Finished up the monitoring for the season with a trip up to Walden, CO to complete the monitoring on Phacelia formosula, a trip out to Silt, CO and up onto the Roan Plateau to a shutdown oil shale site for Penstemon debalis monitoring and finally a trip out to Montrose, CO to complete the monitoring on Eriogonum pelinophilum and establish several new monitoring plots.  The week in Montrose was the week of rain here in Colorado with several systems passing over the state but as always whether rain or shine we were in the field completing the work at hand.  The rain and the Adobe gave us the opportunity to experience mud caked boots which in turn gives you a better perspective of the land as you gain 2-3 inches in height as well as a higher intensity hike to your field site, an enjoyable experience of hiking in the rain and running through mud.   Seed collections haven’t stopped with several more completed at our Leadville location, a couple more completed at the Kremmling location and a revisiting of the Strawberry location near Fraser, CO for a collection of an Orthocarpus luteus and a status report on the Castilleja sp. and Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda.

Nathan Redecker

Lakewood, CO

Colorado State Office