Browns Canyon National Monument Ceremony

Last weekend was very special for the Colorado whitewater rafting community and all other outdoors enthusiasts. Buena Vista was honored to host Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Colorado Governor John W. Hickenlooper, US Congresswoman Diana DeGette, US Senator Michael Bennet, Sierra Club Director Aaron Mair, Colorado Senator Kerry Donovan, Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze, and Forest Service Director Tom Tidwell, and many other friends of Browns Canyon as we all came together to celebrate the designation of Browns Canyon as an official National Monument.

The designation came into play earlier this year on February 19th when President Obama signed the Antiquities Act. However, the process to make this happen started decades ago in 1991 when Representatives Wayne Allard and Dan Schaefer proposed protecting this beautiful portion of the Arkansas River Valley and its wildlife in The Colorado Wilderness Act of 1991. Despite not getting passed in Congress session after session, Colorado lawmakers and our local community did not give up the effort to protect Browns Canyon.

Organizations like Friends of Browns Canyon were started with the mission of educating all on the importance of preserving this gorgeous rugged stretch of nature. We’re proud to say Joe Greiner, owner of Wilderness Aware Rafting, played a role in the efforts to earn the National Monument designation. Joe traveled to Washington D.C. and spoke with Congress about the significance of Browns Canyon and the profound positive impact the National Monument designation would have for the whitewater rafting industry and on the Arkansas River Valley area in the immediate future and for generations to come. The celebration started with a special rafting trip hosted by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area and other agencies. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Colorado Governor John W. Hickenlooper, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Senator Michael Bennet, Sierra Club Director Aaron Mair, Senator Kerry Donovan, Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze, and Forest Service Director Tom Tidwell joined our owner Joe as they floated down the Arkansas River through Browns Canyon National Monument. They took on some hot action whitewater, paddling through class III and IV rapids like Zoom Flume, Pinball, and Raft Ripper. (If you’re interested in doing that same trip here’s the info: Browns Canyon Half Day)

Gratitude and the sense of accomplishment radiated throughout the audience on Saturday’s ceremony in Buena Vista. Many were local Chafee County community members, but we also had guests from far and wide join us. Since the celebration coincided with Latino Conservation week, The Hispanic Access Foundation and the Sierra Club collaborated to charter buses from Denver bringing youth from ELK, Environmental Learning for Kids, to the event. ELK is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing inspired and responsible leaders through science education and outdoor experiences for underserved, urban youth. One of the recurring themes in all the speeches was the idea that we are borrowing land from future generations. Because of this, we must be responsible stewards of the land, keeping it out of harms way so our children’s children also have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of Browns Canyon National Monument. We had quite the mix of speakers including Aaron Mair, director of the Sierra Club, who was especially adamant on reminding us all that this was just the beginning of a long movement to preserve the millions of other acres of our heritage that are still unprotected.

For us personally at Wilderness Aware Rafting, the new National Monument designation is a great honor. We are hosting a visitor center so we can educate others who are looking to raft, camp, fish, hike, or even horseback ride in Browns Canyon National Monument. We have taken guests for memorable whitewater rafting adventures through Browns Canyon for summer after summer Browns Canyon has included our most popular trips. We’ve known how special this area is for decades, but now that we have the national recognition for it, we hope this inspires more visitors to make the trip to Buena Vista and experience the amazing beauty of Browns Canyon National Monument the best way possible—in a raft!