Boulder County
Parks & Open Space
5201 St. Vrain Road
Longmont, CO 80503
map
tel (303) 678-6200
fax (303) 678-6180
Boulder County Fairgrounds
9595 Nelson Rd.
Affolter House
Longmont, CO 80501
map
tel (303) 678-6235
fax (303) 678-6322
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Plant
Ecology
Boulder County is home to over 1,500 species of plants, many of which
are on open space. The Plant Ecology program is responsible for
protecting these native plant communities that are the backbone of our
ecosystems. Invasive weeds, development, and growing recreational use
are increasingly threatening these native plant communities and the
wildlife that depend on them. Boulder County is dedicated to conserving
and managing these native plant communities.
- Inventory open space for significant and unique native plant
communities.
- Protect significant and unique native plant communities,
including rare plant sites, wetlands, riparian areas, and other
important stands of vegetation.
- Help design management plans and trail corridors to minimize
impact to significant plant communities.
- Maintain native plant communities through a variety of
management techniques including ecological restoration, prescribed
burning, and weed control.
- Restore open space that has been disturbed by human impacts such
as trails, roads, mining, overgrazing, and forest thinning projects.
- Restore significant native plant communities such as wetlands and riparian
corridors.
- Restoration - We restore degraded areas in hopes of
increasing biodiversity and creating habitat. Restoration areas
include grasslands, wetlands, and riparian areas, as well as old
roadbeds, trails, and trailhead areas. Projects can include
earthwork and erosion control devices, planting of trees, shrubs,
grasses, and/or forbs, and seeding with native seed.
- Vegetation Mapping - We use a hierarchical vegetation
mapping system that uses plant dominance and the physical structure
of the plants to define communities or create groupings in a spatial
context. In 2009, we mapped approximately 3,800 acres.
- Project Planning - Restoration projects require months or
years of large-scale planning and design.
- Increasing Native Seed - Native seed plays a vital role
in the restoration of open space and our staff strives to use the
most native variety of seed possible. We use a two-fold method of
collection and increase. Volunteers and staff collect seed from
native grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. This seed is cleaned and
dried, and can be used directly in restoration areas or sent to be
grown out in our seed increase program. In this program the native
seed is grown out and new seed is harvested and sent back to us
every year.
- Monitoring - We monitor the vegetation on open space
properties to ensure the health of the habitat over a long
timeframe. In 2010, we will train
volunteers to increase
our monitoring efforts.
- Cooperation - Our projects would not be possible without
the help and support of many of our partner agencies. They
include the Youth Corps,
Boulder Flycasters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Colorado
Department of Transportation, and
Wildlands Restoration Volunteers.
- Leave plants where you find them. Boulder County Parks and Open
Space does not allow collection of plants for any purpose.
- Volunteer for a
native seed collection or restoration event.
- Learn about weeds and how
you can prevent spreading them.
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