Conservation Easement Study

CNHP is pleased to share the study, "Colorado’s Return on Investments in Conservation Easements: Conservation Easement Tax Credit Program and Great Outdoors Colorado." This study evaluates public benefits received by Coloradans from state investments in conservation easements. The study found that each dollar invested by the state produced benefits of between $4 and $12 for Coloradans in addition to protecting numerous key conservation priorities. To learn more, please see the CSU press release linked below.

https://source.colostate.edu/investments-conservation-easements-reap-benefits-colorado/

It was fantastic to work with our colleagues in the Warner College of Natural Resources and @CSUCollegeAgriculturalSciences. This report would never have been possible without help from Great Outdoors Colorado - GOCO, the land trust community and a generous private donation to help fund our work. Thanks to everyone who made this important work possible and we hope the study provides useful information on the State's return on investment for private land conservation efforts.

Pleasant Valley near Bellvue, Colorado

CNHP a part of the High Park Fire Restoration Coalition

As seen in a recent article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, CNHP has joined forces with several other conservation organizations, government agencies, and concerned individuals to form the High Park Fire Restoration Coalition.

The purpose of the Coalition is to facilitate the environmental restoration of the watersheds most severely impacted by the recent High Park and Hewlett Gulch fires. An immediate focus will be reseeding and mulching high priority areas to mitigate erosion and impacts to water quality and local fish populations.

Coalition members include the Arapaho Roosevelt Pawnee Foundation, the Colorado Conservation Exchange, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State Forest Service, Mark Palke, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Rocky Mountain Fly Casters, Trees, Water & People, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, the Warner College of Natural Resources, and Wildlands Restoration Volunteers.

CNHP's involvement in this Coalition means that the goals include protection and restoration of rare and imperiled species and sensitive habitats in the interest of retaining the biodiversity and health of the burned areas.

The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado has established the High Park Fire Restoration Fund for individuals or businesses who are interested in donating to the ecological restoration work of the Coalition.

Upcoming opportunities to get involved with the High Park Restoration Coalition’s efforts include an August 18 Hewlett Gulch trail restoration project and an August 28 community education event, hosted by the Colorado Conservation Exchange and the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins from 5-7 p.m. (for more information, contact patrick.flynn@colostate.edu, 970-491-4118).

CNHP work in Teller County in the news

CNHP Wetland Ecologist Denise Culver is quoted in a recent article in the Pikes Peak Courier View regarding our recently completed Teller County survey of critical biological resources and how it has benefited local landowners. The article also notes how the survey was a great learning experience for several students from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, who participated in the fieldwork.

Denise gave a presentation on the project and its findings to the Teller County Planning Commission this past Tuesday.

For more information about the project, see our past posts:

• Teller County survey report and brochure
• Teller for Tomorrow Forum
• Teller County survey in the Pikes Peak Courier View (June 2010)
• Teller County survey kick-off meeting

CNHP White River NF fen work in the news

The Glenwood Springs Post Independent recently published an article about the biologically rich and unique fens in the White River National Forest that CNHP ecologists, botanists, and wetland mappers helped identify and catalogue over the last several years.

“The Colorado Natural Heritage Program's methodology and painstaking work made this project possible,” says John Proctor, White River National Forest Botanist. Thanks for the kind words and opportunity to work with you, John!

CNHP featured in LightHawk's May newsletter

CNHP has used the very generous services of LightHawk a couple of times recently, once back in December to look at the Cache La Poudre and South Platte Rivers, and again in February to look at the  canyon country of the Purgatoire River and Chacuaco Canyon.

Both of these trips are featured in the May 2011 issue of LightHawk's online newsletter, WayPoints. Big thanks go out again to the wonderful volunteer pilots who made these flights and for LightHawk for making it all possible!

CNHP in the Pikes Peak Courier View

Teller County's local paper, the Pikes Peak Courier View has a great article about our Teller County survey of critical biological resources happening right now. Teller County is the 34th major inventory project  since CNHP began these projects in 1992. This kind of inventory work is what forms the core of our mission to build and maintain Colorado's most comprehensive biodiversity database.

