Dominguez Canyon in western Colorado is one of the most enchanting
places I’ve ever visited. On my first trip there many years ago we
crossed the Gunnison River by raft south of Grand Junction, and soon
found ourselves in a desert paradise of colorful red rock, desert
plants, sweeping horizons, and Dominguez Canyon itself. In the course
of hundreds of thousands of years, Dominguez Creek, itself not very
large, has formed a passage through and over the rocks. Water tumbles
among cliffs and over boulders, forming sculptured alcoves and a series
of magical pools. No other people were there, and I marveled to find
this place so near the highway between Grand Junction and Montrose, and
yet a world away.
We hiked a little way up the canyon. Along the way we stopped to admire
Indian petroglyphs, as yet undisturbed by vandals or barriers set up to
defend against them.
On another occasion, I camped near the headwaters of Dominguez Canyon
on the Uncompahgre Plateau with my daughter Ann, and the next day took
a day hike down the trail. Our campsite, accessed by road, was in a
higher elevation pinyon- juniper forest, and the pinyon nuts were just
ripe. We had a too-short hike, but would like to return and backpack
the full length of the trail. That requires either hiking both ways, or
working out the logistics of getting across the river and retrieving a
vehicle at the upper end.
On a third trip, taken by raft down the Gunnison, we hiked the lower
end of the canyon, and finished by swimming in two of the wonderful
pools near the bottom.
Dominguez Canyon is much closer to home, yet compares very favorably with some of the loveliest canyons in Utah.
For years, conservationists have lobbied to make this canyon and some
of the surrounding public lands a wilderness area. Meanwhile, eastern
slope water interests wanted to dam the canyon and divert the water.
But a strong and growing coalition of local, state, and national groups
kept urging protection for this stunning landscape, and now there is a
good chance that their efforts may succeed at last.
On May 22 of this year, Sen. Ken Salazar introduced a bill in the
Senate to make this happen, while his brother, Congressman John
Salazar, introduced a similar bill in the House. The bills would create
a Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area, together with a Dominguez-Escalante
Canyons National Recreation Area. The bills would protect not only
Dominguez Canyon itself, but also Kelso Mesa, a secluded area
containing headwaters of the Escalante Canyons. It holds 35,000 acres
of wildflower meadows, aspen groves, and Douglas fir that is prime
habitat for bears, lynx, elk and deer.
Roubideau Canyon, now a Wilderness Study Area, is also included. This
is a diverse area, extending from high elevation spruce and aspen
forests down to the lower arid Sonoran desert habitat.
If you share my enthusiasm for protecting this amazing treasure, I hope
you’ll take a moment to thank the Salazar brothers for taking the lead.
You can call Sen. Ken Salazar’s Western Slope office at 970-241-6631,
or his Washington office at 202-224-5852, or you can send a message
over the Internet by clicking on his Web site at
http://salazar.senate.gov. To reach Congressman John Salazar, click on
http://www.house.gov, call his Grand Junction office at 970-245-7107,
or the Washington office at 202-225-4761. They appreciate hearing from
constituents on any topic, and sincere compliments are sure to be very
welcome.
Connie Harvey’s e-mail is cmharve@gmail.com.
