This op-ed by David Lien appeared on Colorado Newsline on August 21, 2024.
In the words of former Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Conservation Director John Gale, “Conserving large tracts of undeveloped public lands as national monuments is essential to America’s hunting and fishing traditions.”
To prove the point, in 2016 BHA and a consortium of outdoor groups and businesses released a report, “National Monuments: A Sportsman’s Perspective,” on how national monument designations can sustain important fish and wildlife habitat while maintaining traditional hunting and fishing access.
During 2017, BHA mapped six Western national monuments, highlighting important wildlife habitat, valuable fisheries, and access to great places to hunt and fish. These interactive maps illustrate what we currently possess as public land owners — and what we could easily lose, as a 2024 BHA report, “What Project 2025 Means for Public Lands and Waters,” explains.
In an April 2017 Greely Tribune op-ed — “Antiquities Act protects hunting and angling on public lands” — I wrote: “The Antiquities Act is so popular and effective, in the 111 years since President Roosevelt signed the act, 16 presidents (eight Republicans and eight Democrats) have used this time-tested law. And they’ve collectively protected over 140 areas through powers enabled by the act. Only three presidents have not used it, proving that the Antiquities Act is a useful, bipartisan tool.”
During 2022, BHA issued another national monuments-related report, “Hunter & Angler Tenets for New Monuments,” stating that, “America’s national monuments not only enable long-term conservation of cultural sites and scientifically valuable resources; they also can conserve some of the best hunting and fishing in America.”
BHA has consistently advocated for America’s national monuments system and the judicious use of the Antiquities Act as a way to permanently conserve important large landscapes. Key to achieving this outcome is a process that adheres to specific tenets and is locally driven, transparent, incorporates the science-based management of habitat, and upholds existing hunting and fishing opportunities.
Colorado BHA has a long track record of supporting national monument designations, including Browns Canyon National Monument in 2015 and Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in 2022, as detailed in an October 2023 BHA blog post.
After the designation of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument by President Joe Biden, Gale said, “Hunters and anglers in Colorado have been working with local communities for more than a decade to permanently conserve these public lands and waters and important fish and wildlife habitat … The Antiquities Act is a crucial tool to conserve large landscapes, secure important fish and wildlife habitat and uphold hunting and angling opportunities.”
Currently, Colorado’s hunters and anglers have perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect a wide swath of public lands habitat in southwest Colorado’s Dolores River Canyons region. In April, we joined hunters, anglers, rafters, business owners, and many others from across the state and region in supporting a proposed Dolores River Canyons National Monument.
During August 2024 Colorado BHA Central West Slope Regional Director Craig Grother was featured in a 9News story about the proposed national monument in southwest Colorado. “One of the concerns people here have is, well, we like it the way it is. We don’t want a bunch of people to show up,” Grother said. “Well, unfortunately, it’s already happening. The secret’s out.”
“Craig supports the monument and fears without it these rivers and lands could be loved to death,” 9News added.
“As a hunter and angler, you know, we need wild places. We have very few of them left,” Grother explained.
Scott Braden of the Colorado Wildlands Project added, “It gives us a chance to be proactive rather than reactive.”
“The Dolores Canyons provide critical habitat for the recovery of our desert bighorn sheep, and the reintroduction and associated wildlife management now provide one of the few opportunities to hunt desert bighorn in Colorado,” Grother said.
The Dolores River faces threats from industrial scale mining, habitat fragmentation, and unmanaged recreation. Protecting intact habitat for mule deer, elk, and desert bighorn sheep, particularly winter range and movement corridors, is essential for retaining quality sporting opportunities. Now is the time for action.
A national monument designation will help everyone better manage the change that is already occurring while also protecting public lands habitat and ensuring future generations of hunters, anglers, and many others experience the area as we have.
For additional information see Sportsmen for the Dolores.