Whatever we call it, let’s protect the Dolores

2024/6/9 | Colorado: Montrose Co.

Whatever we call it, let’s protect the Dolores: comment to Colorado senators

Comment on the proposals to protect the Dolores, to Senator Hickenlooper in Mesa County, and Senator Bennet in Montrose County

By Matt Barnes

Welcome, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, to the last best part of Colorado.

I'm a rangeland scientist and conservationist. I used to manage a ranch in Montrose and Gunnison Counties. Now I live in southwest Colorado, almost on the bank of the Dolores River.

I chose southwest Colorado for its public lands, its ancient history, and because its where the river flows from the mountains to the Colorado Plateau.

Last year was one of those rare years when there was enough water below McPhee Dam to actually function as a river. I followed the river from its source at Bolam Pass to its mouth at the Colorado. My favorite sections are where the river flows from green forest to red-rock desert in the proposed national conservation area, the twists and turns of the wilderness study area, and the river's rowdiest rapid at the state line. Most of those days I saw few or no other boaters, especially in the proposed national monument.

What this land has to offer is, paradoxically, its long history of human habitation, and its wild character.

My favorite river is also a degraded river.

The Dolores watershed needs protections, whether through the NCA, the monument, or both. Local groups have been working on that for at least a couple decades.

Whatever we call it, what matters most is land health, improving water quality, protecting biodiversity, and maintaining solitude. Whatever we call it, let's not advertise or put up any signs. Whatever we call it, let's protect the Dolores.