In the national scheme of things, Montezuma and Dolores counties are little guys. We don’t have enough population to be even a blip on the federal radar screen. We aren’t a formidable economic force; we don’t have Microsoft or General Motors. We have a little hay and beans, a few cattle, some carbon dioxide and a bunch of old ruins. We don’t have political clout.

That means that there’d be no nationwide cry of outrage if the President declared all of southwestern Colorado a national monument. We’d be pretty unhappy, but no one else would care very much. So what’s to stop Bill Clinton and Bruce Babbitt from doing whatever they want with the McElmo Dome?

Nothing. Not a damn thing, and that’s why the commissioners from those two counties have wisely decided to play ball. That’s why our congressional delegation is writing and backing legislation that would establish the Canyons of the Ancients National Conservation Area from what’s now known as Anasazi Culture Multiple Use Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell will sponsor the legislation in the Senate. Although on the surface its purpose seems to be to protect the resources within the national conservation area, the true goal is to prevent Clinton and Babbitt from doing something more drastic: naming the Anasazi ACEC a national monument.

Yes, they could have opposed the action. They could have begun collecting shovels; they could have issued huge clouds of overblown rhetoric. But the fact of the matter is that they could not have prevented a change in status for those lands, currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management. So they have picked their battles wisely, backing legislation that ensures current uses will continue to be allowed. A national conservation area allows more sensible management for multiple uses.

‘Nothing in this Act prohibits the leasing of oil, gas or carbon dioxide ...,’ the legislation reads. ‘Nothing in this act affects hunting and trapping ....’ ‘The Secretary shall issue and administer any grazing leases or permits in the Conservation area in accordance with the same laws (including regulations) and executive orders followed by the Secretary in issuing and administering grazing lease and permits on other land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.’

Military strategists know that one of the most important rules of engagement is to never pick a fight you cannot win, and this one was unwinnable. This was not the time for the commissioners to face off with the federal government. Instead, they wisely marshaled their limited forces to do what really needed to be done.