Coordination is the key to harmonizing land management plans and the strategies of the communities that live and work on federal public lands
From the San Juan Mountains in Southwest Colorado the Dolores River flows through Montezuma, Dolores, San Miguel, Montrose and Mesa counties until the state line with Utah. National and local environmental and rewilding advocates had pushed for almost 50 years for a Wild and Scenic designation on the Dolores River. It never went through because over the course of the years it was decided by the generational locals, municipalities and tax districts that that was not the correct way to manage the river. The talk of Wild and Scenic designation (most restrictive designation for a river) caused public outcry in Southwest Colorado, at stake was future water development projects, private property rights implications, and all around negative future operation capabilities to the agriculture and ranching communities in the watershed.
The Colorado Senators urged the stakeholders to come to the table and figure out a compromise. That compromise consisted of decades of conversations and negotiations. Course change in good faith negotiations drove the Mesa County commissioners in 2011 and the Montrose County Commissioners in 2018 to remove their counties from the proposed area. The proponents, not wanting to negotiate anyway, spent their days at the table with the 3 counties and the stakeholders, but by night they created a proposal for a national monument for the entire Dolores River. The direction was to go over the heads of the counties and stakeholders and push for a President that would sign it with one swipe of a pen using the Antiquities Act of 1906. And that is the issue. This monument proposal of almost 400,000 acres was designed in a back room unbeknownst to the communities that it would directly affect.
The Dolores River National Conservation Area in Montezuma, Dolores and San Miguel Counties consist of 68,000 acres along the Dolores River stopping at the county line and has been introduced again this year to Congress. The Dolores River National monument proposal, while delayed for a while, is still being marketed for support by the proponents.
The public outcry against the proposed Dolores River National Monument and the other proposed national monuments like that of the 250,000-acre Mimbres Peak proposal in New Mexico should now be the reason why it is imperative that the Antiquities Act of 1906 is amended.
We need to get the nation, the states, the municipalities and the stakeholders on track with what was meant in land management policies. The municipalities lawfully have a seat at the table not just a chair in the room when it comes to land management decisions and that is exactly where we need to get to and that is what the coordination process is.
The “coordination process” as directed by Congress is simply that: a process by which local government and federal agencies are to meet in a government-to-government dialogue in order to attempt to reach consistency between federal plans and actions and local plans and policies. Congress has directed every federal agency to engage in that government-to-government process with local governments.
It is important to note that there are differences in process between coordination, cooperation and collaboration. Coordination should be on-going and can occur at the same time as being a cooperating agency on a specific NEPA project. They are not mutually exclusive. One does get you access to pre-decisional info, and the other does not. It is a federal obligation to coordinate and determine where the consistency is (or not) between federal and local plans. It is not a location obligation.
The collaboration process is not binding and that is where we got off track. Instead of collaboration and good faith efforts, the direction turned to lawsuits against the land management agencies and the endangered species act by extreme environmental organizations, rewilding advocates, NGOs and nonprofits. The cycle grew to what it is today. Hundreds of massive lawsuits against our land management agencies for everything and anything. This draws the direction away from coordination and over to submission and amendments for and to the ones that were once collaborated with. And that is where we need to be, where everyone has a place and knows their place. Only then will the local communities be protected not only to sustain their way of life but for protection of all private property rights that coexist with the land like grazing allotments, mining claims, water projects, outfitter rights, etc.
Can you imagine how many good things can come out of being proactive rather than reactive because of meaningful input in land management decisions?
Federal Land Management Policy Act
The Secretary of Interior “shall … to the extent consistent with the laws governing the administration of the public lands, coordinate the land use inventory, planning, and management activities of or for such lands with the land use planning and management programs of other Federal departments and agencies and of the States and local governments within which the lands are located Land use plans of the Secretary under this section shall be consistent with State and local plans to the maximum extent he finds consistent with Federal law and the purposes of this Act.” (43 U.S.C. § 1712(c)(9))
United States Forest Service Management Act
And, “…The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop, maintain, and, as appropriate, revise land and resource management plans for units of the National Forest System, coordinated with the land and resource management planning processes of State and local governments and other Federal agencies.” (16 U.S.C. § 1604(a))
National Environmental Policy Act
Any project that requires a NEPA or Environmental Impact Statement is also required to coordinate those studies and plans with the local municipalities.
