Make Colorado National Monument
our 60th National Park
by Ginny McBride

Editorial reprinted with permission from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel:
What would John do? Should the Colorado National Monument become
America’s 60th national park or remain as it is?
Those of us fully versed in John Otto’s story know his dream was to see
the canyons west of Grand Junction recognized by Congress as a national
park. Instead, in 1911 President Taft created what is now Colorado
National Monument.
One hundred years later, the Colorado National Monument Association is
determined to make Otto’s very real dream come true.Grand Valley
residents may know CNMA exists to support Colorado National Monument
and its scientific, educational and interpretive programs, with the goal of
helping visitors better connect to this rich geologic and recreational gem in
western Colorado. You could say CNMA’s mission is to fulfill John Otto’s
dream — to share the monument’s splendor with the world.
The association believes national park status is the right thing for the
monument and the Grand Valley. Here’s why: 
 National parks and monuments are operated under the same set
of laws, regulations and policies. The federal government (not state
or local governments, as some erroneously believe) has successfully
managed the monument for 101 years and will continue to do so in
the future. 
 Changing the monument’s status to a national park will not drive
changes in air or water quality standards. The monument is a Class
II area under the Clean Air Act. Class I areas include national parks
with more than 6,000 acres, wilderness areas over 5,000 acres and
international parks that existed in 1977. For example, although Great
Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison were monumentsturned national parks, only the wilderness areas that existed in 1977
in those parks classify as Class I areas. 
 The monument’s current boundaries will not change because of
park status. Glade Park residents will retain the court-adjudicated
right of way to the four-mile stretch of Rim Rock Drive from the east
entrance to DS Road. 
 Currently, the majority of Rim Rock Drive traffic represents nonrecreational users accessing Glade Park.   If changing the monument
to a national park causes a 10 percent increase in recreational use,

summer traffic would increase by approximately 52 cars, less than a 

4 percent increase in total traffic. 
 The monument is not too small to be considered a national park.
There are several national parks the same size, or even smaller,
than our monument.These are just some of the facts related to
the monument becoming a national park.
Last week, National Geographic published its Top 10 List of
underappreciated parks. Colorado National Monument was No. 4.
While CNMA is pleased the monument is recognized for its
“spectacular canyons, buttes, spires and other sandstone
formations,” we regret it continues to be overshadowed by other
nearby national parks such as Arches and Canyonlands.
By achieving national park status, the monument will be recognized
by entities like the Rand McNally National Parks Guide and by tour
companies currently bypassing this incredible jewel situated in the
center of a vibrant community and next to a fine regional airport.
Some wonder why the monument deserves to be a national park,
given its small size as compared to Yellowstone or the Grand
Canyon. Here is why: 
 The monument has one of the last remaining intact pinyon juniper woodlands along the Colorado Plateau, with trees over
1,000 years old. 
 Within its boundaries are endemic plants, hanging gardens,
biological soil crust, riparian ecosystems, native grasslands,
sagebrush and shrublands. 
 The monument’s geologic features include Precambrian
basement rocks (1.75 billion years old). 
 The monument is a prime example of “hanging canyons,”
originating not from glaciers, but from faulting that elevated a
block of tough Precambrian rock. 
 Rim Rock Drive, listed on the National Register of Historic
Places, is one of the most spectacular drives in the United
States. It was constructed using manual labor by the Civilian
Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration. It is
a historically significant Depression– era project.
Colorado National Monument is entirely worthy of national park
status. Yet the most important reason is so we may fulfill our roles as
stewards and hosts for this landscape and meet our obligation to
share the monument with the world. A national park will be a source

of pride for our community and for a nation that cherishes its park
system.
The first National Park Service Superintendent, Stephen Mather,
could have been speaking to each of us when he said:
“The parks do not belong to one state or to one section … The
Yosemite, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are national
properties in which every citizen has a vested interest; they
belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of
Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming,
and of Arizona … A visit inspires love of country; begets
contentment; engenders pride of possession; contains the
antidote for national restlessness … He is a better citizen with
a keener appreciation of the privilege of living here who has
toured the national parks.”
Join CNMA in supporting the change to park status to fulfill John
Otto’s dream.Visit our website, www.coloradonma.org,
or gjforparkstatus.com. Send a letter of support to your
congressional representatives. Let’s be No. 60!
Ginny McBride is chairwoman of the Colorado National Monument
Association. She wrote this column on behalf of the association’s
board of directors. 

