Along the Colorado-Utah border, the vast and desolate Paradox Valley takes its name from one of the area’s seemingly endless geologic anomalies. In this case, the paradox is that instead of running along the bottom of the valley, the Dolores River cuts perpendicularly through one wall of the canyon and out the other.

About a third of Colorado’s public lands are administered by the Bureau of Land Management, an organization with the mission to “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” Yet only 8 percent of Colorado’s BLM lands have permanent conservation protections. Areas at risk include a half million acres of Wilderness Study Areas and over two million acres of additional wilderness quality lands which are critical for climate adaptation and ecosystem resilience.

The Colorado Wildlands Project aims to address this disparity by advocating for the preservation of Western Colorado’s wild places including the Dolores River canyon country, the sagebrush steppe of the Dinosaur region, and Grand Junction’s iconic Book Cliffs.

This Special Edition photograph is limited to total production of five prints. Each is hand numbered and signed by the artist.