“Not a Land Grab”

By Aimee Tooker | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

The proposed Dolores River National Conservation Area is a total of 68,000 acres along the river in Montezuma, Dolores and San Miguel Counties and was the result of over 15 years of stakeholder engagement. Despite the remote and beautiful nature of the Dolores River, over a century of coordinated collaboration among stakeholders has determined its optimal usage and management, and those local conversations excluded the use of both Wild and Scenic status as well as a designation as a National Monument. 

A “Land Grab” would have been a 500,000-acre National Monument signed over by one President. This NCA proposal does NOT include any land in Montrose and Mesa counties and the critical mineral resource known as the Uravan Mineral Belt.

Federal law requires the federal land management agencies work to make their policies consistent with local plans to minimize conflicts and support economic growth. That coordination law should be a measurable requirement in all land management decisions before, during and after the creation of resource management plans and schedule of proposed actions. 

While I recognize the federal government’s original intent for public land ownership (historically, federal holdings were intended to include only Washington D.C. (ten square miles), military bases, and post offices). 

Given our current circumstances, a key question arises: Should public lands be owned and managed by state or federal agencies? 

At this point in time (yeah, the wolves/rewilding issues) I am going to lean toward the federal land management agencies WITH mandates and directives that put local municipalities at the table to draft and coordinate those resources management plans. I am not really trusting the state of Colorado at this point in time to coordinate and collaborate the management of lands with the rural communities.

We all love these lands for different reasons, and the resource management plans are not rule books but guidelines for the agencies and for the distinct areas of the offices. Each of the areas that we love to recreate, hunt and play require different maintenance and monitoring, and those guidelines should be designed by the local municipalities and local stakeholders.

Please take a step back and think about our backyard and what we would like to see and not see take place there. That is why local coordination and collaboration is so important to our culture, values and future economic development.

The following local municipalities that support the Dolores River Conservation Area legislation include Montezuma County, Archuleta County, San Miguel County, Dolores County, La Plata County, Town of Dove Creek, Town of Dolores, Town of Norwood, and City of Cortez. The legislation is also supported by the Southwest Water Conservation District and the Western Small Miners Association who advocate water interests and the mining industries.

Non-governmental organizations have no responsibility to fund necessary public services, no responsibility to protect the economic stability of the people or the local government. 

Your civic responsibility is to vote for and elect public officials that do what is in the best interests of the prospective municipalities. They must balance the needs and interests of all their constituents, that will best fit and benefit the multiple use, sustained yield while protecting private property rights. That stewardship requires careful consideration of multiple interests, including recreation, resource extraction, conservation, and local cultures. 

To best represent all the constituents the Congressman and Senators must rely on the area’s public officials, including elected county commissioners and town trustees, to recommend the best possible course of action to manage the region’s economic development.

Why not advocate for lawfully guided and mandated coordination processes or perhaps rescinding or amending the Antiquities Act of 1906? 

Is it really that incomprehensible to move past negative assumption rhetoric and work toward meaningful solutions? 

Not as entertaining, but way more important to balanced progress than false narratives and AI generated negative comprehension.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.