On April 16, Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout delivered a petition to the Biden administration that contained more than 100,000 signatures from Colorado voters who support the creation of the Dolores Canyons National Monument, and 10 days later, Sen. John Hickenlooper hosted seminars with Western Slope voters to hear their thoughts on the proposed monument.
“The outpouring of public sentiment from Colorado and beyond underscores the profound national significance of these public lands,” said a news release from Protect the Dolores.
If the land is designated as a national monument, it will conserve “outstanding cultural, historic and scientific resources, including the Dolores River and its associated riparian zone, Indigenous cultural sites, unique geological formations and paleontological sites, world-class recreation opportunities, historical sites related to the area’s internationally-significant mining legacy and habitat for iconic game species and a variety of plants and animals.”
Over the past 50 years, concerns over growing recreation along the Dolores River and an increase in development have helped fuel the fire to establish the area as a national monument.
“The designation of the proposed Dolores Canyons National Monument will protect Colorado’s most vulnerable biodiversity hot spot, while honoring our past, safeguarding our present, and investing in a future where Colorado's rich natural beauty continues to inspire and enrich the lives of all Americans,” said Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout.
Others pointed out that the Dolores River land area is one of the largest and most biologically diverse areas in Colorado.
Aaron Kindle, director of Sporting Advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation, said that this designation is even something that avid hunters should want.
“Designating the Dolores Canyons as a national monument will ensure that the No. 1 thing wildlife need, high-quality habitat, remains intact, viable and healthy in perpetuity,” Kindle said. “That’s something every hunter should want and be proud to pass onto our kids and their kids.”
While at the White House delivering the signatures and advocating for the national monument, Stout was joined by tribal leaders and other leaders from across the country who are also advocating for national monument designation in their home states.
With their signatures, the total rose to more than 800,000 petition signatures for various national monuments across the country, including those being proposed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and Oregon.
Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, U.S. presidents have the authority to designate national monuments out of public lands, waters, cultural sites and historical sites.
To date, 18 presidents have used the Antiquities Act to create national monuments. Biden has already five national monuments in his presidency, including the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado.
On Friday, Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Denver, met with residents and business leaders in the Western Slope to hear their thoughts, positive and negative, on the proposed monument.
Polls and public opinion surveys are showing that support for the monument designation isn’t by a slim margin.
Colorado College’s Conservation in the West poll showed that 92% of Colorado voters support the designation, and other Colorado leaders have been voicing their support as well.
“The Dolores River Canyon Country is a landscape that grabs you and doesn't let go. It’s a place I’ve devoted my career to conserving, following in the footsteps of many others who have worked for decades to safeguard this incredible area. A national monument designation for the Dolores Canyons in Mesa and Montrose counties will complement the Dolores River Canyon National Conservation Area, which is currently pending in Congress and will provide long-term protection for lands to the south of the national monument proposal,” said Amber Clark, executive director of Dolores River Boating Advocates Amber Clark. “Together, the NCA and national monument will provide contiguous protection for these spectacular public lands and cultural sites while ensuring existing water rights and other uses such as grazing, hunting, and recreation remain intact.”
“Conserving large tracts of undeveloped public lands as national monuments is essential to America’s hunting and fishing traditions,” said Craig Grother, regional director of Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “Farther down the Colorado Basin, President Biden has created new national monuments in places like Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni near the Grand Canyon in Arizona. For the benefit of local communities, hunters, anglers, rafters, wildlands and wildlife, and future generations, Colorado’s leaders and the president should work with the citizens and appropriate state and local governments of the West Slope to conserve the Dolores River Canyons as a new national monument.”
Many others weighed in on the monument as well. Not everyone, however, views the monument favorably.
Those against the monument cited worry about how it would affect their community’s way of life, as well as worries about an influx of tourism, among other concerns.
“I think it absolutely, positively could be a threat,” Nucla resident Sean Pond told The Colorado Sun in March. “If you look at the history of monument designations over time, more and more restrictions are put in place as more people start coming. We could start losing access. These are public lands me and my family and our neighbors have enjoyed for decades. A lot of local people have concerns.”
On Sunday, an opinion letter written by Aimee Tooker of Nucla expressed her concerns for how the monument would affect her tier-one coal community.
Tooker said the proposed monument directly violates House Bill 19-1314, which was signed by both Gov. Jared Polis and the General Assembly in 2020.
According to this bill, there would be a “just and inclusive transition away from coal” and the state made a “moral commitment to assist the workers and communities that have powered Colorado for generations.”
Tooker shared that the monument would violate this bill by putting mining communities at risk.
“This proposed Dolores River National Monument is not just and inclusivity of my community’s wishes, and not locally driven,” Tooker said. “The proponents of this Dolores River National Monument have been made aware that they are in violation of the Colorado Just Transition Action Plan and the directives of Polis, the legislature and H.B. 19-131, and still choose to pursue this presidential proclamation of the Dolores National Monument.”
