After nearly two decades of local discussion and collaboration on the Dolores River and at the request of Dolores, Montezuma, and San Miguel Counties, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the local cattle rancher, and conservation groups, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet introduced legislation to designate a National Conservation Area (NCA) for a portion of the Dolores River Corridor within the counties. This bill would protect over 68,000 acres of public lands in Colorado.
A proposed NCA spanning four counties (Montezuma, Dolores, San Miguel, and Montrose) along the Dolores River from below McPhee Dam to Bedrock has been discussed for many years. In 2008 the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management requested that the Dolores River Dialogue--a coalition of diverse interests in the region--convene a broad-based community group, which became the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group. The group was charged with studying pressing management issues in the Dolores River corridor from McPhee to Bedrock, including the possibility of a Wild and Scenic River federal designation. The working group, through consensus agreement, decided to explore the possibility of an NCA and appointed a Legislative Subcommittee, including counties, water managers, conservation groups, landowners, recreationists, energy companies, and staff from federal elected officials’ offices, to draft a legislative proposal for further vetting. Bennet's legislation is a result of this collaborative process.
Resources
- Dolores River Bill Text
- Fact Sheet
- Map of the Proposed Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area
- Letter from Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners Supporting Legislation
- Letter from San Miguel County Board of Commissioners Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Archuleta County Commisioners Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Conservation Groups Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Dolores County Board of County Commissioners Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Rancher That Operates in Proposed NCA Supporting Legislation
- Letter from The Nature Conservancy Supporting Legislation
- Letter from the Conservation Alliance, Outdoor Alliance, and Outdoor Industry Association Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Dove Creek Supporting Legislation
- Letter from La Plata County Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Jagged Edge Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Trout Unlimited Supporting Legislation
- Letter from San Miguel Watershed Coalition Supporting Legislation
- Letter from the Town of Norwood Supporting Legislation
- Letter from City of Cortez Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Town of Dolores Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Colorado Supporting Legislation
- Letter from the Southwestern Water Conservation District Supporting Legislation
- Letter from Western Small Miners Association
Dolores River National Conservation Area Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a National Conservation Area?
- Why propose a National Conservation Area?
- Where did the legislation come from? Who created the proposal?
- Why the three-county bill?
- What new designations are in the proposed legislation?
- How will this affect water rights?
- How will this affect tribal water rights?
- How will the legislation affect private property rights?
- How will this legislation affect livestock grazing?
- How will motorized use and the Dolores River Road be affected?
- How will this legislation affect oil and gas, mining and uranium?
- How will this legislation affect the Tri-State utility corridor?
- How will this legislation affect boating flows?
- How will this legislation affect native fish?
- Does the legislation designate the Dolores River as a Wild and Scenic River?
- Why not designate the Dolores as a Wild and Scenic River?
- How does this legislation protect conservation values?
- Will the legislation put more water in the river for boating or native fish or the environment?
- How will this legislation affect emergency access?
- How will the NCA be managed?
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A National Conservation Area (NCA) is a protective congressional designation for federal land that can be tailored to meet specific local needs. Unlike other designations, such as wilderness areas or national parks which must meet the requirements of previous laws (e.g., the Wilderness Act), NCA’s are only defined by the designating legislation. Return to Top
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The Dolores River has been found to be suitable for designation as a wild and scenic river by federal land managers. Many in the local water and agriculture communities have concerns about a wild and scenic designation because it would come with a federal reserved water right.
Local residents, working through the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group (described below) looked at various ways to permanently protect natural, historic, and cultural values by means other than a wild and scenic designation.
The group agreed on an NCA as the best way to accomplish this goal because National Conservation Areas (NCAs) can be tailored to meet specific local needs. Therefore, an NCA can protect the natural and recreational values of the Dolores River without harming water rights or agriculture.
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The legislation was crafted over a decade by the Legislative Subcommittee of the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group, which was formed in 2008 as an offshoot of the Dolores River Dialogue.
The Lower Dolores Plan Working Group had about 50 participants and included representatives from counties with lands in the proposal, water interests, ranchers, boaters, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, conservationists, private landowners, mineral interests, and OHV users. The smaller Legislative Subcommittee represented all of the Working Group interests.
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An earlier proposal included lands in Montezuma, Dolores, San Miguel, and Montrose Counties. In 2017 Montezuma and Montrose Counties stopped participating in discussions, yet Dolores and San Miguel Counties wanted to continue to move forward. In 2022, Dolores, San Miguel, and Montezuma Counties all agreed to the current version of the bill. Return to Top
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The legislation establishes a National Conservation Area (NCA) on BLM lands and a Special Management Area (SMA) on Forest Service lands in the area.
