Five years ago, enroute from Denver Airport to the city, Lori and I noticed a huge green patch on the map northeast of Denver with the oxymoronic name Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Intrigued yet wary, we set out to explore this place.
Lori, after all, worked for 37 years at EPA, and knew this site had a toxic past.
Soon after exiting the freeway, we were enveloped by the wide-open
spaces of the refuge. The effect was immediately calming. Not only does this 15,000-acre refuge feature a huge expanse of rare short grass prairie with stunning views of the Rocky Mountains, but it is dotted with lakes and wetlands, and densely populated by 330 species of birds and other wildlife.
As the refuge website says, when you enter RMA NWR “…you can step into nature and see the native wildlife that call the refuge home: bison, deer, raptors, songbirds, waterfowl, prairie dogs and coyotes…” among them. Established primarily to protect Bald Eagles in 2004, the refuge hosts an array of wildlife including the endangered Black-footed Ferret.
Why the arsenal name? The refuge was formerly a major munitions manufacturing site during World War II, and later a pesticides manufacturing plant. Due to the previous activities that released over 600 chemical pollutants in the soil and ground water, the site qualified as an EPA Superfund project. A massive soil and groundwater cleanup followed along with the safe destruction of munitions. The cleanup took 15 years; monitoring of contaminants continues to this day.
Although some areas are still restricted, most of the site has been transferred to the US Department of Interior and has been managed as a wildlife refuge since 2004.
Early on along the 11-mile refuge loop, you come into a small lake district, including Lakes Ladora, Mary, Havana, and Lower Derby, connected by Cattail Marshes. During the spring and early summer, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Virginia Rails and Soras, Bullock’s Orioles and Lazuli Bunting are vocal and visible. During fall and winter, these lakes attract wintering waterfowl.
Then wildlife start appearing: Mule deer, 50-100 Bison, uncountable Prairie Dogs, and occasional Coyotes – all with the backdrop of seemingly endless grasslands and the Rockies.
Springtime brings prairie birds to the refuge, like Lark Bunting, Colorado’s State bird, along with Grasshopper, Brewers, and Savannah Sparrows.
At the Southwest corner of the refuge, there is a large prairie dog colony. The “dogs” monitor your presence from the entrances to their burrows, barking and twitching their short, stubby tails to warn their families and cohorts. Mixed in with the Prairie Dogs, you might find Burrowing Owls during spring and summer months, occupying their abandoned burrows.
Raptors are seen throughout the refuge, especially near the Marshes and Prairie Dog towns. Among them are: Red-tailed, Swainson’s Hawks, Northern Harriers, Bald and Golden Eagles and American Kestrel. The combination of large open expanses, abundant prey, with perching spots such as large snags, Cottonwood trees and abundant fence posts, provide raptors with happy hunting grounds.
In shallow vernal ponds on the final stretch of the refuge loop, you can find Phalaropes, Avocets and Black-necked Stilts foraging in the mudflats in spring to early fall. Bison sometimes gather near the roadside here.
Since returning to wet, cloudy, urban Seattle I miss the open spaces, the peaceful feeling, the wind across the prairie, the ever-changing skyscape and the myriad birds and animals that roam the largest urban national wildlife refuge in the U.S.
