Colorado Botanical News |
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Welcome to the Botanical News page where you will find news about recent botanical books, jobs, local and national legislation, rare plant action, research, conferences, etc. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY – POSTED 12/16/11: This position involves conducting general field surveys for biological resources, conducting wetland delineations, conducting sensitive species surveys, preparing biological reports, preparing and implementing mitigation and restoration plans, and preparing biological resources sections of NEPA documents and permit applications. Project work will involve travel for fieldwork. The ability and desire to perform extensive fieldwork on potentially difficult terrain and during adverse weather conditions on field assignments ranging from several days to months at a time will be essential and travel time is estimated to be up to 90 percent of work time during summer field season. For additional details on this opportunity and to apply, please click the link below. https://home.eease.adp.com/recruit/?id=1085221 If you have further questions regarding this career opportunity or would like to use an alternative method to apply, please call (612) 347-6789 or send an email inquiry to careers@NRG-LLC.com. Seeds for New York: The Lawn Guy: Conservation Genetics Workshop associated with the California Native Plant Society 2012 Conservation Conference January 10-11, 2012, in San Diego, California Dr¹s Lisa Wallace, Kaius Helenurm, and Mitchell McGlaughlin will be leading a Conservation Genetics Workshop focused Additional information about the California Native Plant Society 2012 Conservation Conference can be found at If interested, I would encourage you to apply for a travel grant. We are also asking that individuals circulate this call for For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Mitchell McGlaughlin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of
Biological Sciences, 501 20th Street, Ross Hall 1560 University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639, 970-351-2139
Mitchell.McGlaughlin@unco.edu Discussion on Hydraulic Fracturing in Northern Colorado Community Conversation Café (public dialogue) Friday, January 27, 2012, 9:30 am – 11:00 am (breakfast and coffee will be provided) Located at: Colorado State University Lory Student Center Ballroom For the past semester, students have been learning about our watershed, natural resources, water quality, and ecology. They have heard speakers from Marathon Oil and the Sierra Club to consider diverse perspectives on the Hydraulic Fracturing issue. As a culmination of their learning, and as a kick off of our STEMester of Learning, students will be hosting and facilitating discussions on the impact of Hydraulic Fracturing with you - the community. Students ask that you come with an open mind (one of our I.B. Learner Traits) to look critically at all sides of this issue through the lenses of economic impact, energy demand, human health, and environmental sustainability. We hope you can join us and can contribute your ideas and thoughts on this important issue facing our community. We hope to have as many experts, community members, politicians, and diverse opinions as possible. If you can make it please RSVP to Sarah Bayer at sbayer@psdschools.org; 970-488-5713
High Altitude Revegetation Workshop March 7 and 8, 2012 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Final Rule to list the Pagosa skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha) as an Endangered Species and Parachute beardtongue (Penstemon debilis) and DeBeque phacelia (Phacelia submutica) as Threatened Species And Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Three Species Questions and Answers Two Roan Plateau Area Wildflowers at Risk from Oil and Gas Drilling Get Endangered Species Act Protection July 27, 2011 Contacts: Denver—Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that two Colorado wildflowers found only on and around the Roan Plateau and South Shale Ridge area are now protected as Threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and have been proposed for critical habitat protections that will be finalized next year. The federal agency identified the primary threat to both species as current and proposed oil and natural gas drilling operations on public lands. Parachute penstemon, which occurs in only 6 populations on or near the base of the Roan Plateau, and DeBeque phacelia, which is found only in the vicinity of the growing town of DeBeque and South Shale Ridge, were both found by the Fish and Wildlife Service to be at risk of extinction from a variety of threats associated with oil and gas development including new roads pipelines as well as off-road dirt bike and ATV riding. “Endangered Species Act protection for these two rare and unique wildflowers will help us balance our need for domestic energy production with preserving our natural heritage,’ said Josh Pollock, Conservation Director at Rocky Mountain Wild. “When we work to keep the parts of the natural world that we cannot, including these plants specially adapted to the rugged beauty of Colorado’s West Slope, we leave a legacy for our children that we can be proud of.” The announcement of protections for these two species is part of a trio of Endangered Species Act listings for wildflowers in Colorado. As part of the same final listing rule, the Fish and Wildlife Service also designated the Pagosa skyrocket as endangered. The Pagosa Skyrocket occurs in only 2 populations near the town of Pagosa Springs and is highly vulnerable to disturbance from residential and commercial development on the private lands where it is primarily found. “Today three unique facets of Colorado’s stunning and diverse mountain and canyon country got the protection they so desperately needed,” said Pollock. “All three of these listings are necessary and sensible, given how vulnerable each one of these wildflowers is to the ways that we are using and converting the open lands around us here in the West.” In a separate announcement in the Federal Register, the Fish and Wildlife Service also proposed critical habitat designation for all three species. The proposed habitat designation includes over 19,000 acres for Parachute penstemon and almost 25,000 acres for the more widely distributed DeBeque phacelia. In the case of Parachute penstemon, the proposed designation acknowledged that the current populations alone would be insufficient to ensure the long-term survival and recovery of the species and therefore included a strip of potential recovery habitat at the north end of the Roan Plateau. The Service determined that this area has the same habitat characteristics as the occupied habitat, including exposed slopes of oil shale. For all three species, the Fish and Wildlife Service also took into account the possible effects of climate change