A bill has been introduced in Congress called the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act to designate the Dolores River National Conservation Area (NCA) in Colorado. Supporters are selling it as a “reasonable compromise” — claiming it will protect the landscape while avoiding more restrictive designations like wilderness or a national monument.
That narrative sounds reassuring. Unfortunately, it is deeply misleading.
First of all, the effort to designate this National Conservation Area didn’t originate from the organic fertile soils of a strong grassroots movement. This proposal is a fallback plan after a small group of anti-access radicals failed to get this very same area designated as a National Monument during the Biden Administration.
A National Conservation Area is not a neutral designation, and it does not guarantee continued access for all users. In fact, NCAs are just another form of federal land restriction, one that shifts management priorities away from true multiple use and toward preservation-first decision-making — often at the expense of motorized access and other viable uses.
If you care about access to public lands, this bill deserves serious scrutiny.
What Is a National Conservation Area — Really?
A National Conservation Area is a congressionally designated land management overlay. While NCAs are often marketed as “flexible” or “balanced,” the reality is that:
- NCAs are managed to preserve, protect, and enhance specific values
- All uses must be consistent with those conservation purposes
- Activities that conflict with restrictive goals can be limited or eliminated
Once land is designated as an NCA, multiple use is no longer the guiding principle. Conservation and restriction is. And as we’ve showcased time and time again, once the priority is “conservation”, motorized-vehicle use is always the activity that conflicts with the restrictive goal.
The Myth of the ‘Middle Ground’
Myth:
An NCA is a compromise that prevents a national monument or wilderness designation.
Fact:
There is no binding guarantees in the Dolores River NCA bill that:
- A future monument designation won’t be pursued
- Wilderness won’t be recommended later
- Additional restrictions won’t be layered on through planning
What the bill does guarantee is that conservation values are elevated above other uses — creating the same practical outcome as other restrictive designations, just through a different process.
Calling an NCA a “middle ground” is a political talking point, not a legal reality.
For example: The King Range National Conservation Area was established in 1970 through the King Range Act. In 2006, the 43,000-acre King Range Wilderness was created through the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act. Just earlier this year BRC was advocating for e-bike use within the NCA on the Paradise Royale Trail System. 55 years after the NCA designation, we are fighting tooth and nail just to allow pedal assist e-bikes on a few trails within the NCA.
No Travel Management Plan = No Real Access Protection
One of the most troubling aspects of the Dolores River proposal is this:
The bill will require substantial updates to management plans and travel management plans.
Supporters claim that “no existing roads or trails will be closed because of the NCA.” Even if that were technically true in the short term, it completely misses the point.
Here’s why:
- Travel Management Planning (TMP) is the process BLM uses to decide which routes stay open or get closed
- That process has not happened yet in this area
- When it does happen, decisions will be made under an NCA conservation mandate
That means:
Roads may not be closed because of the NCA on day one —
but they absolutely can (and likely will) be closed because the land is now an NCA during future planning.
This is a familiar pattern across the West. A designation is applied first. Closures come later — quietly, administratively, and with far less public attention.
Some Recreation Is Protected — Others Are Disposable
The Dolores River NCA clearly favors certain types of recreation.
River rafting, floating, and other non-motorized recreation are privileged within an NCA’s restrictive framework – even though these uses also create their own impacts. Those activities gain long-term certainty and protection simply because of the arbitrary distinction that they’re non-motorized — not because they don’t cause impacts. This access privilege repeats a pattern we’ve seen in places like Moab where a small group of users work to exclude all the other users from an area.
Motorized recreation does not get any statutory protection, just a statutory guarantee of reduced access.
Off-highway vehicle users and e-bike users are told:
- “Nothing will change”
- “Existing uses will be considered”
- “You’ll have a voice in planning”
But none of that provides actual protection.
Motorized access is:
- Left to future travel management decisions
- Framed as an impact rather than a legitimate use
- Easy to restrict once “conservation” is the priority
Some forms of recreation are protected by design. Other recreation access is conditional… and always on the chopping block.
That is not balance. It is picking winners and losers.
This Is Not Happening in a Vacuum
Many of the same interests and personalities promoting the Dolores River NCA are also:
- Pushing for widespread closures in Moab
- Advocating for new wilderness designations
- Actively opposing motorized recreation across public lands
Their message has been consistent elsewhere:
They do not want off-roaders using these landscapes, and they want public lands all to themselves.
The Dolores River NCA is not a departure from that agenda. It is another step along the same path, using different language and incremental restrictions.
Layered Designations Mean Layered Closures
An NCA does not exist in isolation.
Once designated, it can be layered with:
- Lands with Wilderness Characteristics
- Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)
- Wild & Scenic River corridors
- Future wilderness recommendations
Each layer provides another legal justification to restrict access.
The result is death by a thousand cuts. Not through one dramatic action, but through years of planning decisions that steadily erase motorized opportunities.
Take Action: Tell Congress to Oppose the Dolores River NCA
We need your voice. This Dolores River National Conservation Area is authorized by legislation that has already passed out of an important Senate Committee.
Contact your representatives today and urge them to oppose the Dolores River National Conservation Area bill. They need to know that this bill should not be included in any future land package that could make it to the Senate Floor. We also need to encourage the Trump Administration to threaten to veto this bill.
If you don’t speak up now, this is the kind of bill that supporters could sneak into a bigger package.
