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Browns Canyon National Monument

Browns Canyon National Monument

Browns Canyon National Monument is a success story for conservation. The area provides critical wildlife habitat, premiere trout fishing and year-round opportunities for outdoor recreation.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Governor John Hickenlooper, Former U.S. Senator Mark Udall, State and Local Officials, and many other citizens celebrated the designation in July.

Explore and enjoy this stunning area that defines Colorado’s outdoor legacy today and into the future.


Browns Canyon National Monument
government web page


See the official page with printable and interactive maps and basic information about the Monument.

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Programs/NLCS/BrownsCanyonNM.html



Presidential Proclamation Describes Natural and Cultural Values

Perhaps there is more to Browns Canyon than you thought.  The President's Proclamation begins with this:

"In central Colorado's vibrant upper Arkansas River valley, the rugged granite cliffs, colorful rock outcroppings, and stunning mountain vistas of Browns Canyon form an iconic landscape that attracts visitors from around the world. The landscape's canyons, rivers, and backcountry forests have provided a home for humans for over 10,000 years, and the cultural and historical resources found in this landscape are a testament to the area's Native Peoples as well as the history of more recent settlers and mining communities. The area's unusual geology and roughly 3,000-foot range in elevation support a diversity of plants and wildlife, including a significant herd of bighorn sheep. Browns Canyon harbors a wealth of scientifically significant geological, ecological, riparian, cultural, and historic resources, and is an important area for studies of paleoecology, mineralogy, archaeology, and climate change."

The Proclamation then continues with a detailed description of its location at the northern end of the Rio Grande Rift System, Native Americans who frequented the area for hunting and ceremonies, European exploration, mining, geology, plant diversity, and animals found there - a treasure trove of nature and culture.  The concluding sections outline some of the restrictions and permissions that apply to the new monument.

The whole proclamation is a good read - download it here.


Railroad Gulch Photo John Stansfield
Surface scatter
Surface scatter and other archeological artifacts are found in several sites in the Monument. Photo John Stansfield.
Stafford Gulch
The formation known as The Reef is exposed in Stafford Gulch, one of many steep gulches excised in the 1.6 billion-year-old Precambrian batholith of the larger Canyon. Photo John Stansfield
Next best thing to being there...

Enjoy these pictures taken by John Stansfield, Steve Valimaki, Kurt Kunkle, Friends of Browns Canyon and Conservation Colorado

Image: 

Wild Connections
2168 Pheasant Place, Colorado Springs CO 80909
www.wildconnections.org          info@wildconnections.org