Senate OKs Joe Rowell transfer

Senate OKs Joe Rowell transfer

Oct. 7, 2000

BY MATT GLECKMAN
Journal Staff Writer

The town of Dolores moved one step closer to claiming Joe Rowell Park as its own on Thursday when the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill which will transfer ownership of the park from the U.S. Forest Service back to the town.

"Senate passage of this bill is a huge victory for the town of Dolores," said U.S. Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). "Senate approval brings us one step closer to placing ownership of the park where it belongs, the town of Dolores."

Presently the 25-acre park adjacent to the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir is being managed and maintained by the town under a special-use permit.

However, because the park is owned by the federal government, the town must conduct expensive and time-consuming environmental-impact studies before making even routine improvements to the land.

Under Senate Bill 1972, which was introduced by Allard in 1999, ownership of Joe Rowell Park would be conveyed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the town of Dolores with the condition that the land be used "for open space, park and recreational purposes."

Should the town attempt to transfer ownership of any portion of the park, the land would revert to the Forest Service under the proposed legislation.

"It simply does not make sense for the Forest Service to have a lighted softball field in its inventory and likewise for the town of Dolores to have to get permission from the Forest Service every time they want to change a light bulb at the park," Allard said upon introducing the bill.

Despite having to jump over a number of bureaucratic hurdles, the town has still managed to put roughly $400,000 worth of improvements into the park, including soccer and softball fields.

Originally purchased in 1977 by the Bureau of Reclamation, the scenic riverside acreage was leveled with fill dirt as a requirement of the McPhee Dam Project. Following the project the land was transferred to the Forest Service.

With help from Park Planning Committee Chair Marianne Mate, Dolores has been trying to regain ownership of the land for the last two years in order to ease government constraints before making park improvements.

Mate said that the next step will be to get SB 1972 approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and then on to the President for his signature.

According to Allard, U.S. Rep Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) supports the bill but his staff is too busy at this time to work on such a measure. As a result, Allard’s office plans to approach House Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) to see if he will support the bill on the House side.

"Regardless we should be able to get it through (the House) and on its way to the President shortly," Allard said Friday by phone from Washington, D.C.

On Friday the senator estimated that it could take as little as one week to pass the bill through the House and move it on to the President.

"To get it to move out of the Senate during an election year is exciting. I am hoping that it doesn’t get tied up in House politics and we can get it through the House side and on to the President," Allard said.

"The town is very pleased —this has been a three-year project of mine. I am very excited to see it go through," said Mate.