4th Annual Healthy Watershed Tour Re-Cap
On a beautiful September day in the North Fork Poudre Watershed, landowners, community members, land managers, and representatives from local, state, and federal agencies gathered for the 4th annual Healthy Watershed Tour and Open House. The annual tour, hosted by the North Fork Poudre Site Conservation Team (SCT), offers SCT members and the community an opportunity to visit restoration projects in the Poudre Watershed that are representative of potential management actions that benefit both people and the Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse (PMJM). These tours also help private landowners identify opportunities for habitat improvement on their own land, including funding and technical resources available through the SCT.
The 4th Annual Healthy Watershed Tour & Open House brought community members, landowners and SCT members together to explore river restoration projects in the North Fork of the Poudre Watershed.
The day began at the Ben Delatour Boy Scout Ranch, a pristine piece of private property nestled in the Elkhorn Creek Watershed. Guests enjoyed an informative presentation by Rob Schorr, about the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and, more specifically, about the PMJM and its significance to the Poudre Watershed. We then set out to explore some of the Elkhorn that runs through the Ranch, which has been identified by Larimer Conservation District (LCD) and Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW), both active members of the SCT, as a high priority site for riverscape restoration. Beaver are active in this area, so additional low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) will make this section of the creek even more resilient while improving riparian habitat for species like PMJM. In addition, work will soon be completed to help ranch managers and beavers co-exist in this area, preventing damage to critical infrastructure on the property. This will include building a “beaver deceiver” where dams are causing flooding on the property.
The N. Fork Poudre SCT brings landowners, agencies and nonprofits to promote community-based conservation.
Tour participants learn about post-assisted log structures (PALs) that were built by CPRW at Upper Elkhorn Creek.
After our visit at the Scout Ranch, we made our way north to the Upper Elkhorn Creek area, where CPRW and the US Forest Service have been working to restore riparian areas burned in the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020. The site is a prime example of how process-based restoration can be used to reconnect floodplains, improve habitat, capture sediment, and protect water quality, with the hope that beaver will return when conditions become more suitable.
Following the site visits, we caravanned back to the Scout Ranch to enjoy lunch and refreshments from The Forks Mercantile & Saloon, a local favorite in the community. Thank you to Wild Birds Unlimited for sponsoring this delicious meal! Guests also had plenty of time to chat with SCT members and learn more about our work in the North Fork of the Poudre. We look forward to connecting more with new friends from this tour and growing our membership and participation in the Site Conservation Team, a first-of-its-kind community-based group working to delist a threatened species – the Preble’s Mouse. See you next year for the 5th annual Tour!
Thank you also to BDSR for providing a space for us to gather as a community. Thank you Darlene at the Red Feather Lakes Community Library for reaching out in the community and promoting the event. Thank you to the fabulous speakers who provided a clear and accessible understanding of complex ecosystem function and restoration: including Bob Sturdevant, Rob Schorr (especially at such short notice), Anna Cloud, Megan Maiolo-Heath, and Taryn Contento. Thank you also to Cory Dick for capturing cool images of the event and directing everyone in safely. Thank you also to those who hosted information tables, and who provided carpool vehicles and who helped set up and then clean up: Mike and Danette Meyer, Claudia Boot, Kaylee Smith, Mary Beth Albrechtsen, Megan, Cory, Anna, Mindy Gottsegen, and Taryn Contento.
