MORRISON Feb 4, 2010 - The U.S. Forest Service – Pike and San Isabel National Forests, Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC) is proud to recognize another successful restoration project on the South Platte Ranger District.
The Geneva Creek Iron Fen is a very rare type of wetland and only twelve such sites are known to exist in Colorado. Our partners were instrumental in the success of this project, which included Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Clear Creek County Open Space, Colorado Natural Areas Program, and the Mile High Jeep Club.
The purpose of this project was to protect the Geneva Creek Iron Fen complex, a unique high elevation wetland from damage caused by motorized use on four closed roads through the area, and it will help restore native vegetation and wildlife habitat.
The work performed to accomplish the project goals included the following:
- Used heavy equipment to obliterate four existing road beds that covered 1.5 miles,
- Over 80 volunteers placed locally collected native grass seed and transplanted native forbs into the disturbed sites, and
- Volunteers placed weed-free straw, rocks and downed woody material over the old road surfaces to reduce erosion and speed the recovery of the site as wildlife habitat.
There are several benefits expected from this collaboration and restoration:
- Wetland complex is no longer accessible from closed routes and no longer vulnerable to damage from off-road motorized use,
- Wetland complex at the downstream end of the closed roads receives less sediment, and
- Closed roads are returned to native vegetation that can provide habitat for the threatened Canada lynx.
This restoration project began with a great plan and ended with a protected wetland and 80 tired volunteers. Almost 2,000 hours of time were donated to this project. This serves as another fine example of how important partnerships and collaborative efforts are to the U.S. Forest Service.
