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TELLURIDE, Colo. — For nearly two decades, elected officials, ranchers, and conservationists have debated how best to protect the Dolores River. That discussion continued over the past two weeks among Western Slope elected officials.

Conservation proposals for the Dolores River exist in two forms—one for the southern portion and another for the northern section.

In the south, San Miguel, Montezuma, and Dolores counties have worked with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., to develop a 68,000-acre National Conservation Area (NCA) proposal. Initially introduced in Congress in 2023, the legislation is the result of years of stakeholder involvement.

On Feb. 26, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., joined the San Miguel County commissioners virtually to discuss the Dolores NCA legislation.

“That is a bipartisan piece of legislation that did not make it through the last Congress,” Hurd said. “That is definitely something I’m looking at picking up with my colleagues in the Senate. As far as I know, all of the counties are in favor, and the local governments have bought in.”

San Miguel County commissioners approved an updated letter of support on March 5 to both Colorado senators and Hurd. The letter states, “We feel that the legislation and the map reflect substantial stakeholder collaboration representing a wide variety of interests around the Dolores River.”

Discussions over a northern NCA remain unsettled. Newly appointed Montrose County Commissioner Sean Pond introduced a resolution opposing an NCA designation for the region on his second day in office during a Feb. 19 meeting.

“The proposed NCA would further contribute to the erosion of control over local public lands [and] diminish the ability for Montrose County residents to utilize these lands for productive purposes,” Pond said. “The economic impact of such a designation could be detrimental to local businesses, including those in agriculture, mining, energy, and outdoor recreation, by restricting access.”

Montrose County Commissioner Sue Hansen had organized a stakeholder group to discuss the northern portion of a Dolores NCA. The concept was introduced last year by Mesa and Montrose counties amid conservationists’ push for a Dolores National Monument designation.

“There’s no formal proposal, there’s no written language,” Hansen said. “There’s been a group of commissioners in Mesa County, myself, our GIS teams from both counties, mining interests, recreational interests—people that have been working to have this conversation. I would respectfully ask that we can push this resolution off to another date.”

Pond and Hansen disagreed on the matter. Hansen said the commission had not yet discussed the purpose of the northern NCA stakeholder group.

“To say that this national conservation area proposal would protect that land from future monument threats is simply not true,” Pond said.

“No one has said that,” Hansen responded. “No proposal, again, no proposal on the table at all whatsoever—just a conversation, and I think that’s important to recognize here.”

During public comment, former Bureau of Land Management employee Dennis Murphy shared his perspective on NCAs.

“I actually worked for the BLM for 31 years and worked on NCAs,” Murphy said. “They can be crafted and molded in many different ways, and they don’t have to be that restrictive. They typically bring in more money for management. You can have more facilities and all sorts of things, so without a proposal, you don’t know what you’re saying no to.”

Pond remained firm in his opposition to conservation designations in Montrose County.

“We were successful in dodging or averting the Dolores National Monument proposal, which the Montrose County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution against,” Pond said. “Shortly after that, the NCA proposal came to light … and poses a new threat.”

While Hansen emphasized the diversity of the working group and its commitment to discussing conservation efforts in the northern portion of the Dolores River, County Commission Chair Scott Mujeres and Pond voted to approve the resolution, confirming Montrose County’s opposition to an NCA designation.