Poll Shows 77% of Coloradoans Support Proposed Browns Canyon Designation

Credit Friends of Browns Canyon

A poll released Tuesday shows many Coloradoans support designating Browns Canyon in Chaffee County as a national monument.  KRCC’s Dana Cronin reports. 

The poll released by Conservation Colorado comes on the eve of a scheduled legislative hearing by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on National Parks. 

Keith Baker is the Executive Director of Friends of Browns Canyon, an organization that’s been working to protect the popular recreation area. He says he’s not surprised by the 77% of Coloradoans in support of the proposed designation.

"The geological formations of Browns Canyon are unique even by Colorado standards," says Baker. "Once you get in there and start looking around, you’ll say ‘Wow this is something like I’ve never seen before."

The proposal would make the 22,000-acre site a national monument with a 10,500-acre wilderness area. Baker says this designation could nationally increase the profile of Browns Canyon and could boost Chaffee County’s economy.