Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is a reality, but so far the mandate is merely a few sheets of paper declaring more federal protection for 164,000 acres of public lands in Montezuma and Dolores counties.

Without a management group to deal with the plethora of multiple-use and preservation concerns raised by the monument declaration, the Clinton Administration’s much-ballyhooed June 9 directive to save remnants of ancient Anasazi cultures within a huge swath of BLM lands becomes essentially moot.

"All these issues are sort of bubbling below the surface, still waiting for an advisory group to form so they can be dealt with," said Mike Preston, federal-lands coordinator for Montezuma County. "They’re focusing on it now, and we should hear something in the next few weeks."

Unresolved issues are numerous: how to further protect hundreds of fragile cultural sites, dating back 1,000 or more years, from increased visitation; respecting traditional road access to private inholdings and grazing allotments; road maintenance in and around the monument; recreational uses such as mountain biking, horse travel and ATV-use; oil and gas mining exemptions; funding; parking; trail maintenance; the role of volunteer groups; plus how to enforce a horde of new rules and restrictions.

All need to be discussed, debated and brought to light before being written into the official resource-management plan. The Montezuma and Dolores county commissioners believe that these concerns cannot be fairly incorporated into the system without direct local involvement throughout the planning process.

In a recent letter to Ann Morgan, Colorado’s director for the BLM, the commissioners again expressed the importance of including community representatives who are "intimately familiar with the Canyons of the Ancients landscape."

Applicants chosen for the board by the BLM under the Federal Advisory Committee Act should represent various factions, including Dolores and Montezuma county commissioners, agricultural interests, adjacent landowners, recreationists, schools, oil and gas officials, the Ute tribe, and tourism, with all members having a longstanding presence on the council, the letter states.

Additionally, the commissioners want assurances that advice and input from the group’s members will be considered on their own, "without being filtered through other advisory layers."

"The designated BLM representative to the council should be in a position to directly implement advice given by the council," the letter says.

To prepare for the upcoming discussions, Montezuma County planners have been mapping all existing roads in the monument, specifically those traditionally used by ranchers to reach livestock and water sources, and those accessing private land from county and BLM roads.

There are 28 owners of private property within the boundaries of Canyons of the Ancients totaling 18,533 acres of mostly agricultural lands. Often accessed via rugged two-track byways, these historic "roads" — some of which are permitted under the BLM — don’t always make official maps, but are just as important for those depending on them, a fact that deserves recognition from the beginning, county officials say.

"Access was a priority for the commission. That way, once we get into the formal process, we’re starting with updated, accurate information," Preston said. "Every landowner that has inholdings has come in and identified the way they access their property, which was then drawn on our base maps.

"There were quite a few roads added that were not on the maps."

Recent raging wildfires have interrupted the process of forming a state charter outlining the advisory council and who will sit on it, Preston said. But now the process is expected to continue.