Barr Lake "below dam" is no longer

[Adam Vesely]

Hi everyone,

Some of you that have recently been to the north side of Barr Lake (Adams Co.) may have noticed the obliteration of the tree-lined stream area below the Barr Lake dam. Large construction vehicles continued their warpath today, removing more trees along the stream that have provided wonderful, shady habitat for birds over the years. I would expect this area to be mostly devoid of trees and shrubs in the coming days. I spoke to a ranger yesterday, and she said that although some trees will be saved per input from Barr Lake rangers, it is not Barr Lake property and those pesky trees were simply sucking up too much irrigation water. Ironically, this area is only about 1/4 mile east of the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies house. Take that, birds.  

Adam Vesely

Thornton, CO

  

[Joe Roller]

Birders will be making fewer trips below the Barr Lake Dam, obviously.

BUT Checklists collected at that eBird hotspot will be useful in documenting changes in

the avifauna, before and after the habitat destruction. So don't give up on it; get down there when you can!

Joe Roller, Denver

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8f84986c-4dca-42ba-8089-dc0f3138ff3co%40googlegroups.com.

[willia...@birdconservancy.org]

Hello everyone,

We at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies wanted to provide a little background on the recent removal of trees below the dam at Barr Lake…

The property is owned and managed by FRICO (Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company) of Brighton. The site is actually a “toe ditch” and normally would have been cleared on a regular basis, and never allowed to overgrow as it had. FRICO just hadn't gotten to it in quite a while.

Bird Conservancy and Barr Lake State Park (CPW) did meet with FRICO’s supervisor on the project and negotiated to save the tall cottonwoods at the location. As FRICO would have been within its rights to remove all of the trees without consulting us, we were glad to at least save what we could. 

While saddened by the loss of this habitat for birds, we are in conversations with Barr Lake State Park about potential restoration efforts beyond the ditch in the future. We will be looking for volunteers to assist in those efforts; please visit birdconservancy.org/volunteer if you would like to sign up, and we will keep in touch!

Sincerely,

William Bevil

Communications Manager

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

william.bevil(at)birdconservancy.org

(970) 482-1707 x30