A local group dedicated to overturning the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument faces an uphill battle, as planning for the monument is well under way and a director has been appointed to manage it.

But the Southwest Colorado Landowners Association’s efforts to fight the designation of 164,000 acres as a monument will continue, a member says, although he admits the group may some day be relegated to a watchdog role.

And their efforts are not going unnoticed in Washington, D.C.

Newly confirmed Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and some members of Congress have indicated a willingness to review some monument designations, though whether that will include Canyons of the Ancients is not clear.

"We’ve been gathering information on resources within the monument to make sure the economic impacts are represented," said Phil Wiser, natural-resource chairman for the property-rights group.

At a county commissioners’ meeting this week, Wiser presented data gathered by the landowners group about the monument, including concerning agriculture, CO2 and oil production, recreation, roads and private property.

He urged more commission participation in overseeing monument issues to protect local interests and insure accuracy.

"Mistakes can be honestly made, and I’ve found some on their Canyons of the Ancients web site," he said.

For instance, the landowners group noticed, and then had corrected, an error recorded in advisory-committee minutes of how much CO2 gas is produced within the monument, he said.

"They had it producing on average 730 million cubic feet per year, when it is actually that amount per day," he said, adding that essential "data was compiled in a hurry before the monument proclamation came out," causing mistakes.

Under the resources category on the monument’s web site, Wiser said, the group noticed another mistake that "appeared to minimize" the amount of CO2 production within the monument.

"We pointed this error out, and it was recently changed on the web site," to reflect the truth, he said.

"There have to be checks and balances from the people because our system does not work perfectly."

The recent confirmation of Gale Norton as secretary of the interior is also encouraging for those who oppose federal designations on public lands that limit development.

Norton has voiced support for more economic development on the nation’s public lands. And she will play a key role in creating a citizens advisory group formed to write the management plan for Canyons of the Ancients.

Norton’s press secretary, William Wright, said yesterday that the newly appointed interior secretary plans to review recently designated monuments "to see whether there was enough public input."

But he added that "we have only been in office for one week now, so we are still trying to get our arms around that bear."

President Bush and Western Republicans have objected to former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s wave of new development-restrictive monuments, 11 of which were proclaimed by President Clinton in the waning weeks of his administration.

Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) has taken aim at Clinton’s conservation legacy, and fired off an eight-page letter to Bush suggesting ways to overturn environmental initiatives, including national monuments.

Marni Funk, natural-resource press secretary for Hansen, said yesterday that Hansen, along with Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), will be writing letters to members of Congress with new monuments in their districts asking if they were created without sufficient public input, or if there is a problem with the management plan.

"Hansen and Hefley are sending out letters advising those members that if they want to draft a bill to, in any way, alter those monuments, Chairman Hefley will make sure it gets through the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee, and Chairman Hansen will assist them in running through the Resource Committee," Funk said.

She said the letter is still being drafted, and will be delivered soon.

"We’re concerned with monuments formed without a voice," she said, adding that the possibility of "overturning them is never out of the question."

Meanwhile, official resource planning for the monument is forthcoming, and will take into acount social and economic impacts for oil and gas, agriculture, archaeology and recreation.

Verifying information gathered between local groups, such as the landowners group, and federal government sources as a team is essential for building community consensus, said Mike Preston, federal-lands coordinator for the county.

"it is a matter of trust," Preston said. "We want to do that verification of information together during the public process. And certainly there are many in the community who are in a better position, such as with agriculture, to gather information needed, and we welcome that."

Wiser conceded that Canyons of the Ancients will be more difficult than other, later monument designations to overturn since it has made the Federal Register, the publication legally enacting executive orders. Reversing published orders requires revisiting the rule-making process, a lengthy ordeal.