NATIONAL MONUMENTS: BLM, Forest Service officials hear strong support for Browns Canyon designation
Scott Streater, E&E reporter
Published: Monday, December 8, 2014
SALIDA, Colo. -- The proposal to designate a national monument in a picturesque south-central Colorado canyon straddling the Arkansas River was strongly supported by residents, business owners and conservation groups here during a public hearing Saturday afternoon that was attended by two senior Obama administration officials.
More than 200 people crammed a small theater and adjacent overflow room for the chance to tell Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell and Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Steve Ellis that it's time for President Obama to use his executive authority to designate the 22,000-acre Browns Canyon National Monument that has been in the works for years.
The public hearing took place less than two weeks after Colorado's Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet sent a letter asking Obama to consider bypassing Congress and using his executive powers under the Antiquities Act to protect Browns Canyon (Greenwire, Nov. 26).
"If we're waiting for Congress to compromise on this, we're going to be waiting a pretty long time," Bob Box, a nearby resident who said he lives along the Arkansas River, said in comments echoed by many others. A presidential designation, Box said, "is our opportunity to protect this place. Please, help us get the job done."
Both Tidwell and Ellis said after the hearing that they were impressed with the passion and urgency of the local residents and business owners, interspersed with environmental activists from across the state, to protect the canyon that's prized by whitewater rafters and anglers.
The presence of two senior administration officials at the hearing in this small town about 150 miles southwest of Denver was seen by monument designation proponents as an indication that the president is ready to move on the proposal. Many of Obama's 13 national monument designations so far have been preceded by visits from top-level administration officials, including the nearly 500,000-acre Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in New Mexico that Interior Secretary Sally Jewell toured in January.
"It's definitely being considered," Tidwell said in an interview after the hearing. "If it wasn't being considered, I would not be out here today. There's interest."
But Tidwell and Ellis declined to say that the potential national monument is a top priority of the administration, or that their attendance at the hearing indicates the president is ready to establish it.
The purpose of the hearing was to get feedback and gauge public support, said Ellis, who hiked a backcountry trail in the canyon with BLM state office staff for the first time before the hearing and said he was amazed by the region's "beautiful landscape."
"It's important to listen to the public," Ellis said. "That's why I was here today."
Ellis said he heard loud and clear the "tremendous passion for the area," adding, "I'll share that back in Washington."
The duo certainly heard an earful during the nearly three-hour hearing at the jam-packed SteamPlant Theater on the banks of the Arkansas River.
More than an hour before it began, numerous cars parked outside the theater had white placards taped to the sides that read, "Browns Canyon National Monument YES!" Inside, supporters wore bright green stickers that read, "I support Browns Canyon National Monument."
There were so many attendees that organizers were forced to establish a numbered lottery system to select speakers, who were given one minute to deliver their comments to Ellis, Tidwell, the two senators, and Bob Randall, deputy director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
One by one, residents and business owners expressed support for establishing a national monument.
Mike Smith, a Salida resident and self-described "lifelong whitewater kayaker," said there is "widespread local support" for a designation. "I've never ever seen a place more deserving of a national monument designation."
Others came from as far away as Fort Collins nearly 200 miles to the north to support the designation. "I've come up here hundreds of times," said David Justice, a Colorado Springs resident who has fished and hiked in Browns Canyon since 1972. "It's a wonderful place; it should be preserved."
The officials also heard from the group Veterans Expeditions, which helps battle-scarred veterans by taking them on rafting and camping trips in the canyon, said Lee Hunnicutt, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the group's board of directors.
"The healing that takes place in the wilderness cannot be overstated," said Hunnicutt, who lives in Salida. "We as veterans use this land; we depend on it; we see the healing. We will not stand by while our public lands are eroded. We will take a stand."
And they heard from the Denver-based Environmental Learning for Kids, which uses Browns Canyon as a site for inner-city kids to experience rafting and camping, many for the first time, said Amy Wright, the nonprofit group's student coordinator.
"We rely on beautiful places like Browns Canyon," Wright said.
Others, like Buena Vista, Colo., Mayor Joel Benson, said the national monument would have an "immense economic impact" on the region.
The proposed monument area sits between Buena Vista to the north and Salida to the south, both in Chaffee County.
A number of speakers urged the Obama administration not to be shy about the president using his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the canyon a national monument.
"I hear some say [the proposal] has been rushed," said Brandon Miller of Castle Rock, Colo. "It's been 20 years. If not now, when?"
Protecting existing rights
The latest version of the Browns Canyon monument proposal is the result of what Udall's office says is years of working with local residents and business and government leaders to craft a bill that protects the canyon area but respects valid and existing uses of the lands managed by BLM and the Forest Service. Udall circulated a draft bill in March 2013 that drew broad community support before filing S. 1794, which calls for establishing the new monument.
But Udall and Bennet wrote in the letter to Obama last month that a presidential designation may be necessary because Udall's bill -- filed one year ago this week -- is mired in political gridlock and appears unlikely to be approved.
Udall, who last month lost his re-election bid to Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), hosted Saturday's public hearing.
He reiterated during it that "congressional gridlock" has stalled his bill, which he defended as a "community-driven proposal." If a presidential designation is needed, he said, he would recommend that it follow the measures outlined in his bill, which he said would not interfere with existing, legal land uses, including livestock grazing.
Udall said the willingness of Tidwell and Ellis to attend "cannot be overstated," just two weeks after the senators' letter to Obama.
But even before Saturday's hearing, the attendance of Tidwell and Ellis drew sharp criticism from House Natural Resources Chairman-elect Rob Bishop (R-Utah).
Bishop issued a statement last week expressing concerns that their planned attendance "may signal the Administration's intention" to bypass Congress and make the designation (E&ENews PM, Dec. 3).
Bishop also said the designation suffers from a "lack of support." Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), whose 5th District encompasses Browns Canyon and who has not sponsored a companion bill to Udall's in the House, has said he opposes the designation.
The raucous crowd at Saturday's hearing booed Neal Schuerer, Lamborn's district director, after he read a statement from the congressman that called the proposed presidential declaration "flawed on multiple levels."
Lamborn's statement read by Schuerer said presidentially designated monuments, unlike monuments established by Congress, have historically become "orphans" in the federal public lands system and are typically "underfunded."
"Does Browns Canyon really deserve second-class status?" Schuerer read.
Other than Lamborn, few residents expressed concerns. Among them was Lee Robinson of Buena Vista, who said he fears a monument designation could attract too many visitors to the mostly remote and untrammeled area.
And a representative of the state's cattle industry expressed concerns that a monument designation could eventually infringe on existing federal grazing allotments in the area.
But Udall said several times that any presidential designation should follow his legislation, which recognizes existing and valid uses of the public lands at issue. "We will protect these important grazing rights," he said.
