GRAND JUNCTION — Where’s the statue? Where’s the tablet?
Those questions regarding the Colorado National Monument have bedeviled tourism officials in Grand Junction and Fruita for years. For too many tourists, the word “monument” connotes something besides expanses of canyons and towering red rocks.
To minimize that confusion, changing the Colorado National Monument to a national park long has been debated as a solution. Now, another option is under serious consideration: simply change the name.
“It’s a branding issue. And maybe a name change will take care of a branding issue,” said Ken Henry, co-chair of a committee charged by U.S. Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Scott Tipton with investigating possible changes to the popular area between Fruita and Grand Junction.
Names being considered include Colorado Canyons National Monument or Red Rock Canyons of the Colorado National Monument.
The hope of some committee members considering this new-name option is that a word like “canyons” will give tourists a truer picture of what they will find if they drive the snaking 23 miles of Rim Rock Drive through the monument.
The name change as opposed to a status change would also sidestep local conservative political sentiment. Even though the national monument has been part of the National Park Service since 1911 and there would be no management change with a status switch, a good share of opposition to the monument becoming a park has rested on the misinformed belief that the federal government would have more involvement in running the area.
The name change idea has gathered some traction since a recent survey and an open house showed that only about 40 percent of respondents support changing the monument to a park. Besides the political worry, there are fears about increased traffic and about the possibility of restricted access through the monument to private lands above it.
Changing the name of the monument may not be as simple as it sounds. It would still require an act of Congress just as changing its status would.
The park committee will hold a conference call with Udall and Tipton Thursday to discuss the change options.
Mike Saccone, a spokesman for Udall, said the senator is waiting to hear what the local sentiment is before he weighs in on the name change option.
“We’re looking forward to having that discussion,” Saccone said. “It’s too soon to say what the senator will do.”
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
