You may have heard that Mesa and Montrose counties put forward a National Conservation Area (NCA) proposal to conserve 29,806 acres of public lands in the Dolores River Canyon Country. The county proposal would conserve just 7.6% of the public lands included in the more comprehensive national monument proposal supported by the Western Slope Conservation Center (WSCC).
At WSCC, we pride ourselves on an informed and engaged community of members committed to protecting and enhancing the lands, air, water and wildlife of the Western Slope. We appreciate Mesa and Montrose counties acknowledging the need to plan for the future of the Dolores Canyons, but leaving this landscape’s most important places and values unprotected and open to new mining and industrial development simply falls short.
We need your help telling Mesa and Montrose counties why the Dolores Canyons are important to you!
The counties have launched a public comment process to hear from those interested in the future of the Dolores Canyons. Please take a few minutes today to comment in support of meaningful solutions for stewarding the irreplaceable values of the Dolores Canyons: rich ecosystems that sustain iconic big game populations and threatened species, cultural sites that tie local Tribes to their ancestral homelands, historic places that tell the story of our state’s mining history, and abundant recreational opportunities.
Let the county commissioners know that you support the proposed Dolores Canyons National Monument!
There’s a sample comment below. Or, if you prefer to draft your own comments, please feel free to reference WSCC’s blog or this list of important places and values excluded from the county proposal.
Thank you for your help and support—we couldn’t do it without you!
Sample Comment Instructions:
We recommend submitting comments by October 1st, though there is no formal deadline.
Click the button below to comment or the paste link into your browser: https://form.jotform.com/242036273331043
The form includes several areas where comments can be added, but it may be easiest to paste comments in response to the prompt “If you believe there needs to be modifications to the Dolores Canyon National Conservation Area (NCA) map, please tell us what needs to be modified.” If you would like, at the bottom of the form there is a box to add details about any areas that are especially important to you.
Additional Resources: WSCC’s blog and this list of important places and values.
Sample Comment Text:
I support the proposed Dolores Canyons National Monument. If Mesa and Montrose counties prefer a conservation area, they must recognize that landscape-scale protections connecting this area’s deep canyons, expansive plateaus, and forested mesas would best conserve the values at-risk.
Those values include important big game habitat, cold water fisheries, rare and threatened species, historical sites, Indigenous cultural sites, vast recreational opportunities, areas of geological interest, and paleontological history.
Specific areas from the Dolores Canyons National Monument proposal, which are left out of the NCA and should be included are: Unaweep Canyon, Roc Creek, Sinbad Ridge, the slopes of the Uncompahgre Plateau, and protections for critical wildlands including Sewemup Mesa, The Palisade, and Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Areas. Historical sites that tell the story of our mining history include Tenderfoot, Flat Top, Calamity, Outlaw and Blue Mesas.
As a public lands user and advocate, I believe it is important to consider input from the public. Thank you for the opportunity. The time to protect the Dolores River Canyon Country is long overdue, let’s work together to recognize and preserve what makes these public lands so special.
