CoNPS Blog
News, Events & Nature Updates
The Art and Science of Nature Journaling
Editor’s note: The author of this post will be leading a field trip on nature journaling at our 2021 Annual Conference in Trinidad! Nature Journaling can mean something different to each person who practices it. There are numerous approaches for both teaching and...
Wild Bergamot: Commonly Extraordinary
Wild bergamont (Monarda fistulosa) attracts an Aphrodite fritillary butterflyWild Bergamot is abundantly in bloom right now, covering the hills with exuberant bursts of purple, scenting the air nearby with gentle fragrance, and generously providing nectar to a variety...
Ground Nesting Bees
While hiking near Bonanza, Colorado we found a large nest of ground nesting native bees. This is always a very exciting thing to observe. They fly so fast and dive into the holes they have dug. Some are still digging, some are stuffing pollen and nectar...
Hummingbirds Love Penstemons!
Several species of hummingbirds migrate from Mexico and South America to Colorado in the spring each year. They are especially attracted to red flowers. Adding red penstemon to your garden such as Penstemon barbatus is essential for hummingbirds! Penstemon...
Pollination Biology of the Yucca!
Pollination Biology of the Yucca! An Amazing Story to learn about. Have you noticed? The Yucca plants are in bloom! In Colorado there are approximately six species of Yucca which occur in the Agave or Agavaceae Family. Each species of Yucca has its own species of...
2021 Alice Eastwood Scholarship Awarded
2021 Alice Eastwood Scholarship Recipient: Tiffany Gentry (Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver). $950. Tiffany moved to Colorado in 2010 and quickly became obsessed with the landscape of the Southern Rocky Mountains, which led her to pursue...
2021 John Marr Grant Award Winners
Marr Grant Recipients: Valerie Martin, $1000 for “Microbial Facilitation of Floral Exploitation in a Subalpine Pollination Mutualism,” Justin Yow, $1000 for “Understanding how climate variability within the Colorado Rocky Mountains affects fuel load dynamics in...
Native Gooseberry Brings in the Pollinators
Early this week the native gooseberry began to bloom. Immediately the shrubs were filled with pollinators including native bees (Osmia spp., and Anthophora spp.), syrphid flies, flies, and butterflies (thicket hairstreak, Milbert's tortoiseshell, hoary comma). Also, I...
Travel Blog to the Purgatoire River
Why not? With a fresh dump of snow smothering the wildflowers nearby, and no family obligations for the weekend, why not run down to the ominously named Purgatoire River and discover its mysteries for myself? A check on the weather cam revealed bare ground in La Junta...
Habitat for Native Pollinators
A native bee heavy enough to lower the keel of a Golden banner flower, (Thermopsis divaricarpa) and receive the pollen reward. ©Carol EnglishProviding foraging habitat for native pollinators with diverse needs! Depending on where you live in Colorado, we are...
2021 Myrna Steinkamp Grant Award Winners
Steinkamp Grant Recipients: Ross McCauley & Aurea Cortés-Palomec, $1550 for "Conservation genetic analysis of the rare Chapin Mesa Milkvetch (Astragalus schmolliae) from lands of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe" Alexandra Seglias, $1025 for "How does increased...
Funding for the Endangered Species Act
On February 24, 2021, the Conservation Committee signed on, along with 140 other organizations, to a community letter written by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Defenders of Wildlife, to be sent to House and Senate appropriators to significantly increase...
CoNPS Conducts Bryophyte Inventory of Lair ‘O Bear Park
On October 1, 2020, the CoNPS Bryophyte Group, called the Rocky Mountain Mossers conducted a bryophyte inventory of Lair 'O Bear Park in Jefferson County. The bryophyte group newly formed during the 2020 Covid pandemic conducted their first bryophyte inventory at...
Colors of Winter: Colorado Native Plants
Mahonia repens, brilliant in the winter snow.Plant people can go a little nuts in winter, it just can’t be denied. We know of course, that our beloved plants are just taking the necessary precautions to survive winter, and to be prepared for magnificent spring when...
Mountain Mahogany: What’s in a Name?
