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Wetlands only cover about 3% of Colorado’s total area. And yet a vast range of species call them home. Between that and their role as some of the most effective carbon sinks in the world, many understand the importance of advocating for their survival.
On July 11, the Eagle River Coalition and Wilderness Workshop hosted their annual Homestake Community Science Day, which hosted 29 attendees who were given the opportunity to partake in a “bioblitz” along Homestake Road.
Located on the eastern edge of Holy Cross Wilderness and just south of Red Cliff are the Homestake Valley fens, a type of wetland that feeds off of mineral groundwater — as opposed to taking water from precipitation — where lots of wildlife can thrive.
While fens make a strong case as strong carbon collectors, they are also very sensitive and can take thousands of years to fully form, and once disturbed, the damage is almost irreversible. That’s why, after the White River National Forest allowed the drilling of test wells in Homestake Valley in 2021, Community Science Day began efforts to educate the public about the importance of these fragile ecosystems.
Participants at the event were given the opportunity to get a better understanding of the biodiversity living in fens through a bioblitz — community science gatherings to collect data over a short period of time. Citizen scientists dug into algae and scooped up bugs to get a better picture of the health of the wetlands, with the guidance of experts in algae, fens and ecosystem-specific species.
Using the iNaturalist app, participants walked around the area, snapping photos of species they found within the fens. The photos, after being uploaded onto the app, now live in a database for researchers to access, but also to showcase the area’s biodiversity.
“The Homestake Valley for a long time has been eyed as a potential site for a new dam and reservoir by the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs. They’ve had conditional water rights up there, and in the past, there’s been designs for different dam proposals that were successfully defeated by the community … but that threat hasn’t completely gone away,” said Michael Gorman, the campaign director for Wilderness Workshop.
“This is just a priority place for the community and wanting to protect it,” he said.
”So, the idea is that the more we know about this place, the more data we have, the better we can advocate for its protection.”
On iNaturalist, the Homestake Valley now has almost 1,400 observations from the past five years, according to Gorman.
“The idea is that everybody comes away with a deeper connection, they’re more connected to the place, and see the value in keeping it the way it is, and so, we’re all more likely to participate when we know about a place and have that connection,” he said.
David Geddes, the community engagement manager for Eagle River Coalition, shared a similar sentiment of motives for the day.
“As an environmental educator, I always say my mission is to help people experience, appreciate, and understand their resources in that order. You know, how are people going to understand something without first appreciating it, how are people gonna appreciate it without experiencing it?” he said.
“(Community Science Day) just adds to the evidence of the biodiversity in the place. So if some kind of development was proposed there, we can kind of pull up this data and say, ‘Okay, look at how much incredible biodiversity there is here,’” he said.
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