on such plants that are so narrowly dependent on particular soil types and expanded their proposed boundaries for the proposed habitat units beyond the edges of the current populations. The agency also identified these buffers around the currently occupied habitat as necessary to protect the base of pollinators—primarily ground nesting bees and wasps—upon which both species depend. “The critical habitat proposal that comes along with today’s listing is a model of how the Fish and Wildlife Service should consider habitat protections for rare plants with limited ranges in the face of climate change and continued oil and gas drilling on public land,” said Pollock. “The agency appropriately limited their proposal to places that are not already developed, concentrated on federal public lands, and took into account the need for additional habitat for recovery. While we can’t know everything climate change will do to an individual species, we must begin to acknowledge that it will change habitat for many at-risk species and do what we can to protect additional places with that in mind.” Both species have been official candidates for Endangered Species Act protection for at least twenty years. In the case of DeBeque phacelia, the Colorado species has been on the official waiting list for 31 years. Center for Native Ecosystems (which has now merged to form Rocky Mountain Wild), the Colorado Native Plant Society, and Dr. Steve O’Kane petitioned to move the two species off the candidate list and finalize their protection under the ESA in 2004 and 2005. “To say that these protections are overdue would be an extreme understatement,” said Pollock, “but the most important thing is that they are in place now. We hope it is in time to secure a future for these three parts of our web of life in Western Colorado along with the dozens of other rare species that carve out a life in the same difficult habitat.” There will be a 60 day period for public comment on the proposed critical habitat designation for all three species. Parachute Penstemon Center for Native Ecosystems, the Colorado Native Plant Society, and Dr. Steve O’Kane (one of the botanists who discovered the species in the 1980s) petitioned in 2004 for the parachute penstemon to be moved from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s candidate list and given the protection under the Act it deserved. A high resolution photograph of Parachute penstemon is available for download (with credit to Steve O’Kane) at http://nativeecosystems.org/wp-content/uploads/Parachute-penstemon_Steve-OKane.jpg
DeBeque Phacelia DeBeque phacelia is a low-growing annual plant with small yellowish flowers. It relies on a bank of seeds within the soil to continue coming up year after year, and therefore disturbance of the slopes where it is found or even the soil below such slopes can destroy its seeds. The Fish and Wildlife Service found that threats to the wildflower’s seed bank and habitat included natural gas exploration and pipelines, expansion of roads and other oil and gas facilities, and even proposed reservoir projects that would be used to support oil shale development experiments in the area north of DeBeque. A high resolution photograph of DeBeque phacelia is available for download (with credit to Rocky Mountain Wild) at http://nativeecosystems.org/wp-content/uploads/phacelia.jpg New Publication from the Missouri Botanical Garden Press May 9, 2011 Colorado’s Spanish Peaks Region: An Exploration Guide to History, Natural History, Trails, and Drives by Richard C. Keating Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. As the region’s first comprehensive guide, this book provides an indispensable introduction to the area, with numerous maps, illustrations, and information on:
To order: email: mbgpress@mobot.org; phone: (877) 271-1930 (toll free within U.S., Canada, Mexico); fax: (314) 577-9509; For more info about this publication - http://www.mbgpress.info/index.php?task=id&id=11302 How Prepared is the U.S. to Meet Future Botanical Challenges? The Chicago Botanic Garden and Botanic Gardens Conservation International 's U.S. office have been working with partners across the country to assess current and future botanical capacity in the United States. The aim of this grant-funded project is to understand the resources we currently have to conserve and manage native plant species and habitat, identify gaps in capacity and highlight opportunities to fill them in the future. FINAL REPORT NOW AVAILABLE - DOWNLOAD HERE (1MB PDF)
ALSO AVAILABLE: Colorado Rare Plants Conservation Initiative News The goal of the Rare Plant Conservation Initiative is to conserve Colorado's most imperiled native plants and their habitats through collaborative partnerships for the preservation of our natural heritage and the benefit of future generations. Watch this space for news of the Rare Plants Initiative. Click for the 2009 "Executive Summary of the Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Strategy". Click for the "Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Strategy Report" (4 meg). Synthesis of the North American Flora John Kartesz of the Biota of North America Program (BONAP)has indicated that the final version of the Synthesis on a DVD will include county records for all plants, over 4,000,000 county records, over 150,000 images, family keys, and much more. The DVD will be for sale in 2010. BONAP of the North Carolina Botanical Garden at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was founded in 1969 by Dr. Kartesz. The program's goal is to develop a unified digital system for assessing the North American biota. The BONAP database now includes data for all vascular plants and vertebrate species (native, naturalized, and adventive) of North America, north of Mexico. Books of Jack and Martha Carter Jack and Martha Carter are selling their personal books with the proceeds going to the Native Plant Society of New Mexico. Click for details. Four Corners Flora After eleven years of field work, Ken Heil and Steve O'Kane have turned over The Four Corners Flora to the final editors. The book will be available in 2010. For details about the project see Bolack San Juan Basin Flora Project and Project Details. Become a Colorado Native Plant Master Sponsored by Colorado State University Extension, the field-based "Native Plant Master" courses are held in various counties across Colorado. Courses focus on plant identification, ecology, ethnobotany, landscaping, and human uses. Registration is limited. There is a fee for each course and each course consists of three, four-hour sessions. The cost is reduced for participants who agree to teach others about Colorado plants. Participants who pass three courses and satisfy the teaching requirement become certified Native Plant Masters. Click for more information or call the following Colorado State University Extension offices:
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