Wetland Ecology Field Technician Job Announcement

The Colorado Natural Heritage Program is looking for 1 or 2 experienced field technicians for summer field work assessing the condition of wetlands throughout the lower Arkansas River Basin. Positions require field botany and ecology skills. Preferred qualifications include experience in wetland or riparian ecology, local flora, and familiarity performing field work for long days (10+ hours).  

Fieldwork will take place in wetlands in natural areas and in created wetlands managed for wildlife habitat, as part of a wetland condition assessment project in the lower Arkansas River Basin. Standard duties will involve driving and hiking to field sites; in-field plant identification, in-office plant identification with a microscope; detailed completion of field survey forms, data entry, landowner interaction; and extensive collection of vegetation, soil, wildlife habitat, and environmental data. Data will be collected using both rapid assessment protocols and more in-depth vegetation surveys. Field housing will likely be based in Pueblo, CO. Some camping and travel will be necessary.

To apply and view a complete position description, please visit: the WCNR job page.  First consideration of applicants will begin on February 17, 2013. Applications will be accepted until position is filled or until July 31, 2013.

CNHP Partners Meeting

On January 14th, we held our first CNHP Partners Meeting.  We did this at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center, thanks to the generosity and hospitality provided by Jeff Morisette, Director of the North Central Climate Science Center, who made their conference room available to us.

Partners enjoying snacks and coffee together prior to the meeting

This was the biggest event we’ve ever hosted, and spending the day with 60 of our key partners was thrilling and wonderful for us.  We were sad that a few folks in the mountains could not make it due to the weather, but fortunately the snow did not impede travel for those of us on the Front Range.

Ken Wilson’s introduction to the partners

We started the day with a welcome from the USGS Fort Collins Science Center Director Dave Hamilton, and from Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department Head Ken Wilson.

The distinguished participants getting the overview of the day from Dave

Then each of CNHP’s teams (Botany, Ecology, the Wetland Sub-team, Zoology, Conservation Data Services, and Conservation Planning) gave a short, 10-minute overview of their staff, key functions and projects, and directions for the future.  I followed them to roll up CNHP’s Future Directions just before lunch.

The partners engaging in a networking exercise- creating new
connections within Colorado’s conservation community!

After lunch, we turned the tables to our partners, ten of whom gave presentations about their current priorities, challenges, and ways that the folks in the room could connect and help to address them.  They were welcomed by Joyce Berry, who shared some very kind remarks about CNHP, and acknowledging our 20 years at CSU, gave CNHP $25,000!  This was a huge and wonderful surprise for us.

Del Benson, FWCB Faculty at CSU (left) and
Jeff Thompson, CPW (right), talking over lunch

Chris Pague and Tim Sullivan with the Nature Conservancy then started off, giving some historical perspectives of CNHP, and acknowledging three of our staff, Renee Rondeau, Lee Grunau, and Susan Panjabi, who have hit the 20 year mark in their distinguished careers.  They were followed by Karl Brown with NPS, Carol Dawson and Bruce Rittenhouse with BLM, Billy Bunch with EPA, Brian Mihlbachler with USFWS at the US Air Force Academy, Peter McDonald, Karen Lee, and Steve Popovich with USFS, Francie Pusateri with CPW, Mindy Gottsegen with SLB, and Kevin Johnston with the SRLCC.  Del Benson also gave an overview of the upcoming 8th International Congress for Wildlife and Livelihoods on Private and Communal Lands: Livestock, Tourism, and Spirit, to be held on Sept 7-12, 2014 in Estes Park.

Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources Joyce Berry welcomes the Partners

I’ve gotten some nice feedback from several folks who came.  Tim Hogan, Collections Manager at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Herbarium, said “Just want to compliment you and all your comrades for putting on a very good show yesterday.  I do appreciate how much work is involved in pulling something like that together.  It was an interesting group of people, and it was a treat for me to see some folks I haven’t seen in too long a time and meet others whom I’ve never met face-to-face.”  Joyce Berry, Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources, said “I really am so proud of all that you are doing.  Having all your partners show up like that is also another indicator of CNHP’s success.”

Chris Pague, TNC Senior Conservation Scientist,
sharing thoughts about working with CNHP

We have set up a new webpage where we’ve posted a recording with powerpoint presentations, notes, and photos from the event.  You can also see all of Michael Menefee’s photos from the Partners Meeting on our Facebook page.

Bruce Rittenhouse, BLM Natural Resources Branch Chief,
talks about BLM’s landscape-level approach to conservation through the REAs.

We are interested in continuing this, perhaps annually, and we are interested in feedback about the meeting and how we could do it better in the future.  We have posted a short survey where you can offer us comments and suggestions about this.

Thank you from all of us at CNHP to everyone who came and made this great day possible.  It was a huge thrill to spend the day with you and envision an exciting future together!