Be sure to check out this excellent summary of the project with pictures of and quotes from CNHP ecologists Denise Culver and Allison Shaw. These two, along with a number of other CNHP employees, are hard at work surveying the rare and imperiled animals, plants, and natural communities that call Teller County home.

CNHP alumnus in the news!

Katie Driver, one of our recent seasonal field botanists and current CSU graduate student, was honored with the 2009 Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Student Achievement Award for her work in creating a protocol for monitoring wetlands in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was the Colorado National Heritage Program that gave Katie her first full-time seasonal field botanist position. "Here, I was able to really develop my plant identification skills and my knowledge of Rocky Mountain vegetation communities," said Katie. Her work with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program gave her the opportunity to work in both Rocky Mountain National Park and Great Sand Dunes Park and Preserve collecting plant species data to help create park vegetation maps. Katie then went on to become a graduate student with Dr. David Cooper in the Warner College of Natural Resources (the same college where CNHP is based here at CSU), where she developed her award-winning wetlands monitoring protocol. See the full CSU press release here.

Congratulations, Katie! We foresee a long and distinguished career in ecology.

Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative in the news

The Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative (RPCI), which we originally posted about here, made today's front page of Colorado State University's online news publication Today @ Colorado State, with a great quote from CNHP botanist Susan Panjabi.

Additionally, Betsy Neely of The Nature Conservancy will be giving a talk about the RPCI today at 7:00 p.m. at the Steamboat Art Museum in downtown Steamboat Springs and another one at the Denver Botanic Gardens on August 13.

CNHP Ecologist leads tour of Hanna Ranch

CNHP Ecologist Renée Rondeau led a tour last Wednesday of the Hanna Ranch, south of Colorado Springs. The owners of the ranch are working on a conservation easement with the help of the Colorado Conservation Partnership to set aside approximately 460 acres along Fountain Creek.

Renée led potential supporters and journalists on a hike through the ranch's riparian communities. The tour emphasized the need to conserve large landscapes that connect our high peaks with our prairie systems. By participating in such events, CNHP is assisting with landscape conservation by sharing our conservation knowledge with those that have the resources to pursue on-the-ground conservation.

Read the related articles in The Pueblo Chieftain and Colorado Springs Gazette.

Survey of Critical Biological Resources in Chaffee County

In 2008, Chaffee County became the 31st Colorado county surveyed for critical biological resources by CNHP, completed by Denise Culver, Delia Malone, and Stephanie Neid. The survey included both wetland and upland areas and was made possible with funding from Chaffee County, Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8.

CNHP Ecologist Denise Culver

Chaffee County has three Potential Conservation Areas (PCA) ranked with an Outstanding Biodiversity Significance (B1) due to the rarity and/or excellent condition of a species. The Middle and South Cottonwood Creek PCA is Colorado’s best breeding site for the State Endangered (G4T1Q S1) Boreal Toad (Bufo boreas boreas). The Castle Gardens and Droney Gulch PCAs are also ranked as outstanding due to the documentation of the critically imperiled (G1G2 S1S2) Brandegee wild buckwheat (Eriogonum brandegeei), a Colorado endemic and Fendler’s townsend-daisy (Townsendia fendleri) (G2S2), a regional endemic. Learn more about Natural Heritage rankings here.

Townsendia fendleri (Fendler's townsend-daisy)

The project increased the number of PCAs in the county to 57 and added 53 new element occurrences and updated 27 known occurrences. The information from the survey is already being used by several land trusts to establish conservation easements for private properties, and also provides an additional data resource for the Chaffee County’s Comprehensive Plan. The full report PDF can be downloaded from our website.

Last month CNHP made the local paper (The Mountain Mail in Salida) regarding our report to the Chaffee County commissioners. Here’s the full article.

Frenchman Creek in Chaffee County, CO