From the identification of special places for natural areas in the 50’s to the 70’s, to knowledge of where rare imperiled and endangered species occur in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, to landscapes and locations needed to assure that we retain the now agreed inadequate 10%, to Potential Natural Areas in the 2000’s, to their connectivity in the face of climate change, we now know that the job of conservation is enormous. Do we have the tools? Can the most successful groups get the job done? Chris Pague would argue that traditional tools are necessary and will win many victories. But he would also argue that they are not adequate. From sitting on the edge of Purgatoire Canyon, looking to Mesa de Maya and later looking at ecoregional portfolios of all North America, the vision became clearer. Could the tools of protection keep up? The Southern High Plains is a test case for a bigger, bolder approach.
One surprising challenge is being able to get into the game: fundraising, cross border work, and competing in the real estate market. Chris will describe some new approaches being explored by the Southern High Plains Initiative and show some recent successes that greatly increase the rate and scale of conservation success.
Chris Pague in Central Mongolia with fledgling COmmon Shelduck, taken by Galbadrakh Davaa, Director of TNC Mongolia
Chris Pague brings more than 45 years of experience in the study of ecology, natural history, conservation planning, and conservation biology to The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Since 1992 Chris has worked with TNC establishing the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP), now at Colorado State University, and he subsequently became the Senior Conservation Ecologist for the Colorado Program of TNC. Chris led the measures of conservation success initiative, was an author of ecoregional plans and assessment, and provided science guidance on global, range wide, statewide, and local conservation efforts for TNC and partner organizations. In addition to conducting assessments and extensive planning at multiple scales in Colorado and adjacent states, he has assisted other TNC programs and partner organizations in 11 non-U.S. countries. He is currently most active in the western Great Plains, Arizona, Namibia, Mongolia and Argentina. Publications include work from Mongolia, climate change, ecoregional assessments, carbon sequestration in the arid Great Plains, bison management, the history of pinyon-juniper woodlands in southeast Colorado, frog ecology and behavior in Virginia, and measures of conservation success in Colorado. Chris was the lead scientist for grasslands and bison conservation in Colorado including a vision for restoration of bison in two ecoregions. Most recently, his efforts have ventured into merging economics and conservation in grasslands of Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, Argentina and Mongolia. Chris was a co-lead scientist and planner for the Fishers Peak State Park (Colorado’s newest state park - see the September 2021 BCAS talk about it here), its inventory and conservation planning.
In-Person Gathering - BCAS welcomes everyone back to in-person programs at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder. Doors open at 7 PM for socializing and the program begins at 7:15. While the church is no longer requiring masks, we encourage you to wear your favorite high-quality mask, and we will provide free surgical masks for anyone who needs one. Please stay home if you feel sick, and watch the program on Zoom!
Online Gathering - The meeting room will open at 7:10, and the program starts at 7:15. Questions for the speaker will be taken from the chat feature of the Zoom session.
Online access info will be posted here by the day of the program.