Washington D.C. – Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Governor John Hickenlooper sent a letter to President Obama asking him to designate Brown’s Canyon as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act to protect the invaluable economic and natural resource for Chaffee County and the State. They urged the President to protect current uses, including grazing rights, if he takes action. The Antiquities Act of 1906 allows the President to preserve valuable and historic sites as national monuments and has been used by 16 presidents.
In the letter to President Obama, Bennet and Hickenlooper wrote:
“We appreciate that the Administration recently sent several officials to Salida, Colorado, to gauge support for the proposal. Based on the sentiments expressed at the meeting, coupled with impressive attendance, it is clear that the local community and Coloradans across the state support an Antiquities Act designation. We would like to add our voices to the community’s sentiment, and hope we can work with the Administration and the state of Colorado as a cooperating agency, to construct a management plan for the area that protects the values of this incredible area while preserving existing uses within the Monument.”
Bennet was a cosponsor of The Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness Act of 2013, originally introduced by Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall, to designate 22,000 acres along the Arkansas River as a national monument to preserve the pristine wilderness area and ensure recreational access for years to come. The Arkansas River is particularly popular for whitewater rafters, representing almost 40 percent of all rafting in Colorado. According to a recent study by the Colorado River Outfitters Association, commercial rafting brought in roughly $141 million for the state in 2013, $55 million alone coming from rafting on the Arkansas River.
Throughout his time in the Senate, Bennet has been a leader in preserving Colorado’s open spaces. His bill to protect more than 100,000 acres of Hermosa Creek Watershed in the San Juan National Forest was recently signed into law after years of community-driven efforts. He also fought to secure the designation of Chimney Rock in southwestern Colorado as a national monument in 2012 and to preserve the Thompson Divide area on the Western Slope.
Full Text of the Letter is Below:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to request that you use your authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Colorado’s Browns Canyon as a National Monument. We appreciate that the Administration recently sent several officials to Salida, Colorado, to gauge support for the proposal. Based on the sentiments expressed at the meeting, coupled with impressive attendance, it is clear that the local community and Coloradans across the state support an Antiquities Act designation. We would like to add our voices to the community’s sentiment, and hope we can work with the Administration and the state of Colorado as a cooperating agency, to construct a management plan for the area that protects the values of this incredible area while preserving existing uses within the Monument. A Browns Canyon National Monument would ensure permanent protection and commemoration of a rare and ecologically valuable landscape. The designation would serve to both highlight and protect this valuable resource.
In addition to recreation and tourism as key economic drivers in the Upper Arkansas Valley and the Browns Canyon area, the valley’s rich agricultural heritage is equally essential to its unique character. A management plan for the monument should ensure that these values – as identified and supported in the “Browns Canyon National Monument and Wilderness Act of 2013” – are protected and maintained. We would like to ensure that the partnership between the state and federal government on managing recreation in the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area is maintained in any final management plan. Our conversations with local ranchers have also identified key management practices that would protect the community’s agricultural tradition, such as providing for the transferability of existing permits to future generations and landowners; using the best available science to determine livestock allocations; continuing reasonable and historic motorized access for maintenance and improvements of permit areas, water rights and relevant structures; and promoting weed control to prevent the spread of invasive species within and surrounding the Monument. We expect that such practices would be permitted within the Browns Canyon National Monument.
We support a Browns Canyon National Monument that boosts the local economy and protects the landscape while providing long-term certainty for existing uses. We encourage you to move swiftly to designate such a Monument.
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