Colorado Natural Heritage Program Earns National Award For Work On Imperiled Plant, Animal Species Throughout State
Wednesday, October 8, 1997
FORT COLLINS--A program based at Colorado State University
that collects and distributes information on rare and imperiled
plants, animals and natural communities in Colorado has won a
national award from the Nature Conservancy.
The Colorado Natural Heritage Program was named Outstanding
Heritage Program, an honor given annually to only one of the 65
U.S. member programs of the Natural Heritage network. The Nature
Conservancy also issued an award to the Panama Conservation Data
Center in Central America.
The award recognizes the program's exceptional efforts to
advance the mission of the Nature Conservancy, which works in
partnership with an international network of centers that
identifies areas with sensitive plant, animal or ecosystems that
warrant protection through land conservation or other means.
The Colorado Natural Heritage Program is a cooperative
effort with the Nature Conservancy, Colorado State, the Colorado
Division of Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado. The program is
housed at Colorado State under the auspices of the College of
Natural Resources.
John Sawhill, president of the Nature Conservancy, said the
award to the program is significant because the Colorado Natural
Heritage Program was restarted only five years ago and has
accomplished a great deal since.
"Four years ago, the state's heritage program was
practically non-existent. Since then, through the enthusiasm,
dedication and hard work, the program has grown from a staff of
two to more than 30. It has emerged as one of the nation's
premier heritage programs," he said.
Colorado Natural Heritage Program scientists have identified
more than 10,000 locations in Colorado that represent an
estimated 1,000 endangered or imperiled plant, animal or natural
communities. These areas are plotted onto maps and entered into
an extensive database so developers and county planners can
consider how construction projects may affect a rare plant or
animal species.
"Our work is vital in keeping Colorado ahead of the
endangered species curve," said Katie Pague, senior information
manager for CHNP. "By knowing where these sensitive plants,
animals and ecosystems are located, we can help land managers and
land owners prevent these species from becoming endangered or
extinct."
The program's work has helped counties preserve sensitive
areas through the development of open space parks and natural
reserves, Pague said. For example, Jefferson County has protected
portions of at least 15 of the 27 sensitive areas identified by
the Colorado Natural Heritage Program by converting these areas
to open space, thus encouraging development toward less sensitive
areas.
In addition, the program also has helped identify subspecies
of plants and animals that exist in Colorado and nowhere else in
the world. An example on the western slope is the Parachute
penstemon, a rare plant with only two known populations in the
world, both in Garfield County. Because of the program's
discovery of a new population of the globally endangered mountain
plover in Park County, the world's population of this bird grew
by as much as 20 percent.
The program also tracks the progression of other rare or
endangered species, including the kit fox in northeastern
Colorado, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse in Jefferson, Douglas
and El Paso counties, and the Ottoe skipper, a rare butterfly
that lives in the tallgrass prairies near Boulder.
The Colorado Natural Heritage Program is a public/private
non-profit organization funded entirely by private contributions,
project grants and contracts. Much of the field work is done by
student volunteers at Colorado State. For more information about
the program, call Katie Pague at (970) 491-1309.
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