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Colorado Natural Heritage Program Connecting Conservation and Science The Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) is Colorado’s only comprehensive source of information on the status and location of Colorado’s rarest and most threatened species and plant communities. We share information with a wide range of stakeholders in partnerships that work to ensure that Colorado’s biodiversity resources are not diminished. CNHP has an enormous impact on conservation in Colorado through these partnerships. CNHP tracks and ranks Colorado’s rare and imperiled species and habitats, and provides scientific information and expertise to promote the conservation of Colorado’s wealth of biological resources. Established in 1979, CNHP is a non-profit scientific organization affiliated with the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. Biological Surveys CNHP’s biologists work throughout Colorado to identify and describe locations for Colorado’s rare animals, plants, wetlands, riparian areas, and plant communities at the scale of a single parcel all the way to an entire County or watershed. This work is critical for supporting conservation activities statewide, and has been instrumental in some of Colorado’s biggest conservation successes over the past 30 years, including the Mountains-to-Plains Project in Larimer County and the establishment of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in the San Luis Valley. “Our sense of community and compassionate intelligence must be extended to all life forms, plants, animals, rocks, rivers, and human beings. This is the story of our past and it will be the story of our future.” - Terry Tempest Williams Monitoring CNHP’s monitoring efforts provide information and feedback that are critical for the management of our natural heritage resources throughout the state. CNHP formed a partnership with the Colorado Division of Wildlife in 1999 to monitor known breeding sites and to survey locations throughout Colorado for new populations of the state endangered Boreal Toad. Other ongoing monitoring projects involve the federally threatened Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse and the federally threatened Pawnee Montane Skipper, as well as noxious weeds, several rare plant species, and responses of prairie systems to grazing management. Research CNHP’s scientists conduct research, and also provide information and technical expertise to other researchers. For example, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, CNHP has developed rigorous bio-assessment tools to gauge wetland condition across the state of Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountains. These assessments will provide the first statistically defensible, landscape-scale estimate of wetland condition in major river basins in Colorado. CNHP also supports research on taxonomy, classification, ecology, conservation genetics, and restoration ecology through collaborations with scientists and agencies throughout Colorado and beyond. Southeastern Colorado is home to the largest intact shortgrass prairie landscape in the United States, largely maintained by generations of ranching families. More than 100 rare species thrive here. Nearly 40 Photo: Michael Menefee private landowners have joined forces with CNHP scientists to identify and safeguard the region’s wildlife. Pictured here, a rare tiger moth lays eggs on dwarf milkweed, itself an imperiled plant native to shortgrass prairie. “Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we have... Its diminishment is to be prevented at all cost.” - Thomas Eisner For more information about our products and services, to request data, download reports, or donate to CNHP, visit us online at: cnhp.colostate.edu, and check out our blog at: cnhpblog.blogspot.com Conservation Planning/Spatial Analysis CNHP collaborates with many partners to put our resources to work in conserving Colorado’s biodiversity. With The Nature Conservancy, we have developed Colorado’s Biodiversity Scorecard, giving a comprehensive overview of the status of our biological wealth for the first time ever. CNHP is using species distribution modeling to refine and economize efforts to search for previously unknown populations. We support regional planning needs by analyzing data and writing science-based management plans. As one of five pilot states in establishing Landscope America (www.landscope.org), CNHP has helped to develop this conservation guide to America’s natural places. We are a founding partner in Colorado’s Rare Plant Conservation Initiative to save Colorado’s wildflowers. Vegetation Classification and Ecological Systems CNHP ecologists are helping to identify, define, and map Colorado’s natural communities and ecological systems statewide. CNHP has also pioneered techniques for assessing the biodiversity status of ecological system patches. Wetland condition assessment tools in development by CNHP, including Floristic Quality Assessment, Vegetation Index of Biotic Integrity, and Ecological Integrity Assessment, are helping to identify conservation priorities and opportunities throughout Colorado. Data Sharing and Distribution As Colorado’s only comprehensive source of information on Colorado’s rare species and their habitats, CNHP supports conservation efforts by maintaining and providing data. In this way, we work closely with stakeholders in the federal, state, local, and private sectors, as well as with academic researchers, to support conservation management, research, acquisition, and policy. We use advanced database tools such as the Biodiversity Tracking and Conservation System (BIOTICS) Statewide Database to maintain and share these data. Environmental Review CNHP’s environmental review services provide information for evaluating development and planning projects for potential impacts to rare species and their habitats. Our environmental review clientele includes landowners, consulting firms, local planning departments, nonprofits, and industry. Guidance from CNHP data and expertise are needed to support proactive development and planning activities such as wind energy, pipelines, roads, growth management, easement purchase, and numerous other activities that seek to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to sensitive or imperiled species and habitats. Why Conserve Biodiversity? We are learning more every day about the answers to this question, which has moved closer to the forefront of our collective psyche as new environmental challenges emerge. Biodiversity is the incredible, dizzying variety of life that surrounds us, including all of the earth’s plants, animals, their habitats, and the natural processes that they are a part of. It has become clear that biodiversity is the cornerstone of our existence on Earth. It is also important to conserve biodiversity for the sake of our own curiosity and aesthetic appreciation. Colorado’s mountains are spectacular, but what would they be without our splendid variety of wildlife and wildflowers? Colorado is full of biodiversity wonders, many of which are unique to our state. Medicines originating from wild species, including penicillin, aspirin, taxol, and quinine, save millions of lives and alleviate tremendous suffering. 40% of all prescriptions are for medicines that originate from plants and animals. No one knows how many more cures await discovery, hidden in Earth’s poorly studied species. There are 80,000 species of edible plants known on Earth, but 90% of the world’s food comes from a mere 20 species. Edible plant species, both those we know of and those we don’t, offer a tremendous resource of possibilities that greatly adds to the security of our food. How many of these have high potential for commercial exploitation and for feeding the hungry? Certainly a great many. Breeding cultivars with their wild counterparts can also confer resistance to diseases and increase crop yield. Biodiversity is the life support system of our planet- we depend on it for the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Wetlands filter pollutants from water, trees and plants reduce global warming by absorbing carbon, and bacteria and fungi break down organic material and fertilize the soil. It has been empirically shown that native species richness is linked to the health of ecosystems, as is the quality of life for humans. The connections between biodiversity and our sustainable future appear closer and closer the more we look. We literally need to conserve biodiversity as if our lives depend on it! Colorado’s Potential Conservation Areas Potential Conservation Areas (PCAs) provide a valuable planning tool for citizens and land managers to identify areas critical for biodiversity in Colorado. PCAs are delineated by CNHP based on a scientific methodology focused on identifying the land area that provides habitat and ecological processes upon which a particular species, suite of species, or natural community depends. The best available knowledge about each species’ life history is used for site design in conjunction with information about topography, hydrology, and other landscape features. PCA Biodiversity Significance Ranks B1: Outstanding Biodiversity Significance B3: High Biodiversity Significance B2: Very High Biodiversity Significance B4: Moderate Biodiversity Significance B5: General Biodiversity Interest Table Mountain Hogbacks PCA: An amazing, unfragmented natural landscape near major metropolitan areas. Photo: Michael Menefee N Mill Creek at Pagosa Springs PCA: Contains the known global range of the Pagosa skyrocket (G1S1). Photo: David Anderson Great Sand Dunes PCA: Includes the global range of the Great Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle (G1S1) and supports numerous rare plants and communities. Photo: CNHP Picketwire Canyon PCA: Vast tracts of high quality habitat for plains species including the Swift Fox (G3S3). Photo: Jim Gionnfrido