Park status for monument is an idea whose time has come

By Josh Penry
Thursday, March 21, 2013

Courtesy:  Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

The idea of redesignating the Colorado National Monument as a national park has been talked about in coffee shops and boardrooms for a very, very long time.

But while the concept as concept enjoys widespread local support, it has never made it off the drawing board.

Why? For those wanting to grant this western Colorado crown jewel its just due as a national park, the devil’s always been in the details.

What to call it?

How to maintain historic access for adjacent residents, ranchers and recreationalists?

How to tightly structure the law so that the Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency don’t manipulate it?

Every national park designated through the annals of American history has confronted and overcome similarly critical issues.

But for whatever reason, these and other questions have remained unsettled with respect to Colorado National Monument. They’ve been the undoing of those advocating park status for this red-rock hunk of God’s best handiwork.

Will this be the year that our community and congressional representatives finally settle these issues, opening the door for the Colorado National Monument to become America’s newest national park?

Let’s hope so. It’s an idea whose time has come.

In our laws and our culture, there is no higher privilege or higher standard for a patch of dirt, rock, forest or mountain than to become a national park.

No ordinary patch of Mother Earth qualifies, either.

Grand Canyon. Grand Teton. Yosemite. They are our collective natural treasures. They speak to our love of God’s creation and our desire to preserve and showcase these extraordinary places in our otherwise ordinary lives.

I’m not going to spend any time describing why the Colorado National Monument is easily on par with the standard of a national park. If you’ve looked over Cold Shivers’ Point on a clear, blue day, you know.

Colorado National Monument is a national treasure already — the sign just doesn’t read national park.

Beyond preserving and showcasing the best that nature has given us, national park status can be an economic engine.  When the uninformed passersby see the sign “national monument,” they can be forgiven for thinking it is a roadside tribute to an old dude who drove a wagon train through here once.

But a national park? RVs come rolling in to see a national park.

These reasons, and many more, explain the desire of many through the decades to remake our Colorado National Monument into a national park.

It’s been more than 100 years now since then-President William Howard Taft established Colorado National Monument with the easy stroke of a foresighted pen.

The national monument designation, as big a deal as it was, was still something of a consolation for 20th century naturalist John Otto, the legendary man who first promoted the idea of making this track of rolling red-rock canyons and jaw-dropping spires a national park.

“I came here last year and found these canyons, and they feel like the heart of the world to me,” Otto said. “I’m going to stay and build trails and promote this place, because it should be a national park.”

But Congress didn’t act on Otto’s idea, and only Congress can create a national park. So Taft did the best he could, invoking the Antiquities Act to designate Colorado National Monument.

A century later, Otto’s words are persuasive, though his dream is unrealized.

How do we finish the job?

First, those who support national park status, say so. Tell Sen. Mark Udall and Congressman Scott Tipton to both listen to local input and actively work to forge consensus.

Once they hear from you, the ball will be in their court to begin methodically working through those devilish details that have trapped our national park in the purgatory of monument status.

How do we protect historic access for the residents of Glade Park? Udall and Tipton should work with Glade Park ranchers and residents to hammer out legislative language that clearly requires exactly that.

How do we keep the EPA from construing the national park designation as an excuse to monkey with industry? Again, leaders in our community, perhaps the Mesa County commissioners and cities of Fruita and Grand Junction, should haul their lawyers into Udall and Tipton’s offices and craft statutory guarantees that keep the EPA at bay.

In 25 and 125 years, our descendants and those of Udall and Tipton will cheer their action and their leadership if they can hammer out agreement and pass national park legislation.

For this great and glorious God-given gift, national park status is an idea whose time has come. Let’s hope this is the year Udall and Tipton can make it happen.

Josh Penry is a former minority leader of the Colorado Senate. He is a graduate of Grand Junction High School and Mesa State College.