East Boulder Creek Site Management Plan - Public Comment Reopened
By BCAS Conservation Committee
The EBC site includes a Great Blue Heron heronry. Photo credit: multiple photographers credited at the bottom of the BCAS Regional Birds photo gallery webpage.
East Boulder Creek (EBC) Site Management Plan Reopened for Public Comment: The Boulder County Commissioners will meet this week to reopen public comment and reconsider final approval of the entire EBC Site Management Plan for Prairie Run Open Space in eastern Boulder County.
This special site needs your voice! The County Commissioners discussed the plan on January 25 and recommended no human access in the northeast section of the site, but those recommendations are being reconsidered. The Commissioners are seeking public feedback for their upcoming March 28 meeting and it is important for them to hear from people who value our local wildlife and habitats.
Boulder County Parks and Open Space (BCPOS) has created a management plan for the East Boulder Creek (EBC) site. The site has experienced limited human access, and therefore species diversity is quite high on portions of the area, particularly Kenosha Wetlands and along Coal Creek. The EBC site consists of 1,377 acres and contains five miles of stream along Boulder and Coal Creeks (including one mile of restored floodplain), a dozen ponds, wetlands, reclaimed grasslands, grazing lands, and irrigated pasture lands. The location is along Boulder Creek from just west of CO Highway 287 at the site’s southwest corner, to County Line Road at the northeast corner.
The East Boulder Management Plan site is 1,377-acres, composed of five individual open space properties that contain a dozen ponds and five miles of perennial stream along Boulder Creek and Coal Creek. To read the management plan, appendices, public survey results and more visit the EBC website. For an interactive map, visit this BCPOS website.
The EBC site presents an opportunity to continue to protect and restore native prairie, riparian corridors, and other important habitats. Over 140 bird species and a variety of native mammals, amphibians, and other organisms have been observed using the site. To maintain this diversity, human access needs to be carefully planned.
How Can You Help?
Submit written comments to the Boulder County Commissioners online prior by 5:00 PM on Tuesday March 26.
Also consider commenting in person or on Zoom at the upcoming Commissioners meeting scheduled for 9:00 AM - noon on Thursday March 28.
Content to Consider for Your Comments
BCAS is providing the following comments to the County Commissioners. Please consider including the points most relevant for you. Your comments may be more effective if revised to use your own words.
These comments reference the Management Plan and Appendix A, which are linked under Proposed Management Plan heading on the EBC website.
Boulder County Audubon Society (BCAS) is submitting these comments on the proposed management plan for the Prairie Run Open Space, previously referred to as the East Boulder Creek (EBC) site. BCAS’s mission is to be “a voice for birds and wildlife conservation through habitat protection, advocacy, and nature education.” We consider it of the utmost importance to prioritize protection, restoration, and enhancement of wildlife and habitats when determining how and where human access will be allowed at the EBC site.
As noted by County staff in Plan Appendix A, over 170 wildlife species have been documented on the Prairie Run site. The area is used by over 140 bird species, including fourteen raptor species, and a variety of native mammals, fish, and reptiles. At least 20 of these species are Species of Special Concern designated in the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan Environmental Resources Element (ERE). Plan Appendix A clearly lays out both the habitat values of the EBC area and the risks of increased access. In our January 19, 2024 comments, we highlighted several important points from pages 5-10 of Appendix A.
We are particularly concerned about the proximity of facilities in the northeast section of the property, including trails, parking lot, and fishing pier, to the Kenosha Wetlands Critical Wildlife Habitat (CWH, designated in the ERE), Coal Creek, several raptor nests, and a heronry.
Much of the species and habitat diversity is in the northeast section of Prairie Run, including Kenosha Wetlands CWH, which contains important cattail marsh nesting habitat for bird Species of Special Concern, including Norther Harrier. Unfortunately, the plan concentrates the most intensive recreational use, including urban amenities which we believe are better accommodated in adjacent municipalities, in this northeast portion, which is the area of greatest concern for wildlife and habitats. We believe that the best outcome for wildlife would be to eliminate human access in this area, as was recommended at your January 25 meeting, and focus recreation access in the southwest section where proposed trails, fishing access, and rest areas are not in such close proximity to important wildlife habitat and nesting areas.
If human access in the northeast section is approved, we ask that you consider the following points:
1. We strongly believe that the trails on the north side of Kenosha Wetlands CWH and the east side of Coal Creek should be eliminated. These areas provide some of the most valuable wildlife habitat on the site and should not be further fragmented. Eliminating these trails would contribute greatly to fulfilling Goal 2, Action: Protect Sensitive Wildlife Areas on p. 21 of the plan.
2. We would like to see all human access kept to the west of the access road, to help protect Kenosha Wetlands from human impacts. This includes any wildlife viewing facilities such as bird blinds and spotting scopes, if they are installed. Some changes made between early and later plan drafts are consistent with this, including moving the play area and shelter further west and away from Kenosha Wetlands and consolidating several trails on the east side of the stacked ponds, leaving the remaining accessible trail adjacent to the stacked ponds and further from the CWH.
3. We are still concerned about the proximity of the parking lot and potential fishing pier, and watercraft access if allowed, to Kenosha Wetlands. Moving these features further west, and potentially reducing the parking lot capacity, would better protect the Kenosha Wetlands CWH.
4. We believe that dogs, if allowed, should be leashed and strictly limited to specific areas where wildlife impacts would be minimized. In view of the Kenosha Wetlands CWH, wildlife species diversity, and Species of Special Concern in the northeast section, it is our considered opinion that this means prohibiting dogs in the northeast section of the area. Even one dog encroaching on the Kenosha Wetlands CWH could cause nesting failure for birds nesting on the ground or in cattails, including bird Species of Special Concern. A substantial body of research shows that the presence of dogs, even on leash, disturbs wildlife feeding patterns, dispersal, and reduction in species presence. We provided references in our January 19 letter.
5. It will be critical to use existing baseline wildlife data and collect additional data as necessary, and to continue surveys and monitoring while stream restoration is ongoing and before facilities are built. This will allow any adverse impacts to wildlife or habitats to be detected early and addressed immediately, through modifications of facilities locations, seasonal closures, or other measures, before changes become irreversible.
6. We would like to see the plan address aquatic nuisance species (ANS), especially prevention measures such as thorough equipment inspections during stream restoration. Allowing watercraft would greatly increase the potential for introduction of ANS to the area; therefore if watercraft are allowed, stringent ANS prevention procedures should be implemented.
We would like to note that a majority of responders to the County’s public surveys cited protection of wildlife habitat as their primary conservation value (75%) and agreed with closing sections of the EBC area where needed to protect sensitive habitat (82%). There are many places in Boulder County for humans and dogs to recreate, but the areas remaining where wildlife can retreat without these disturbances, especially in diminishing riparian prairie habitats, are shrinking. Prairie Run has the potential to be a model of restored prairie grassland and healthy streams hosting rich wildlife populations, including habitat for many of our grassland species whose populations have declined precipitously due to habitat loss.
Swainson’s Hawk. Photo credit: multiple photographers credited at the bottom of the BCAS Regional Birds photo gallery webpage.