From the Montrose Daily Press (Kati O’Hare):

“The national park status is very special,” current park Superintendent Connie Rudd said. “What’s important is that the canyon is still the same and that means we’ve done our job.”[…]

Former legislators, along with Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service leaders, discussed their decades-long endeavor involving perseverance and public involvement that gave the canyon its new name.

More Gunnison River Basin coverage here.