As you read these words, the Dolores River flows through the rugged desert expanse of Western Colorado, weaving life into the Dolores River Canyon Country and beyond.
The meandering river and adjacent sandstone canyons and Ponderosa pine forests represent one of the most biodiverse regions in Colorado. A rich ecosystem of plants and wildlife relies on the Dolores River – including native fish, river otters, beavers, black bears, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, and songbirds. It is also a lifeline for the Southwestern United States, connecting to the Colorado River system and sustaining the lives of 40 million people.
Today, drought and overuse pose an existential threat to the Dolores River. Once a mighty river that regularly flooded its banks, now you can walk along exposed rocks that once lay beneath its flow. This transformation paints a vivid picture of the impacts of climate change—a change that compels us to protect this natural wonder.
For over a decade, community leaders, conservationists, river guides, and local business leaders have attempted to preserve the Dolores River watershed, one of the largest contiguous landscapes in the state.
The latest attempt is a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert to designate the southern portion of the Dolores River corridor in Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel counties as a National Conservation Area and Special Management Area. However, the legislation leaves out the Dolores Canyons in Mesa and Montrose counties, an area that contains the largest and most biodiverse contiguous swath of unprotected public lands in Colorado.
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.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Dolores Canyons area. I saw firsthand a landscape steeped in history—from the earliest Indigenous inhabitants who communicated over long timeframes and distances through petroglyphs to 19th-century miners who executed creative ideas such as the Hanging Flume to pull gold from gravel. It was humbling to stand in the same places where previous generations had lived their lives and left their marks. But perhaps most humbling of all was the setting that the canyon itself provides. Towering cliffs of rocks over 1 billion years old overlook everything from stone buildings, crumbling after a mere century, to a unique wetland that is home to an entire animal and plant community including rare butterflies.
Now is the time for Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper to champion a national monument for the Dolores Canyons to complement their proposed legislation to the south.
If they do, nearly all of Colorado will applaud the decision, according to a 2023 poll of Colorado voters. A Dolores Canyons National Monument garners resounding support from 84% of respondents, spanning the political spectrum and including 93% of Democrats, 85% of Independents, and 71% of Republicans.
New monuments give voters something to be excited about and to point to as progress in protecting nature and wildlife against climate change threats. The creation of new monuments is about invigorating our natural heritage, transcending political divides, and ensuring outdoor spaces will be here for future generations to enjoy. President Biden has already designated five new national monuments since taking office, including the Camp Hale–Continental Divide National Monument. Yet Colorado and the rest of the West deserve more.
More than 7 in 10 (74%) of Western voters say doing more to protect and conserve public lands, parks, wildlife, and national monuments would lift their favorable view of the Biden administration. Western voters are also supportive of President Biden making progress on his own if necessary, with 67% saying they support the use of executive authority to designate land or water as a national monument if it holds unique cultural, historical, or natural significance. The Dolores Canyons certainly fits that description and is well worthy of monument status.
Standing beneath ancient rocks that have witnessed so many human and nonhuman lives come and go, I felt deeply inspired to help ensure that this place be protected so that future generations can experience the same humility and awe that the Dolores Canyons offered to me.
Jennifer Rokala is the executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. She lives in Denver.
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