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<br />00104 7 <br /> <br />From the confluence of the San Miguel to the Colorado-Utah state <br />line, the canyon of the Dolores gradually broadens and deepens. <br />New formations like the brick-red shale of the Moenkopi and the <br />purple conglomerate of the Cutler appear; the brilliance of their <br />colors is only partly obscured by the pale gray-green of the sparse <br />desert vegetation. From a canyon about 400 feet deep and 600 feet <br />wide at the confluence, the Dolores opens a valley perhaps a mile <br />wide and 2400 feet deep by the town of Gateway. This reach is <br />paralled by Colorado Highway 141 and contains about 40 percent <br />private land. <br /> <br />The final eight miles of river in Colorado were determined to be <br />eligible. However, since the upper 31 miles of the segment were <br />considered by the study team to be devoid of outstandingly <br />remarkable characteristics and thus ineligible, the eligible portion <br />was included in the study of the river in Utah (see Colorado-Lower <br />Dolores) . <br /> <br />Values <br /> <br />The West Dolores was judged to have outstanding geology and <br />scenery, due to the extensive exposures of rock formations and the <br />many life zones it traversed in a relatively short distance. Its <br />value as support for the ecosystems of those zones earned an <br />outstanding rating for its fish and wildlife values. <br /> <br />The lOS-mile reach from McPhee Dam to Bedrock, passing through <br />two lower life zones, was found outstanding in several categories. <br />The old-growth forests at its upper end and the looming pink cliffs <br />in the Slickrock Canyon reach, so different as to seem parts of <br />rivers from northern Idaho and southern Utah, were both <br />outstanding in their scenery. Opportunities for geologic study <br />abounded throughout the reach. Fish and wildlife values were <br />outstanding, at least partly because of the undisturbed country <br />through which the river flows in this segment. Cultural values, <br />reflected in the many Fremont sites, and the extensive panels of <br />rock art, were also judged outstanding. <br /> <br />The other two segments, the mainstem above Rice and from the San <br />Miguel's mouth to Gateway, were not found to have any outstanding <br />values. <br /> <br />Issues <br /> <br />McPhee Dam's effect on the river's flow, fears of the effect of <br />designation on the Dolores Project, conflicts over classification and <br />eligibility, fears about land acquisition. <br /> <br />21 <br />