Time for Action
The next few years will see major decisions with far-reaching consequences for the communities and resources of the Dolores River Basin. Federal land agencies are revising land use plans for the next 20 years. Industry is exploring public and private lands for oil, gas, uranium and other energy minerals. Ongoing drought places growing stress on the river’s ecology and the allocation of valuable water. Recreational uses are increasing in volume and type as new developments and activities arise.

The Dolores River Coalition joins together local, state and national organizations with business, recreation and conservation interests to protect the natural attributes of the Dolores Basin for the long term benefit of residents and visitors.

The Coalition’s goals are:

• To support sustainable and diverse economies around agriculture, angling, and recreation.
• To stress better and more balanced resource management for the full spectrum of human uses and for the protection of the ecosystem.
• To protect undeveloped landscapes on public and private lands throughout the river corridor.
• To obtain added flows to the Dolores River through management and purchase for the purposes of perpetuating the integrity of the basin’s ecosystem, for increased recreational opportunities, and for the benefit of endangered species.

The Dolores River begins amidst 14,000-foot summits in the San Juan Mountains near Lizard Head Pass and flows for more than 230 miles to its confluence with the Colorado River in Utah’s redrock desert. The river forms a basin of remarkable features:

• Offers one of America’s longest wilderness river floats, over 170 miles of wild and remote canyons and forests.
• Hosts over 250,000 acres of potential wilderness areas including slot canyons and untouched mesas.
• Supplies 230,000 acre-feet of water annually for irrigation near Cortez and Dove Creek.
• Creates an economic advantage to all its surrounding communities.