Because NCA’s and SMA’s are tailored to meet specific local needs, these two areas are effectively the same, just with different names preferred by each agency.
The Ponderosa Gorge Roadless Area (as shown on the map) will be managed to preserve its wilderness character.
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It will have no effect on private water rights, instream flow rights, or McPhee project contracts obligations. It does not create a federal reserved water right, express or implied.
The Working Group agreed that ongoing discussions on management of releases and flows are best considered outside of the proposed legislation.
The current venue for this is the Dolores River Native Fish Monitoring and Recommendation Team, which is an informal, multi-disciplinary advisory body.
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It will not affect tribal rights. The legislation explicitly honors and protects the Ute Mountain Ute water rights settlement. Return to Top
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The legislation does not affect private property rights. Further, provisions were added guaranteeing access through the designated area to private property when a natural barrier prevents other access. Return to Top
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The legislation will not affect grazing, which will continue to be managed as it is now. Return to Top
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Motorized travel will be allowed on roads and trails designated in the NCA/SMA management plan. The route commonly known as the Dolores River Road, which begins at the Dove Creek Pump Station and follows the river north until it becomes San Miguel County Road N14, will be unaffected by the legislation except that the non-county portion of the road north of the wildlife closure may not be improved beyond a primitive state, as it is now. The road will remain subject to the seasonal wildlife closure (as managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife) currently in effect. Return to Top
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Valid existing mining, oil gas claims, and Department of Energy uranium lease tracts may continue to be developed.
The rest of the NCA/SMA is withdrawn, which means that new leasing is prohibited. If DOE uranium leases expire and are abandoned, they become part of the NCA/SMA.
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The legislation does not affect the Tri-State utility corridor. Return to Top
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The legislation itself does not directly affect boating flows.
It requires the Bureau of Reclamation to have meaningful collaboration with interested stakeholders regarding the management of already available flows below McPhee Reservoir.
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The legislation requires land managers to manage the NCA/SMA for the benefit of a number of values, including native fish.
However, the legislation does not require changes in flow regimes.
The Secretary would be directed to have meaningful collaboration and consider recommendations from interested stakeholders regarding the management of available flows below McPhee Reservoir.
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No. The legislation removes the study provision of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act for the Dolores River within the boundaries of NCA/SMA. In other words, land managers will no longer study that portion of the Dolores River for suitability as a wild and scenic river, which is a necessary step toward designation by Congress. Return to Top
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A wild and scenic river designation carries with it a new federal reserved water right for any unallocated water in a river segment.
Water and agricultural interests are concerned that a federal right could negatively affect existing private water rights.
That is why the Dolores River Working Group concluded that an NCA/SMA would permanently protect the natural values of the river corridor, without imposing any new water rights.
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The Dolores River is currently listed as suitable for wild and scenic designation by federal land managers, which identify a number of Outstandingly Remarkable Values (ORVs) - including three native fish species, whitewater boating, cultural resources, geology, scenery, and ecology - and requires managers to protect the ORVs.
The legislation clearly identifies natural, scientific, and historical values of the river (including the ORVs identified above) and requires federal agencies to manage the area to protect and enhance those values.
New dams on the river and tributaries in the designated area will be prohibited.
Activities outside the NCA/SMA will not be allowed if they would have significant negative effects on NCA/SMA values.
Natural values are clearly identified and required to be protected.
The Ponderosa Gorge would be designated as a roadless area and managed to maintain its current remote and wild condition.
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The legislation does not modify water flow or volume.
As noted elsewhere, the Secretary would be required to collaborate with and consider recommendations from interested stakeholders regarding the management of available flows below McPhee Reservoir.
This does not represent a change from current practice because the Dolores River Native Fish Monitoring and Recommendation Team currently provides recommendations for reservoir managers to consider.
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Not at all. Federal managers in coordination with firefighting and search and rescue authorities may use whatever means necessary to respond to emergencies within the NCA/SMA. Return to Top
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The legislation requires the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to draft a management plan for the NCA/SMA within 3 years of enactment.
The legislation creates an Advisory Council to provide input to the federal agencies in preparing the management plan. The Council must consist of key stakeholders in the region, including water interests, grazing, private landowners, conservationists, boaters, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and local counties.
The Management Plan will detail how the BLM and Forest Service shall manage the activities within the area to protect the values identified in the legislation while preserving pre-existing uses.
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