PRESS RELEASE: Mesa and Montrose counties’ slim conservation proposal fails to protect critical components of Dolores Canyons

Local leaders decry meager proposal, call for Senate leadership and a national monument

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24th, 2024

GRAND JUNCTION, CO—Today, Mesa and Montrose counties published a national conservation area (NCA) proposal to conserve 29,806 acres of public lands in the Dolores Canyon Country. While the Protect the Dolores Coalition was glad to see the counties signal the importance of protecting this incomparable place, this particular proposal falls woefully short of conserving the rich wildlife, cultural sites, historic places, and recreational opportunities that make the Dolores Canyons worthy of conserving in the first place. 

"I had high hopes that Mesa and Montrose counties would unite and collaborate with local communities and stakeholders to safeguard the Dolores Canyon Country. Unfortunately, this proposal falls short on multiple fronts,” said Craig Grother, Central West Slope Regional Director of Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a member organization of the Sportsmen for the Dolores coalition. “It fails to conserve wildlands that are essential fish and wildlife habitat, overlooking crucial cold-water fisheries and neglecting critical big game habitats throughout the Dolores Canyons. Colorado’s hunters and anglers are dedicated to seeing this remarkable area protected for future generations, and the most effective proposal to achieve this is the designation of the Dolores Canyons National Monument."

In specific, the NCA proposal excludes:

• Important big game wildlife habitat in Unaweep Canyon, the Uncompahgre Plateau, and Roc Creek, including critical winter range, calving areas, and migration corridors for elk and deer;

• Cold water fisheries like Roc Creek that support iconic species like the Colorado River cutthroat trout;

• Countless Indigenous cultural sites that document the lives of the Ute and Ancestral Puebloan peoples;

• Historical sites that tell the story of the region’s globally-significant mining history, including Calamity Camp and stretches of the Hanging Flume; 

• Virtually all of the Dolores River Canyon, Sewemup Mesa, and The Palisade Wilderness Study Areas; and

• Opportunities for recreation, including areas frequented by hikers, hunters, climbers, nature photographers, and whitewater enthusiasts. 

These important values would be conserved under the current 391,000-acre national monument proposal, which was drafted by western Colorado local elected officials, community groups, and businesses to conserve the most biologically- and culturally-rich public lands in the northern Dolores Canyons region. Over 100,000 people from Colorado and beyond have signed petitions in support of the national monument proposal. By cutting out over 92% of this community-led proposal, Mesa and Montrose county commissioners are leaving open these public lands to new mining and industrial development, a win for developers and a loss for conservation and recreation.

Community efforts to come to a consensus around a national conservation area stalled in Mesa County in 2011 and were abruptly cut short when Montrose County walked away from negotiations in 2018. Now, Colorado’s Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have indicated that they are open to finding a pathway to permanently protect the Dolores Canyons. 

“Mesa and Montrose counties have failed, once again, to offer a good faith plan to safeguard the Dolores Canyons,” said Anna Stout, Grand Junction City Council Member and former Grand Junction mayor. “For almost 50 years, communities have worked to protect the outstanding wildlife, incredible canyons, and world class scenery found just outside Grand Junction. We shouldn’t wait another year to see it protected, much less risk decades of inaction. It is time for Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper to fill the leadership vacuum, work with President Biden, and finally conserve the Dolores Canyons National Monument.”

If the Senators are serious about delivering on longstanding efforts to conserve the Dolores Canyons, working with President Biden to designate a national monument remains the best path forward. Coloradans who care deeply about this landscape should not have to wait another year, another decade, or another five decades for our elected leaders to get the job done.

To learn more about the campaign to Protect the Dolores, please visit www.ProtectTheDolores.org. Media assets are available at www.ProtectTheDolores.org/media.