The (Grand Junction) Sentinel reported Wednesday that Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Scott Tipton won't bring a bill to Congress in the near future to change the designation for the 20,000-acre monument in western Colorado.
A community group appointed to study the change concluded that they couldn't recommend the designation because of neighbors' division over the idea.
Udall, who started talk about park status in February 2011, says the park designation discussion isn't over and that even people opposed to the change have seemed open to continue talking about it.
Udall said, "I think it's significant that nobody is saying a flat-out no."
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)