The Colorado National Monument has been known to turn away public events inside the park but soon that may change. Now they want you to have input in future decisions.

Larger events, for the most part, have been turned away over concerns about the effects on wildlife and the environment, but now the park wants to do an environmental assessment and get the publics input on future events.

They may have said no in the past but the Colorado National Monument wants to start involving the public in its decisions.

Park officials say the monument is part of the community and residents should have a say in what goes on there.

"It's a very exciting process for me… for one reason it’s these red rocks that we're looking at right now, they're a backdrop to our daily lives and everybody that lives here, there's some meaning of the red rocks for them" said Lisa Eckert, Superintendent for the Colorado National Monument.

With the increase in requests for public events, monument officials want to make the process easier and allow more to happen in the park.

"Special event requests and commercial uses have increased in years, and so we have quite a few. And this way also we can put them all together instead of having one environmental assessment, so to speak, for one type of event" explained Eckert.

You may remember earlier this year, organizers of the U.S. Pro Cycling Tour had asked to bring part of the race through the monument but were turned down. Now they say that they see this announcement as an opportunity for the future. Park visitors agree that public input is a great idea and think the events could also help boost the local economy.

"I think that's a great idea. It’s going to bring lots of people to the area, lots of awareness, and it would bring money and support to our community which we need" says Brenda Taylor, Colorado National Monument visitor.

Officials at the park seem enthusiastic about the process and they're excited to get the public’s input. Dates for these community meetings haven't been set yet but we'll keep you posted as we learn more.