Wetland - Wetland - Wetland management: Wetlands can be easily altered or destroyed. Aspen Journalism - December 2, 2019. Inside the Fish and Wildlife Service, however, a different interpretation emerged. Johnson, asked whether he was worried that his research into fen mitigation might end up facilitating the kinds of projects that are most damaging to fens. LAKE COUNTY — One morning last month, Brad Johnson arrived at a patch of rippling yellow grasses alongside U.S. 24, a few miles south of Leadville in the upper Arkansas River valley. In recognition of these challenges, the RAMSAR Convention, an international treaty, was adopted in 1971. In 2017, after just one growing season, he was shocked to discover 67 different plant species growing at the transplanted fen site — compared with just 10 at the donor site. A Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson said fens are still designated a “Resource Category 1,” which means that the appropriate type of mitigation is avoidance, or “no loss.”, White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams echoed the spokesperson’s statement, noting that land managers place a high emphasis on protection for fens: “It’s really hard to replace a wetland in these high elevations.”. Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, and occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica. Egypt has many forms of wetlands. Johnson was visiting the fen to record groundwater measurements before winter sets in. This story appeared in the Nov. 18 print edition of the Vail Daily. Linkedin. By comparing the growth patterns of our bog oaks with samples from across the UK, Emma discovered that oak trees were present at Martin Mere as far back as 4147 BC. A pump station would send the water upvalley to the existing Homestake Reservoir and then through another series of tunnels to the Front Range. Wetland agriculture was crucial to ancient cultures, but no previous study coupled lidar with multiproxy evidence to demonstrate the extent and uses of Maya wetland fields. This information helps scientists to use prehistoric vegetation data from the same time periods to discover other tree species that existed in woodlands such as elm and birch, and how these woodlands changed in response to natural climate change and human impacts on the environment. Through the fen-research project, Aurora and Pueblo saw an opportunity to address the fen policy’s requirement that a project offset unavoidable impacts to a fen by restoring an equivalent amount of fen elsewhere. Then, he and a team of helpers removed blocks of soil from another degraded fen site and reassembled them, like an organ transplant, at the “receiver” site, where the restored spring now flows through veinlike cobble bars and sandbars, feeding the transplanted fen. Mostly urban residents, study says. Although Johnson is in favor of fen conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s “unmitigable” interpretation bothered him. But the fen policy has stymied many of the utilities’ plans to develop new water projects. Click here to download the latest Flash Player. The utilities, working together as Homestake Partners, are looking at building the reservoir in the Homestake Creek valley, south of Minturn, in an area that probably contains fens, which could hinder the project. Since then, UNESCO-MAB and the Ramsar Bureau have been partners. You can also read all about Emma’s research at the Harrier Hide, where there is an information board next to an ancient oak tree stump. To protect fens, the U.S. But by researching better mitigation techniques, he hopes he can help preserve fens in the long run. As the lead scientist for the Rocky Mountain Fen Research Project, Johnson is part of an effort spearheaded and paid for by Aurora Water and the Board of Water Works of Pueblo to study new ways to restore fens. A week after Johnson visited the Rocky Mountain Fen Project site, Kathy Kitzmann gave a tour of the wetland-filled valley formed by Homestake Creek where Aurora and Colorado Springs are planning to build Whitney Reservoir. How ancient cultures perceived mires and wetlands (3000 BCE – 500 CE): an introduction 04 Peatland news Global: Permafrost, Arctic fires, monitoring, MEA synergies, Ramsar, ITPC etc. Degrees of warming: How a hotter, thirstier atmosphere wreaks havoc on... Study finds small number of jobs lost under demand-management program, State officials set sights on ponds without water rights, Voters overwhelmingly pass Colorado River District tax hike, Millions in new taxes approved for West Slope, Front Range water districts, Who in the U.S. is in ‘plumbing poverty’? Since the fen project began 16 years ago, Aurora and Pueblo have invested $300,000 and $81,500 in the research, respectively. It’s still too early to know whether the project could eventually serve as a fen-mitigation strategy for a new reservoir, but Johnson is optimistic about the results thus far. Using the dropdown menu above the chart –... Aspen Journalism is a local, independent, nonprofit, and investigative journalism organization based in Aspen, Colorado. “I’m sensitive to that,” he said. Not only was that status not supported by the fen policy itself, he believes saying “no” all the time is not in the best interest of fens. Editor’s note: Aspen Journalism collaborates with the Vail Daily and other Swift Communications newspapers on coverage of water and rivers. As tree growth varies according to environmental conditions, (including soil quality, rainfall, temperature and human activity), trees growing at the same time and in the same climate often have very similar growth patterns. Fens like to form in high-alpine valleys, the places best suited for dams and water reservoirs that take water from rivers mostly on the Western Slope and pump it over the mountains to supply the Front Range’s growing population. In fact, the ancient society of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, was founded and thrived in wetlands. They play a central role in sustainable development by supplying all our fresh water. © Wikimedia Commons/KeeepaEverglades/Florida. This map shows total rain and snowfall in the contiguous United States, every month from 1981 to the present. Environmental groups including Colorado Headwaters, a nonprofit, oppose the Whitney Reservoir project, arguing that it would destroy one of the state’s most valuable wetlands, as well as an important habitat for wildlife and rare native plants. But is a transplanted fen as good as not touching one in the first place? Due to regional and local differences wetlands vary widely due to differences in soils, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry, vegetation, human disturbance and other factors. Sandwiched among a cluster of abandoned ranch buildings, a string of power lines and a small pond, it is an unassuming place — except, of course, for its views of 14,000-foot peaks rising across the valley. We conducted a lidar survey around wetlands that multiple use proxies established were ancient Maya polycultural systems. Kitzmann, a water resources principal for Aurora Water, drove down the bumpy, snow-covered road that winds along the valley bottom, pointing to the two creeks that would — along with Homestake Creek and the Eagle River, near Camp Hale — help fill the reservoir. Please visit our updated privacy By continuing to use our site, you are This collection of Colorado River Basin maps includes public domain images and other cartographic resources for depicting the watershed. But appearances can be deceiving. UNESCO » Natural Sciences » Environment » Ecological Sciences, © UNESCO/Alexander FilimonovWetlands of the Alakol Biosphere Reserve - Kazakhstan. policy for further information about how we use your personal information.

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