In the case of Mountain Mahogany, not much! Cancel any images of grand and stately trees bravely crowning mountaintops, this Colorado native rarely reaches 16 feet. And, partly because it is a favorite browse-snack for deer and elk, its stature is more contorted than...
Mission Grant Award Winner – Spring 2020
Spring 2020 Mission Grant Awarded to Jennifer Bousselot to Continue Research on Green Roofs The CoNPS Mission Grant Committee made a follow-up award of $750.00 to Jennifer Bousselot to support continuation of a multi-year project assessing green roof effects on...
2020 Alice Eastwood Scholarship Awarded
2020 Alice Eastwood Scholarship Recipient: Grace E. Gardner (Biology, Colorado Mesa University). $950. Grace, our inaugural recipient of an Alice Eastwood Scholarship, is interested in pursuing a career in sustainable agriculture. This has been...
2020 John Marr Grant Awards
The CoNPS Research Grants Committee has Chosenthe Recipients for the 2020 John Marr Research Grants Courtenay Ray $850 for: “Demographic response to climate change in the Rocky Mountain alpine” Emily Mooney $850 for: “How native host plant variation shapes a...
A Tribute to William Weber
We couldn’t fit the entirety of Ron’s heart-warming tribute to Dr. Weber in the Spring issue of Aquilegia, but you can read it all below. Mary Menz, managing editorA Tribute: William A. Weber William A. Weber (1918–2020), world renowned botanist and eminent Colorado...
CoNPS Comments on Jefferson County Conservation Plan
On May 11, 2020 CoNPS commented on the Jefferson County Parks Conservation Plan. https://conps.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Jeffco-Greenprint-Plan.pdf
2020 Myrna Steinkamp Grant Award Winners
The CoNPS Research Grants Committee has Chosen the Recipients for the 2020 Myrna Steinkamp Research Grants Bronwyn Taylor $1,000 for: “The reproductive ecology of Astragalus microcymbus” Emily Orr $1,000 for: “Population genomic analysis of the rare, narrow...
2019 Conservation Committee Annual Report
Here is the CoNPS Conservation Committee 2019 Annual Report of Activities.
NEPA Regulation Changes – CoNPS Signs on To Public Comment
On March 9, 2020 CoNPS signed on to a letter to the Council on Environmental Quality regarding the proposed changes to the NEPA regulations.
Eldorado State Park Visitor Use Plan
CoNPS Conservation Committee made public comment on the Eldorado Canyon State Park Visitor Use Management Plan: Eldorado Canyon Park Comment Eldorado State Park Carex sprengelii locations
Powderhorn Fuels Management Project
On November 18, 2019, CoNPS signed on to a letter written by Matt Reed, Public Lands Director with High Country Conservation Advocates and signed by fourteen other Colorado conservation organizations. The letter makes comment on the Bureau of Land Management's...
Fall 2019 Mission Grant Award Winner
The CoNPS Mission Grant committee awarded $750.00 to Jennifer Bousselot to support research on green roof effects on flowering phenology and pollinators.
July 29, 2019: CoNPS Signs on to GMUG Comment Letter
The CoNPS Conservation Committee signed on to comments made by the High Country Conservation Advocates and other conservation organizations regarding the Grand Mesa and Uncompagre Revised Forest Plan. The Committee also submitted our own comments which had a...
CoNPS Comments on the Jacks Gulch Fuels Management Plan
On July 2, 2019, CoNPS commented on the Jacks Gulch Fuels Management Plan in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. The Forest Service plans to thin the forest in order to reduce the build-up of fuels that generate forest fires. CoNPS Comments on the project are...
CoNPS Comments on the Browns Canyon Natl. Monument RMP
On June 20, 2019 CoNPS signed on to a letter written by the Quiet Use Coalition regarding the Browns Canyon National Monument Resource Management Plan. The letter was co-signed by the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, the Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Wild...
Spring 2019 Mission Grant Award Winners
The CoNPS Spring 2019 Mission Grant committee awarded $700.00 to Mary Menz and the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose Colorado. The award will support interpretive signage about regional native plant communities and Ute ethnobotanical uses of local plants.