Mission

Collect aerial videography of the river for a Colorado College student film project for the "State of the Rockies", and coordinate with experts for the students to interview for their film and learn from .

We flew above deep canyons and mesas surrounding this remote area of the Western Slope, which is one of the most important concentrations of biodiversity and wild public lands in the US. The region is part of the homeland of the Ute people, and includes many cultural sites and sacred areas.

Conservationists, community members, and stakeholders are coming together to find solutions to protect the whole Dolores River Canyon Country, from McPhee Dam to the Utah state line. We applaud Senator Bennet and Hickenlooper for reintroducing legislation to protect 68,000 acres surrounding the Lower Dolores in Southwest Colorado as a National Conservation Area and Special Management Area. This designation would be a huge benefit to Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel counties.

To complement the NCA and SMA protections on the Lower Dolores, the Protect the Dolores Coalition is proposing a new national monument in the western portions of Mesa and Montrose counties. Western Colorado community members, businesses, and elected leaders are coalescing around a vision for a Dolores Canyons National Monument to assure that these outstanding ecological, cultural, historical, and recreational resources are preserved. A national monument would provide unified management, protect against encroaching development, and promote restoration and ecosystem health. A designation also brings more resources and management attention.

Thank you for your advocacy to protect this special place - the time is now to permanently conserve the Dolores Canyons!

Click for photos from your flight, the audio recording, aerial footage, geo-referenced photos (download and open in Google Earth), and EcoFlight’s Dolores River Canyon Country collection.