Led by community leader Aimee Tooker and Montrose County Commissioner Sue Hansen, there’s a public meeting in Nucla on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Nucla Community Center to discuss the idea of a national conservation area (NCA) along the Dolores River.
For almost a year, the Dolores River Canyon has been debated, since proponents of a monument have claimed increased protections are crucial to the landscape. The opposition, however, has maintained the land is already protected and monument status will restrict only access and other existing rights.
Since last spring, the majority in the West End have been a part of the Halt the Dolores National Monument group, and they’ve been so vocal that Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet have come to town to listen.
Now, though, some that were a part of the Halt the Dolores group think an NCA is the way to go for the future.
Commissioner Hansen spoke with the San Miguel Basin Forum last Friday and said she wants to be clear about the NCA working group and who’s been a part of it. That includes herself, Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, Paul Szilagyi, Aimee Tooker, Craig Howell, Alan Sisson, Janie VanWinkle, Jody Weimer, John Reams, national resources experts Justin Musser and Amber Swasey, and GIS specialists Lisa Goetch and Sam Redmond. According to her, the group encompasses representatives from the mining industry, but also those with grazing and water interests — the areas of concern. She said they assembled after learning that senate staff wanted to put together a public lands package, one that would include the Dolores River area, and that it would be presented before 2024 ended. Hansen said she’d heard that boundaries were needed by October.
“This is what caused the crunch,” she said. “We worked through the map guidelines and boundaries, and what we could live with.”
Hansen said the working group met about 10 times, with two additional boots-on-the-ground sessions with Senators and staff to look at places like Bull Canyon.
Hansen said the working group has never been “for” a monument, and an NCA is not one. She said there’s a difference. She said at least with an NCA, the local people can engage. Those from West End communities can weigh in, whereas a monument is “more reactive” with a presidential declaration, followed by a management plan afterward.
She admitted her group has acknowledged there are existing protections on public lands already, and plenty of them. But, she said the proponents are not buying that, and they want more.
She added that of the times the working group met, there were only two proposals of maps, and the area is limited to the river canyon, with existing mining protected, as well as potential mining opportunities, grazing and roads.
Hansen knows there is local pushback against the NCA. And, she said it’s true that under the new presidential administration, the monument may not happen. But, she’s been told that if local leaders are not working toward an NCA, the monument could come in another four years.
“We felt like the NCA was the least egregious of the options,” she said.
She even called fellow commissioners in other counties to consult them.
“They said ‘no,’ and that you have to be able to give a little on each side,” she said. “The main goal is to try to avert a monument.”
Hansen’s group has no NCA proposal yet — only a map. She said the group is in a discussion phase. She added when the public lands package was not submitted in 2024, the working group decided to pause, regroup after the first of 2025 and do a meeting to see what the public had to say.
She knows she’s been accused of “ramrodding” the NCA down people’s throats. She said “doing nothing” might be a way forward for some, but she feels the monument issue is not going away.
“If I thought doing nothing would work, I would stand behind that,” she said. “I supported Halt (the Dolores National Monument), but I knew the time was getting crunched. I was concerned about the Antiquities Act … the NCA, to me, what it does is it gives everyone opportunities to engage, weigh in, protect what you want protected. It allows some of the proponents to participate too. And, the tribal nations will have a say.”
She encourages people to come to the Jan. 22 meeting to discuss the matter. She said the NCA can’t move forward with just the working group, and she wants people to engage and drive the process. The West End has to be involved.
Hansen said the even the Senate office was not necessarily for a national monument. She said she believes Senators preferred an NCA all along, because an NCA is based on a legislative process and gives time for unintended results of consequences.
She said she knows leaders of Halt the Dolores National Monument are “dubious” of an NCA, and it’s true that if people don’t stay involved, “things could change.”
“We have to make sure people stay in touch with what’s happening in our public lands, and the West End is willing to do that, I think,” she said.
While Hansen appreciates all comments related to the process, she said merely posting on Facebook in a rant doesn’t solve anything. She said long-term civil engagement from people that are serious about their area is needed. She said it’s about having well-informed discussions.
In the end, she said the working group is made up of thoughtful people, and she truly feels the NCA is in the best interest of the West End.
