The Dolores Canyons National Monument

The Protect the Dolores Coalition is proposing a new national monument on approximately 400,000 acres of public lands surrounding the Dolores River in the western portions of Mesa and Montrose counties to conserve the region’s outstanding ecological, cultural, historical, and recreational resources. Western Colorado community members, businesses, and elected leaders are coalescing around a vision for a Dolores Canyons National Monument to assure that these incredible values, wildlands, and wildlife are preserved. ​​A national monument would provide unified management, create opportunities for public input, protect against encroaching development, and promote restoration and ecosystem health. A designation also brings more resources and management attention.

Please note, this map is a starting point for discussion. As we get input from stakeholders we will continue to adjust the proposal.

We propose a national monument because the designation strikes a balance between protecting nature and contributing to transitioning local economies, while also preserving access for recreation and traditional uses like hunting and grazing. 

Building on fifty years of work to protect Dolores River Canyon Country, we believe that a national monument is a flexible protection mechanism, comparable to the conservation outcomes of a national conservation area. A national monument in Montrose and Mesa counties would complement the Dolores River National Conservation Area proposal to the south, which we also strongly support. 

Members of our coalition have been doing outreach in communities closest to the Dolores, more broadly on the Western Slope, and throughout Colorado. We have spoken with dozens of stakeholders and plan to continue our outreach efforts. 

We are advocating for a Dolores Canyons National Monument in Montrose and Mesa counties that:

  • Would not become a National Park. These lands would continue to be managed by the agencies that do so now: the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. 

  • Would not have entrance fees. Like the majority of BLM National Monuments across the west, Dolores Canyons would not charge fees for entrance. 

  • Would not prohibit public lands ranching and grazing. The BLM and USFS would continue to manage as they see fit.  

  • Would safeguard wildlife habitat while maintaining public access for hunting. Colorado Parks and Wildlife would retain authority to manage wildlife. 

  • Would celebrate and support access to economically important and high value motorized routes such as the Rimrocker Trail.  

  • Would allow mountain biking and would not impede on current efforts to build out the Sawtooth, Naturita Flats, or Nucla area trail systems.  

  • Would honor private property rights, access, and existing water rights.

  • Would leverage resources to support ongoing efforts to restore degraded wildlife and riparian habitats, improve water quality, protect cultural resources, reclaim and clean up abandoned mine sites, and develop sustainable recreational infrastructure.  

  • Would not impact the vast majority of valid existing mining claims and known mineral lodes. According to an analysis of publicly available mining claim data from the Bureau of Land Management, nearly 90% of mining activity and interest within the Dolores Canyons is outside the discussion boundaries of the proposed national monument. Additionally, valid existing mining claims within the boundaries would be honored. 

Under a national monument, details about ongoing and future land uses in the Dolores Canyons would be refined in a subsequent Monument Management Plan that invites robust community input and expertise. Community members can inform monument management planning by attending public meetings, submitting public comments, and supporting others to participate in the public process.