Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 7:15 p.m.
Join
Boulder County Audubon and Lynn Riedel on Tuesday, March 23 to learn
how a small but important state program is conserving biological and
geological diversity across Colorado. Since 1977, the Colorado Natural Areas Program (CNAP) has
recognized and protected natural areas in Colorado with unique or
high-quality features of statewide significance. From prairie floodplain
meadows to high elevation habitats, more than 250 rare, threatened, or
endangered species and communities are monitored and cooperatively
protected at 95 designated sites across the state. Unique geological and
paleontological sites are also highlighted. CNAP-designated areas
overlap with Stewardship Land Trust sites of the State
Land Board, State Park lands, The Nature Conservancy preserves,
National Park Service lands, US Forest Service lands, city and county
properties, private land, and some National Audubon Society Important Bird Areas.
Lynn will first provide a sampler of CNAP’s contributions to
conservation across the state and then focus on the four biologically
diverse state natural areas in Boulder County: Colorado Tallgrass
Prairie, Boulder Mountain Park, South Boulder Creek, and White Rocks
Nature Preserve.
Lynn
Riedel has spent her career in natural areas management in Colorado –
initially working with the National Park Service. Her academic
background is in biology and science education. Since the mid-1990s, she
has worked as a plant ecologist with the City of Boulder Open Space and
Mountain Parks Department, specializing in grassland ecology. In
Dinosaur National Monument and in Boulder, her work has included rare
plant monitoring and habitat management, native plant community
monitoring and mapping, and comprehensive natural area management
planning. Currently, she serves on the Colorado Natural Areas Council
which helps guide the work of the Colorado Natural Areas Program.