The Dolores River Basin, deep in Colorado's canyon country, is under threat from oil and gas drilling and uranium mining. © John Fielder
The Dolores River Basin and the Dominguez Canyons area, both in western Colorado, represent some of the most rugged, remote areas of the state. These high desert ecosystems are strongholds for biological diversity, home to such species as river otter, canyon tree frog, and at-risk native fish like the bluehead sucker and roundtail chub. Unique hanging garden ecosystems contain many wildflowers and the side drainages and canyon rims are home to plants found nowhere else in the world.
The Good News
President Barack Obama’s March 30th signing of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act officially designated the Dominguez Canyons area as wilderness. The bill designated more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states, including the creation of the 210,000-acre Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation area, of which the more-than 60,000-acre Dominguez Canyon Wilderness is now part. During the long wait for wilderness designation (the Dominguez Canyon area languished for nearly 20 years on the candidate list), Center for Native Ecosystems worked to monitor and stem threats from harmful development projects that could irreversibly impact biologically-important wildlife habitat.
Our Ongoing Efforts
While the designation of the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness is a critical step to protect western Colorado’s iconic canyon country, the neighboring Dolores River Basin is still under growing threat from the explosion of oil and gas drilling on public lands in western Colorado and eastern Utah. The recent upsurge in uranium mining across the West also presents serious air and water quality threats to this uranium-rich region, and the high-impact infrastructure developments and transportation activities associated with uranium mining stand to fragment and disturb sensitive populations of native species in the area.
We work closely with a diverse local network of conservation groups, outfitters and guides, local citizens, and recreation groups to protect wild lands, as they are critical habitat for many native plants and critters. Center for Native Ecosystems provides key biological support to these coalition campaigns, enhancing their overall capacity, improving the ability to provide interim defense for key conservation values, and strengthening our collective ability to secure long-term protective designation.
