Change of DFO meeting LOCATION
This month's DFO meeting at the Denver Museum of Nature and
Science will be held in THE PLANETARIUM at 7:30 p.m.,
not in Ricketson Auditorium.
Park on the north side of the Museum and enter
through the NORTH "MEMBER'S ENTRANCE."
(Do Not use the west door to enter or exit)
Program:
An Urban Gem: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
Monday, September 28, 2009
The September meeting will feature U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
personnel discussing the recent history and abundant wildlife resources of this
17,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge located just north of Denver’s old
Stapleton Airport. The refuge has a life list in excess of 225 avian species,
over 100 of which were recorded on this year’s Spring Bird Count. There are
also great opportunities for viewing a wide variety of non-feathered wildlife
species within the boundaries of the Arsenal.
In the early 1940s the United States Army purchased the site for a
World War II weapons production facility which included the making of chemical
weapons. Weapons production continued until the 1960s along with the
production of chemical fertilizers which continued until 1982. Waste products
from
these activities were disposed of on site and ultimately led to significant
contamination of soils and groundwater. This led to the Arsenal being
declared a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Cleanup has been underway for years and as Hugh Kingery states in his
recent book Birding Colorado, the Arsenal is a National Audubon Important
Bird Area (IBA) and is "a Superfund site that will soon offer premier wildlife
viewing."
In the winter of 1986 a communal roost of bald eagles was discovered
at the Arsenal which caught the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. This ultimately led to the designation of the site as a National
Wildlife Refuge in 1992. The 27 square mile Arsenal property, with the
contamination fairly localized in the center, is a parcel of shortgrass prairie
(steppe
ecoregion) which boasts wetlands, lakes, and deciduous woodlands. One can
find nesting bald eagles and burrowing owls, mule deer, badgers, tiger
salamanders, monarch butterflies, the black-tailed prairie dog (a keystone
species), and even wintering ferruginous hawks stalking "the dogs" trying to
capture
a winter meal. All this within sight of downtown Denver!
For more read When Nature Heals: The Greening of Rocky Mountain
Arsenal by Shattil, Madson, Rozinski, and the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation (1990); Lynn Willcockson in A Birder’s Guide to Colorado (1997;
pages
122-124); Hugh Kingery in Birding Colorado (2007; page 109); or the Arsenal’s
website www.fws.gov/rockymountainarsenal.
So do join us Monday, September 28th as members of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service share the latest information on the Arsenal as well as its
two sister sites, Two Ponds and Rocky Flats.
Future meeting dates with equally interesting presentation are October
26th, and November 23rd. Mark your calendars!
The Denver Field Ornithologists monthly meetings are held on the 4th
Monday of each month August to April (but excluding December).
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Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/
Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/
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