Chapter Events
Chapter Programs
and Field Trips for
2008
March 13, 2008: “Ten Years of Restoring Boulder’s Wildlands: Volunteers Make it Happen.”
Trip Leader: John Giordanengo, Projects Director, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers
The Boulder-based Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began its first project in 1999 when the founder, Ed Self, organized about 20 volunteers to plant Willows and improve wetland habitat around Heron Pond at Pella Crossing Open Space near Hygiene. The FOES (Friends of Ed Self), as this first group of volunteers jokingly referred to themselves, spawned a core group of volunteer leaders skilled in ecological restoration and project planning. By the end of 2006, WRV volunteers had completed 113 projects and had contributed over 80,000 volunteer hours (valued at over $1,300,000) toward the care and restoration of public lands.
In 2008, WRV plans to implement over 28 projects in partnership with several local, regional, and national land management agencies. In addition to implementing professional restoration work, WRV experiments with new restoration treatments, trains leaders in ecological restoration, and provides a fun venue for every-day citizens to engage in ecosystem restoration and conservation.
This talk will include a brief history of WRV, an overview of restoration techniques used successfully throughout Boulder County, details of a new volunteer-based monitoring program, the future of the organization, and OF COURSE pictures of native plants in restoration areas. For more information, visit www.wlrv.org.
April 10, 2008 “Rare Plant Initiative: Saving Colorado's Wildflowers.” Betsy Neely, Senior Conservation Planner, The Nature Conservancy Trip Leader: Betsy Neely, Senior Conservation Planner, The Nature Conservancy
The goal of the Rare Plant Conservation Initiative is to conserve Colorado’s most imperiled native plant species and their habitats through a collaborative partnership effort. Fourteen public and private partners have come together to take the conservation of native rare plants in Colorado to a new level by developing a statewide conservation strategy; prioritizing species, sites, and conservation needs; securing on-the-ground protection for plant species and their habitats; and seeking long-term funding for plant conservation, inventory, monitoring, and research.
This project is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with additional support and match from the Colorado Native Plant Society, Colorado Natural Areas Program, Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Denver Botanic Gardens, and Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust.
May 8, 2008 Native Plant Hike and Picnic
Location: Walker Ranch, Boulder County Open Space, west of Boulder. Please bring a snack to share. Meet at 7 p.m.
May 18, 2008 Diversity of Lichens Underfoot and Overhead
Trip Leader: Ann Henson
Ann will lead this field trip exploring a small world of wonderful colors and textures that is often noticed, but not seen. We will find the basic types of lichens in several different environments and we will learn about the life styles of the likable lichens, including sex and the single lichen. Your next brown bag consumed while perched on a lichen-covered rock will be just a little more interesting. Expect moderate walking at multiple sites.
Bring hand lens, lunch, rain gear, and water; we will be out all day. The trip is limited to 12 people.
Time: 9a.m.-?
Information: Email Ann Henson or call her 303-772-8962.
