When our Executive Director, Maggie Gaddis, opened the Boulder Chapter’s first meeting of the year, she offered a powerful reminder: “For the past 50 years, we have been the constant guardians of our native plants.” This wasn’t just a reflection—it was a call to action. While many of our valued partners focus on specific, vital pieces of the ecological puzzle—such as pollinators, trails, or native plant gardening—the mission of CoNPS is uniquely comprehensive. We are dedicated to “furthering the knowledge, appreciation, and conservation of Colorado’s native plants and habitats through education, stewardship, and advocacy.” Our role as the state’s primary botanical guardians allowed us to provide specialized expertise to work more closely and effectively than ever with our partners in 2025. A year of historic milestones proves that the spirit of guardianship is strong and thriving.
CoNPS Executive Director, Maggie Gaddis, speaking at the first meeting of 2026 for the Boulder Chapter.
Guarding our Future
We put our stewardship into practice with a small research grant from Jefferson County Parks and Open Space to run a comparative study of the survival rate of plants grown in traditional peat medium versus a mineral-compost mix. Partnering with the Horticultural Department of Colorado Springs we hosted several volunteer events that introduced many enthusiastic people to CoNPS for the first time. Together, we cultivated 2,000 plants from seed, which were then transplanted into the rugged landscape of North Table Mountain Park. The site was monitored bi-weekly, gathering the vital data needed to refine our restoration techniques for the next fifty years.
A Global Guardian: CoNPS at the SER World Conference
In September 2025, CoNPS made its debut on the world stage at the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) World Conference in Denver. As part of our mission to spread botanical knowledge, we hosted a specialized plant identification training symposium for restoration professionals from around the globe. This high-impact event was made possible by the 2025 Torrey Botanical Society Symposium Award, a grant created to foster interest in botany and to enhance the understanding of plant science through symposia. Winning the award allowed us also to bring this essential training home to five of our local chapters and five of our regional affiliates. The global response was overwhelming—a post-conference survey ranked our training as one of the most popular events of the entire conferences proving that the expertise of our Colorado guardians is a world-class resource.
Alex Crochet explains the composition of a superior growing
mix for native plants using a mineral-compost mix and no peat.
Sharing our knowledge of how to identify native plants is very important. This skill is no longer being regularly taught in colleges and universities.
Guarding our Rarest Plants
Colorado is home to 125 endemic plant species found nowhere else on earth, and for many of these, the threat of extinction is a looming reality. To meet this challenge, we are utilizing a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW)Partners in the Outdoors Grant to deepen our collaboration with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine, Aquilegia saximontana
Kelly Ambler searching for rare plants. CoNPS will be assisiting
the Colorado Natural Heritage Program in searching for observations of rare plants this year. Watch the calendar for trainings!
This partnership allows us to provide specialized training in rare plant identification and launch new chapter programming focused on locating and documenting these elusive species. By equipping our members with the skills to identify ‘botanical gems’ in the field, we are not just witnessing Colorado’s natural heritage—we are actively guarding its survival for the next fifty years.
While these are but a few of the milestones that defined our year, they tell a larger story. These types of efforts have defined CoNPS from the beginning and over the course of the past fifty years. From the global heights of Denver to the quiet restoration of North Table Mountain, being a ‘constant guardian’ remains a labor of both science and soul.
All photos by author
Sue Dingwell