years now: the conservation of quality winter range and secure migration corridors – something the Dolores country has in abundance.

I will always support efforts to preserve our natural landscapes. Growth is coming, has come, will continue to come. Whatever tense you want to use. Better we preserve that which has given us and our children joy, and look for ways to collaborate on minimizing adverse impacts, than let random chance determine the outcome.

Talk with neighbors and head down to that enchanting, biologically rich Dolores River. If any river is worthy of a monument designation, it’s the Dolores River and its surreal surroundings.

In my conversations with community members, there are two general responses I get to the proposal to designate a national monument for the Dolores River Canyon Country. One is a pessimistic, fear-based response that disregards facts. The other, vastly more common response is agreement that the Dolores is a truly special place and curiosity about whether a national monument might be the right tool for stewarding this landscape.

As support for protecting this magnificent landscape as a national monument gains momentum, it is imperative to recognize not only the ecological and cultural significance of preserving such places but also the profound benefits they offer to our children and their relationship with nature.

The Protect the Dolores Coalition’s proposal for a monument designation is an opportunity for western Colorado communities to lean into a civil conversation about ways to sensibly protect the Dolores River and its riparian zone of life, historical sites related to the area’s mining legacy, Indigenous cultural sites, remarkable geology, paleontological sites, world-class recreation opportunities, and the most biodiverse stretch of unprotected public lands in Colorado.

The biggest threats to hunting in western Colorado stem from fragmented landscapes, large-scale development and unmanaged recreation. A Dolores Canyons National Monument can be an incredibly important tool to help guard against these threats and ensure these world-class hunting opportunities remain for future generations to experience.

A wide-ranging poll on conservation issues released Wednesday revealed, among other things, support for some Biden administration initiatives and efforts to protect the Dolores River corridor, and also concern about climate change that is particularly high among younger people.

As the CEO and founder of a company deeply committed to sustaining the places where Coloradans work and play, I have the privilege of witnessing the transformative power of nature on both a personal and professional level.

While passing the bill ought to be a no-brainer for congressional leaders, particularly those in the West, Colorado’s elected leaders have an opportunity to think bigger by asking President Biden to protect the Dolores Canyons area in Mesa and Montrose counties as a national monument.

Analysis conducted for a local conservation group has concluded that the Dolores River canyon country has some of the largest areas of highly biodiverse but unprotected public lands in Colorado.

As a local business owner of Jagged Edge and Montrose Surf + Cycle we and the recreation community rely on the wellbeing of our local landscapes, and their conservation as protected lands, to help create jobs and generate economic growth.

As the mayor of Grand Junction, I have the privilege of representing the largest community on Colorado’s Western Slope. Our city, the place I grew up in, is surrounded by awe-inspiring beauty defined by public lands.

My business and community rely on conserved and healthy landscapes, as protected lands help create jobs and economic growth.

The River of Sorrows could see increased protection with federal legislation as a survey shows growing support for a national monument around Colorado’s pristine Dolores River Canyon Country.

The Protect the Dolores Film Tour brings an imperiled waterway and one of Colorado’s last, best unprotected landscapes to communities across the state.

A poll of residents in Colorado and several other Western states on conservation issues finds significant concern about things such as population growth in their state, crowding of outdoor recreation sites, and water scarcity.

Based on snowpack in the Dolores River Basin, there is a 90% probability that the runoff will fill McPhee Reservoir, according to the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center.

The Dolores River starts high in the San Juans southwest of Telluride, passes through Dolores, Colorado, where it fills the Reservoir at McPhee Dam.

Along Highway 141, the mud-stained Dolores River snakes its way through sheer canyons carved between towering mountains of crimson sandstone.

The Dolores River in southwest Colorado flows through one of the largest undeveloped landscapes in the state, a region critical for wildlife migration, biodiversity, cultural resources, and outstanding recreational opportunities.

The Dolores River Canyon is known for its scenic beauty, wildlife habitat, geological formations and cultural and Indigenous historic resources.

Icy beads of water are beginning to form and flow off the San Juan Mountains in southern Colorado. As the droplets merge into tiny trickles, they are pulled on vast journeys to the rivers who carry them to the sea.

Drought conditions exacerbated by climate change is forcing tough choices for the water-starved regions of southwest Colorado, where farmers count on irrigated lands for farming and industry.

Where once a river ran, the Dolores River has all but disappeared in its lower reaches below McPhee Dam this summer, another causality of an intense drought that has gripped Southwest Colorado.

Draft legislation to designate a national conservation area on the Lower Dolores River is being considered again, and Montezuma County wants a seat at the table.