‘A river runs through’: Black Canyon National Park hosts celebration of park and Gunnison Gorge NCA formation

MONTROSE — It was 10 years ago that the Black Canyon of the Gunnison transformed into a national park, giving it a status that would bring thousands of people throughout the world to visit its spectacular gorges for recreation, education and solitude.

Though the Black Canyon has been protected since the 1930s as a national monument, there was more involved in the "park" status than just a simple name change. It took community and private land owner support, agency collaboration and an "Act" of Congress.

"The national park status is very special," current park Superintendent Connie Rudd said. "What's important is that the canyon is still the same and that means we've done our job."

When the final Act was signed by President Bill Clinton on Oct. 21, 1999, all those that played critical parts in establishing a joint management concept that incorporated public use as well as protection, stood at the rim of the canyon to celebrate.

Those same faces were present Saturday at the celebration of the Black Canyon of Gunnison's 10 year anniversary. Former legislators, along with Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service leaders, discussed their decades-long endeavor involving perseverance and public involvement that gave the canyon its new name.

"If you look at the final legislation, so much of it came from the public," said Allan Belt, who was an important component in the park's transformation as he was the BLM manager at the time.

Though there was a "template" for similar joint management proposals, as the Act established both the park and the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, none had been so connected, bringing agencies together on a day-to-day bases. The movement would lead the way for other such collaborations, such as the Grand Canyon-Parashant, said Barbara Sharrow, field manager for the BLM Uncompaghre Field Office.

"It's a good complement to the park, providing a little of everything," she said about the conservation area. "It's a benefit to the local community to have it right in their back yard and more and more are discovering it."

The idea of establishing a national conservation area was first proposed in 1989, but it wasn't until the 1999 Act that 57,725 acres were designation as the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and Wilderness, transferring 4,000 acres to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, according to the two agencies.

The park itself was modified, as new land was acquired and the boundary adjusted to increase the size and diversity of the park, along with an additional 4,419 acres to its wilderness area.

Former U.S. Representative Scott McInnis, who was the prime sponsor of the bill in the House, said he was deeply committed at the time to make sure that the park was kept for all uses, allowing for the people to trust that the government wouldn't take too much land and over-reach when forming the park.

Recently accomplished, which Rudd said also demonstrates the importance of collaboration among different entities, was quantifying water rights through the gorge. This was finally accomplished in December 2008, establishing how much and when water passes through the canyon, affecting the area's habitat, agriculture and dam energy.

"The collaborations worked well, and it is still working today," Sharrow said.