- 4331. Congressional declaration of national environmental policy
- (b) In order to carry out the policy set forth in this chapter, it is the continuing responsibility of the Federal Government to use all practicable means, consistent with other essential considerations of national policy, to improve and coordinateFederal plans, functions, programs, resources to the end that the Nation may-
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT IN PROGRESS
On August 3, 2017, 22 members of congress sent a draft Executive Order and letter to President Trump regarding ensuring effective coordination with state and local governments.
This is the link to the letter sent to President Trump.
https://americanstewards.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Final-Signed-08032017Coordination-Letter.pdf
This is the link to the draft executive order sent to President Trump.
https://americanstewards.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Final-draft-coordination-E.O.-letter-to-the-President_4.pdf
“The concept of coordination….. is firmly rooted in the constitutional principles of our nation. States and their local governments were never intended to be displaced by federal agencies determining and restricting the uses of their land within their jurisdiction”. Representative Tom Tiffany
Here are 4 videos of Tom Tiffany regarding the coordination process and laws.
https://youtu.be/E5eWlZA8ZMo?si=6UJrKRHWrVNpaSR5
https://youtu.be/zRZVAr9DxmI?si=hc5lyQuZS_kOqArW
https://youtu.be/NJHbt_Zt-bw?si=8owl8sXMNc83AhXd
https://youtu.be/mWk6NQCOmz8?si=l0own0m75_zD4_lC
Garfield County, Colorado has embraced the coordination process. Since 2012 Garfield County engaged in substantial policy decisions in the BLMs 2015 and 2019 Resource Management Plans and the 2012 Environmental Impact Statement for the draft BLM Greater Sage-Grouse . They officially adopted their “Federal Lands Natural Resources Coordination Plan and Policies” in September 2020. https://www.garfieldcountyco.gov/board-commissioners/
Other counties and tax districts across Texas, Oregon, Idaho and California have embraced the coordination process, some directly with the land management agencies and some counties have utilized committees to help educate the public officials for coordinating local strategies and management plans.
In summer of 2024, the Towns of Naturita and Nucla in Southwest Colorado at the epicenter of the Dolores River national monument proposal signed resolutions invoking coordination with land management agencies and state agencies involved with federal agencies. In December of 2024 the local Bureau of Land Management office signed a Letter of Agreement to coordinate with both Towns. The Towns are now taking next steps to solidify the process and to invoke coordination with the United States Forest Service and other federal agencies.
MOVING FORWARD
Congressional support would help the coordination movement and help establish confidence in the process for other local communities. It will also be a validation of commitment for Representative Tom Tiffany and the 22 members of Congress who supported the draft executive order in 2017.
I believe that the coordination and collaboration processes bring that proper balance and input from local stakeholders. The communities of the west need guidance and support for moving coordination efforts and requirements forward to minimizing conflicts, supporting local economic growth, and creating meaningful relationships with the land management agencies.
The new Trump administration has taken some time to reorganize the agencies and create suggested action plans for implementation. There are resource management plan amendments, schedules of proposed actions and travel management plans that are now in process and require research and consideration.
The issue about the proposed Dolores River National Monument for me was the process. Had the proposed national monument gone through our entire economy, culture and future would have morphed into something not by our doing and that we had no control over. The Town of Nucla and Naturita, as with all western communities, socio-economic well-being, health, safety, welfare, and culture rely significantly on the management of surrounding federal lands and the policies thereon. That is why proper coordination is so important.
It is time to amend the Antiquities Act of 1906 and it is time for congressional support of the coordination process. So we can get to what managing our lands was meant to be and that is a “Seat at the table, not just a chair in the room” when it comes to land management decisions.
Featured image is attributed to Shannon1 of Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dolores_river_basin_map.png
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Aimee Tooker is community leader from Nucla, Colorado with deep connections to the region. She is passionate about preserving the area’s economic independence and preserving the culture and history of the area. She owns three main street businesses with her husband and is working on other real estate developments along Nucla’s main street. She volunteers her time to local, regional and state committees and boards so that the rural communities like that of the West End of Montrose County have meaningful input into policies that affect them. Email:
