Listening Sessions to be held on July 9 and 10

Date: June 21, 2013

July listening sessions to explore visitor activities at Colorado National Monument

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 21, 2013

Contact Lisa Eckert at [phone] ext. 301

FRUITA, CO – Colorado National Monument will host two listening session in early July designed to foster input from the public about the types of visitor uses, events or activities people want to have at the monument.

Monument Superintendent Lisa Eckert said the July 9-10 gatherings in Fruita and Grand Junction are intended to open a community dialogue about what commercial and visitor activities are most desired – and appropriate – in the park. The monument's spectacular, red-rock canyon walls and iconic Rim Rock Drive have been a popular destination for locals and tourists for more than a century.

The first session will be Tuesday, July 9, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Fruita Community Center. The second is Wednesday, July 10, noon to 3 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction.

"We hope these workshops will begin an open conversation with folks in the valley about the monument," Eckert said. "We want to hear what uses the community thinks are appropriate for the monument, and help build a shared understanding about the monument's resources and how they are managed. We hope as many people as possible will join in this conversation."

The July 9-10 meetings will be facilitated by Mary Margaret Golten from CDR Associates, a respected Colorado mediation group.

For more information, visit the monument's website at www.nps.gov/colm.

-NPS-