The recent proposal to designate lands in the Dolores River region as a national monument is a flawed initiative that directly conflicts with the interests of both Colorado and the nation. It also faces strong opposition from local communities. Though framed as a means to protect the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Dolores Canyons in western Colorado, this move to invoke expansive federal authority to designate more than 400,000 acres as a national monument would jeopardize national security, undermine our energy independence, hinder technological progress, prevent Colorado from contributing to its carbon-free energy objectives, and — paradoxically — damage the very land it seeks to preserve.

The area proposed for designation includes vast swaths of land far beyond the Dolores River itself, including some of the richest uranium and vanadium reserves in the nation, as well as potential for rare earths and other critical minerals. The designation, if signed by President Joe Biden in the waning hours of his term, would invalidate many existing mineral rights and prohibit new claims moving forward at a time when we should be pursuing responsible domestic mineral development, not permanently locking-up vital resources.

The U.S. is already over-reliant on adversarial nations for mineral resources critical to national defense and aerospace. China possesses between 80% to 90% of global production and processing capacity of advanced rare-earth materials. China has demonstrated its willingness to artificially manipulate markets of mineral commodities, including germanium, gallium and antimony most recently, to achieve its geopolitical objectives, and national security experts have identified our dependence on adversarial nations for the resources most vital to modern defense systems as among our leading national security threats. Colorado is home to more than 2,000 aerospace businesses reliant on many of these critical minerals, employing more than 55,000 employees directly and another 184,000 indirectly. Vanadium is a federally designated critical mineral and an essential component in the production of high-strength, light-weight metallic alloys used in national defense and aerospace applications. The cutting-edge innovations of the aerospace industry and the people it employs are directly disadvantaged by schemes like the proposed Dolores Canyons national monument which will force continued dependence on adversarial supply chains for our aerospace and national defense companies.

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Uranium provides the fuel used by the 92 nuclear power plants that supply 20% of all electricity in the U.S., including approximately 50% of the carbon-free energy generated in the U.S. Between 2019 and 2023 (the most recent data), more than 45% of the uranium required for American nuclear plants came from Russia and its allies. In a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress passed legislation banning the import of Russian uranium in May of 2024. The enactment of this law represents the collective recognition twe cannot continue to rely on adversarial nations for vital energy and national security supply chains, and that we must immediately begin to ramp up our own production.

Though Colorado has established an aggressive schedule for reducing carbon emissions from the power sector in the Greenhouse Gas Roadmap 2.0, without domestic mining projects to reduce raw material costs for renewable energy and additional advanced nuclear energy coming online, these goals will not likely be met. Colorado must allow its vast mineral endowment to play a part in producing the raw materials needed to achieve carbon-free energy production, not merely ask nations with little to no environmental standards and poor humanitarian conditions do so for us.

Proponents of the national monument designation would have the public believe unless the federal government designates more than 400,000 acres under the Antiquities Act, these lands will be left “unprotected.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The Dolores Canyons area is treasured by locals and visitors alike in large part because it is already well managed and protected. Like all U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands not specifically designated for alternative management, the area encompassing the proposed national monument is governed by the Federal Land Management and Policy Act (FLPMA), which includes multiple-use management to balance various uses. These uses are carefully considered during the resource management planning process which evaluates proposed land uses and develops a management framework with the goal of providing the greatest public benefit. Local BLM staff have done an admirable job working with local elected officials and communities in the area to determine appropriate management that should not now be undermined by a rushed designation to remove this management structure and the protections it has provided. Though no mining is proposed in the Dolores River canyon itself, modern mining practices are light-years better than those of the past in terms of public health, worker safety, and environmental protection. The monument designation is a wrong-headed “solution” in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.

Those who know the area best — county commissioners, local businesses and neighboring communities — have already spoken out against the monument designation, raising concerns about increased costs associated with greater visitation, lack of emergency response capacity and the degradation of land seen with other recent monument designations which attract increased traffic and tourism, but almost never come with increased funding to meet associated needs.

By continuing to encourage collaboration among local communities, state officials and federal land managers, instead of agitating for unilateral presidential action, we can better ensure continued protection of the Dolores Canyons area without short-changing our energy production, technological goals, conservation and national security.

Adam Eckman is president and chief executive of the Colorado Mining Association.