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After hearing from residents on Colorado's West Slope, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper issued a joint statement over Independence Day saying they support more federal protections around the Dolores River.
The senators said increased protections would also need to come with guarantees that existing mining, hunting, grazing, and water rights are protected—a position that mirrors what advocates for a 400,000 acre national monument have proposed.
The senators were neutral on what mechanisms could ultimately protect the region, but agreed that the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service should continue to manage the land, and that motorized access would remain open on the 160-mile Rimrocker Trail that runs between Montrose, Colorado and Moab, Utah.
Monument supporters, including Rica Fulton with the Dolores River Boating Advocates, welcomed the news.
“We also wholeheartedly agree with the principles that they outlined as part of the vision for the landscape,” Fulton told the Colorado Sun. “We hope to see the senators expeditiously continue meeting with diverse stakeholders and facilitate working with Coloradans to craft a long-term plan for this incredibly special landscape.”
Nevada delegation asks for mining ban at Ash Meadows
Southern Nevada's congressional delegation is asking the Interior Department for a 20-year ban on new mining operations near the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, along with Representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, and Susie Lee signed the letter requesting the mineral withdrawal.
A Canadian mining company announced plans last year to drill 21 boreholes near the refuge in search of lithium. The company wants to drill within a few thousand feet of a spring that provides critical habitat for at least two endangered fish species.
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They kept saying, ‘No, we are not going to do that, we are not going to do that,’ and then they came back and said, ‘Yes, we are.’ We were being misled.”