Odell Brewing Company’s generous donation to study the Hops Blue butterfly

On a snowy evening in early December 2013, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program enjoyed beer with Odell Brewing Company (OBC) to celebrate the fruition of the Celastrina Saison collaboration. In May 2013, OBC generously agreed to brew a beer in recognition of a rare Colorado butterfly, the Hops Blue (Celastrina humulus).  This butterfly is only found along the Front Range of Colorado and its host plant is wild hops.  After enjoying beer and snacks, OBC’s Outreach Coordinator Karla Baise surprised everyone by presenting a check for $12,000 to CNHP.  This amount represents $1 for every bottle of Celastrina Saison sold, which is a testament to the popularity of this excellent beer and the incredible support throughout the beer-drinking and conservation community.  CNHP has begun recruiting honors undergraduate researchers to aid in conservation research on the Hops Blue.

: Rob Schorr, Karla Baise, and Dave Anderson with the generous donation from 

Odell Brewing Company.

Celebrating Celastrina Saison at the Butterfly Pavilion

Kellan Barr of The Butterfly Pavilion and Rob Schorr
at The Butterfly Pavilion’s Living Lights Celebration.

The Butterfly Pavilion is hosting their annual Living Lights holiday celebration that allows access to the many invertebrate displays at night while the grounds are lit in fantastical lighting. The event highlights those creatures that produce light for communication, defense, or navigation. Rob Schorr of CNHP was there to celebrate with The Butterfly Pavilion, and brought an Odell Brewing Company beer that recognizes a rare Colorado invertebrate, the Hops Blue butterfly. This small blue butterfly is only found from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs in areas where wild hops are abundant. The Butterfly Pavilion asked Schorr and Odell Brewing Company to participate in the Living Lights celebration to highlight the unique collaboration between CNHP and Odell that spawned Celastrina Saison, a lightly-hoppy farmhouse ale with hints of clove. In 2012, Schorr proposed the idea of a beer to honor this butterfly, and Odell Brewing Company eagerly developed Celastrina Saison and donated $1 for every bottle sold to CNHP to conduct research on the butterfly.

The grounds at The Butterfly Pavilion during Living Lights Celebration.

Renee Rondeau’s visit to the Thatcher Ranch with Palmer Land Trust

by David Anderson, CNHP Director

As part of receiving the prestigious Stewardship Award from Palmer Land Trust, PLT made a wonderful film of Renee at the Thatcher Ranch in Southeastern Colorado.  In the film, Renee is talking about ranching and conservation in Southeast Colorado with the ranch owner, John Thatcher.  They did such a nice job of capturing the spirit of Renee and John’s friendship, and the subtle beauty of the Thatcher Ranch.  We want to send a special thank you to John Thatcher for his kind words and hospitality, and to PLT for creating this great film.



2013 is turning out to be the Year of the Video for CNHP!  I hope you enjoy watching this and the other content we’ve posted recently, and be on the look-out for more to come as the students in Amy Kousch’s Public Relations in Natural Resources complete their videos for CNHP.

CNHP director featured in Larimer County video

CNHP director David Anderson makes an appearance in a video about how Great Outdoors Colorado support for our work and that of our partners has helped to transform the face of Colorado in wonderful ways. Watch “Leveraging Colorado Lottery Funds” here:

Celastrina Saison video!

CNHP and Odell Brewing Company have entered a novel partnership to conserve the hops blue butterfly (Celastrina hummulus), which only lives along Colorado's Front Range, exclusively in populations of wild hops. Odell released Celastrina Saison in a Belgian farmhouse 750-ml bottle in late May 2013. The label boldly shows a male hops blue butterfly and along the edge of the label is a description of how $1 of each 750 ml bottle will go toward CNHP for hops blue butterfly research. This partnership between Odell Brewing Company and CNHP developed out of a shared interest in conserving species and landscapes that are uniquely Colorado.



Cheers!

Urban Wetland Surprises: Denver’s Parkfield Park

By Bernadette Kuhn, CNHP Botanist

We recently visited Parkfield Park as part of our EPA-funded wetland assessment project in Denver County. Much to our delight it was teeming with dragonflies, aquatic insects, and waving bulrushes. Our crew of botanists jumped up and down when we discovered floating mats of the world’s smallest flowering plant. The mats were made up of thousands of Wolffia columbiana that creating swirly lime-green patterns on the water. Ralph Brooks collected the only known Colorado specimen of W. columbiana from Yuma County in 1980. We collected voucher specimens to distribute to regional herbaria.

David Leatherman holds a green dragonfly with Billy Bunch (EPA), while
 Laura Cascardi and Bernadette Kuhn get distracted by plants.
Photo by Pam Smith.

Tiny, almost granular Wolffia columbiana plants (indicated by white arrows)
are dwarfed by duckweed, Lemna minor. Photo by B. Kuhn.

A Woodhouse’s toadlet at Parkfield Park. Photo by Pam Smith.

Blog readers stay tuned! We will be posting more photos of our Denver urban wetland work throughout the winter.