The Protect the Dolores Coalition on Wednesday called on U.S. lawmakers to extend proposed protections of the Lower Dolores River to include “the entirety” of public lands surrounding the river.

The Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act, introduced in the Senate by Colorado Democrats John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, would provide protection to lands surrounding the Dolores River including the Ponderosa Gorge, Snaggletooth and Slickrock sections of the canyon. It was referred Wednesday to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District introduced the House version of the legislation.

“This is only one in a series of extraordinary canyons shaped by the Dolores River system,” the coalition said in a news release. “While the legislation includes public lands in Dolores, Montezuma and San Miguel counties, the Dolores River Canyon Country extends downstream through hundreds of thousands of unprotected acres in Montrose and Mesa counties. Those public lands are not included in the legislation.”

There has been notable support on the Western Slope for the conservation of these lands, and to “permanently protect the entirety of the Dolores River landscape.”

According to a Colorado-based Keating Research poll, 72% of voters in the 3rd Congressional District “support the creation of a national monument to protect the Dolores River Canyon Country.”

The Protect the Dolores Coalition is a group of organizations and individuals who seek to preserve the “resources, biodiversity, critical migration corridors, cultural sites, world-class recreation and water resources” in and surrounding the Dolores River.

Organizations that are part of the Protect the Dolores Coalition include American Rivers, American Whitewater, Colorado Wildlands Project, The Conservation Alliance, Conservation Colorado, Conservation Lands Foundation, Dolores River Boating Advocates, Sheep Mountain Alliance and The Wilderness Society.

More information can be found at www.protectthedolores.org.