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TELLURIDE, Colo. \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conservation proposals for the Dolores River exist in two forms\u2014one for the southern portion and another for the northern section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Feb. 26, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., joined the San Miguel County commissioners virtually to discuss the Dolores NCA legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is a bipartisan piece of legislation that did not make it through the last Congress,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cThat is definitely something I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
San Miguel County commissioners approved an updated letter of support on March 5 to both Colorado senators and Hurd. The letter states, \u201cWe feel that the legislation and the map reflect substantial stakeholder collaboration representing a wide variety of interests around the Dolores River.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Pond said. \u201cThe economic impact of such a designation could be detrimental to local businesses, including those in agriculture, mining, energy, and outdoor recreation, by restricting access.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019 push for a Dolores National Monument designation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no formal proposal, there\u2019s no written language,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a group of commissioners in Mesa County, myself, our GIS teams from both counties, mining interests, recreational interests\u2014people that have been working to have this conversation. I would respectfully ask that we can push this resolution off to another date.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pond and Hansen disagreed on the matter. Hansen said the commission had not yet discussed the purpose of the northern NCA stakeholder group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo say that this national conservation area proposal would protect that land from future monument threats is simply not true,\u201d Pond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one has said that,\u201d Hansen responded. \u201cNo proposal, again, no proposal on the table at all whatsoever\u2014just a conversation, and I think that\u2019s important to recognize here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During public comment, former Bureau of Land Management employee Dennis Murphy shared his perspective on NCAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI actually worked for the BLM for 31 years and worked on NCAs,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThey can be crafted and molded in many different ways, and they don\u2019t 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\u2019t know what you\u2019re saying no to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pond remained firm in his opposition to conservation designations in Montrose County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were successful in dodging or averting the Dolores National Monument proposal, which the Montrose County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution against,\u201d Pond said. \u201cShortly after that, the NCA proposal came to light \u2026 and poses a new threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s opposition to an NCA designation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TELLURIDE, Colo. \u2014 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.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":3126,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"news-category":[542],"news-tag":[608,607,376,395,477],"class_list":["post-3104","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-rural-news","news-tag-conservation","news-tag-doloresriver","news-tag-kotonews","news-tag-montrose","news-tag-telluride"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n