Help the Fossil Creek Current nurture precious patch of prairie

By Gary Raham
Correspondent

The recipe for a shortgrass prairie seems straightforward, but it takes a bit of time: Drain water from an ancient seaway. Build mountains to dry out the remaining basin. Erode slowly with wind and water to create soil. Plow with glaciers. Add wind-blown sand (loess) for seasoning. Serve with mammals, birds, invertebrates and a sprinkling of appreciative primates.

Nature followed this recipe diligently near the foothills in eastern Colorado, and a fragment of the delightful result has been preserved by Fort Collins in the Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area. Fossil Creek Current staff members have adopted this little patch of native prairie and would like to enlist readers' help as part of the "sprinkling of appreciative primates" needed to maintain its health and beauty.

Cathy Fromme Prairie, named after a popular Fort Collins city councilwoman who died from cancer, was purchased in nine transactions from 1993 to 2002 and encompasses 1,088 acres. It abuts the Larimer County Landfill along Taft Hill Road between Harmony and Trilby Roads.

Much of the site would still look familiar to a pre-European Native American --perhaps even to ice age bison hunters who have left their tools scattered in northern Larimer County. Portions of three tributaries of Fossil Creek cross the site and at times expose the shells of ammonites left high and dry by the ancient, retreating seaway. The prairie is home to at least 27 species of native trees and shrubs, 54 species of native grasses, 100 species of birds, including many bald eagles, 17 species of nonprimate mammals and seven species of amphibians and reptiles, including prairie rattlesnakes that love to sun themselves on the trails.

Bikers and hikers traverse the trails daily. Bird voyeurs enjoy the bunker that faces favorite eagle perching spots. Scientists have conducted a great variety of studies on site, ranging from prairie dog ecology to archaeological and historic surveys and winter raptor surveys. The prairie has become a favorite "learning laboratory" for local schools. Since 2001, when the city's database was established, 3,118 students have visited the area, which now averages 519 student visits per year. While such heavy use certainly fulfills recreational and educational goals of natural area management, it also takes a toll.

The city has embraced a mission to "protect and enhance" Cathy Fromme Prairie and other natural areas for the use and enjoyment of those who visit them. Such protection and enhancement includes controlling invasive weeds; monitoring for diseases like plague, which can be transferred from animals to humans; controlling contamination from the landfill area; dealing with various utility and service easements and controlling overuse or off-trail use that can quickly damage sensitive habitat.

The task is a large one that requires the cooperation of many volunteers to accomplish. If you have walked her trails, observed the antics of prairie dogs, sidestepped a rattlesnake or two, or marveled at a soaring eagle, consider lending a hand once a month or so to keep the experience enjoyable for generations to come. Only 1 percent of the native prairie that once covered one-quarter of the lower 48 states still exists. Labors would mostly include picking up wind-blown litter and other evidence of humans who have not walked as lightly on the land as others. Mark Moody, Gloria Boresen and Kyle Yates of the Fossil Creek Current extend an open invitation to any volunteers or sponsors who would like to lend their support to this venture. Call 221-0213 for details or e-mail ads@fossilcreekcurrent.com to get on an e-mail notification list of monthly workdays.

The Fossil Creek Current will chronicle volunteer efforts and provide insights about this natural wonder. If you can't walk the trails in person, sit down with the paper in hand and enjoy some adventures on this slice of shortgrass prairie served up so close to where you live and work.

The ecological cycles that drive the prairie habitat are self-maintaining as long as they are not overloaded, so the recipe for preservation is straightforward, too: Take nothing but memories and photographs, leave nothing but footprints and gently remind those who forget.