Browns Canyon National Monument


Browns Canyon National Monument is a national monument in Chaffee County, Colorado that was designated as such by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act on February 19, 2015. The site will be centered along the Arkansas River between Buena Vista and Salida. Browns Canyon is the most popular destination for whitewater rafting in the country, and is also known for its fishing and hiking. The monument will provide habitat protection for bighorn sheep, peregrine falcons, elk, and golden eagles.
Designation of the monument was requested by numerous Colorado lawmakers, including Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, Representative Joel Hefley and Governor John Hickenlooper. It was opposed by Representatives Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, who objected to the president's use of executive action in declaring the monument. Lamborn also objected to the effect that the monument's creation would have on grazing, mineral and water rights; in response the White House stated that the designation would honor "valid and existing rights, but withdraws the area from future mineral leasing."
The monument will be run jointly by the Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service.

History

The Bureau of Land Management initially designated the region around Browns Canyon as a wilderness study area after it had been named as a potential site for consideration as such in 1979. The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1991, introduced by Representatives Wayne Allard and Dan Schaefer, would have named hundreds of thousands of acres in the state as wilderness, including the Browns Canyon area, but the bill never passed beyond the committee stage. In 2005, Joel Hefley and six other Colorado lawmakers introduced the Browns Canyon Wilderness Act; a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Wayne Allard. The legislation failed due to the influence of the National Rifle Association, which claimed that a wilderness designation would limit hunting in Browns Canyon. An attempt to reintroduce the Act by Senator Ken Salazar once again failed to clear its committee. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet attempted to introduce legislation designating the canyon as a national monument in 2013, but it, too, failed. Udall's bill also contained over of wilderness protections, which are not included in the proclamation, as such protections may only be enacted by Congress. The monument as designated otherwise substantially follows the acreage designated in the bill.