Restorative relationships: Sustainable responses to ecological challenge
Saturday, March 15, 9am – 3pm
Our local public lands face a variety of environmental threats, many exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. While conservation approaches seek to prevent this degradation in the first place, restoration involves attempts to “repair or otherwise enhance the structure and function of an ecosystem that has been impacted by disturbance or environmental change” (Suding, 2011, p. 466). What have we learned from research and practical projects that respond to environmental threats in a restorative framework? How might such efforts lead to managing public lands in more sustainable ways? What more do we need to know?
The program features approaches to restoration ecology on diverse landscapes: re-wetting grasslands, restoring overgrazed agricultural lands, managing invasive plants without herbicides, mitigating wildfire risks. Thinking expansively, we consider relationships within the land—among species, with soil, air and water—as well as relationships among people and organizations working to restore the land.
Suding, K.N. 2011. Toward an era of restoration in ecology: Successes, failures, and opportunities ahead. Annual Review Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 42: 465-487.
SPEAKERS, ABSTRACTS, AND SLIDES
Let’s go wild: Collaborations with nature and people in ecosystem restoration
Katharine Suding, Ph.D
Katharine, Distinguished Professor of Ecology at the University of Colorado Boulder, is widely acclaimed for her work on applying concepts in plant ecology to ecosystem management, restoration, and biodiversity conservation. She’s worked across a broad range of ecosystems, but mainly in alpine tundra and the prairies. She was recipient of the Ecological Society of America Robert MacArthur Award in 2018 for her contributions to ecology, the British Ecological Society Eminent Ecologist in 2023, and the Franklin Institute’s Bower Award for achievement in science in 2025.
It is difficult to imagine a challenge that merits greater human attention than ecosystem restoration. There is a growing realization that we will not be able to conserve the earth’s biological diversity through the protection of pristine areas alone. Can we “go wild” and repair the ecological damage that we’ve done? I argue that no question today could be more pressing, or more uncertain. Ambitious commitments at the global scale and right here in Boulder underscore the exciting potential. Yet, they also lead to a complex set of questions about people’s role in ecosystems, the paradox of intervening to keep systems wild, and the resilience of nature. I will give some examples of work in Boulder County, with some successes and some hard lessons, ultimately arriving at the idea of restoration as an innovative optimistic space to pursue collaboration among humans and other species.
Managing invasive plants without herbicides: Successes, challenges, and what’s next
Mike McHugh
Mike has worked at Eldorado Canyon State Park for 17 years, managing facilities, trails, forestry, vegetation, and invasive weeds. Mike holds a Master’s in Education, has climbed somewhat adequately in Colorado for more than 45 years, and worked as a bike messenger, rigger, and IT professional before finding a calling in public lands.
In 2010, after exploring a new infestation of musk thistle over a large portion of Eldorado Canyon State Park, Mike released the Musk Thistle Rosette Weevil. Within a few seasons, the weevil had very effectively reduced thistle populations and the remaining thistles showed signs of infestation. Springing from that success, and empowered by a committed volunteer corps, some tenacity, and optimism bordering on foolishness, the park has managed invasive weeds entirely with mechanical and biological controls for more than a decade. These efforts have had some great successes and more than a few challenges. Mike will explain some of the processes involved, ask some questions about our conceptions of public lands management, and invite discussion about what comes next in this experiment.
Presentation slides – coming soon
Introducing the CU Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve: A place to demonstrate restoration outcomes
Tim Seastedt, Ph.D.
Tim Seastedt, Free-range ecologist and Professor Emeritus, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, is a terrestrial ecosystem ecologist whose research focuses on how native and introduced biota interact with each other and with climate change variables.
Abstract: CU is the beneficiary of an amazing new acquisition, a financially supported research reserve at the base of Lefthand Canyon. The overarching vision for the long-range use of the Reserve is for the university to draw on its broad intellectual and artistic resources. The Reserve should enrich the academic life of the university in many unanticipated ways, and vice versa. While its management must be primarily science-based, its governance should be open to ideas from many alternative disciplines. “Co-production science,” a methodology that involves collaboration between community members and experts to develop solutions to complex problems that affect the environment and society, will be undertaken using this site as a model system for the Front Range. The site also plans to host outreach and citizen science projects.
Collaborative approach to grasslands management and wildfire preparedness in Boulder County
Meg Halford
Meg has been a professional forester for over 25 years. She started her career with the US Forest Service, then worked for the Rocky Mountain Research Station while earning her Forestry degree at Colorado State University. At the Colorado State Forest Service, she engaged with residents and local partners on fuels reduction, community protection, watershed protection and forest health, and worked as the District Forester out of the Franktown field office. In 2021, Meg joined Boulder County as the Forest and Grasslands project coordinator.
The Marshall Fire was a devastating event for our community, and the conditions that created this “perfect storm” are likely to occur again in Colorado and beyond. This stark reality highlights the urgent need for greater public outreach and education and engagement in wildfire preparedness and strategic grassland management. In Boulder County, this changing prioritization has taken the form of grazing, mowing, and collaborations. “Grazing” represents creative fuel reduction strategies, such as targeted grazing by cows and goats, research initiatives to identify best management practices, and programs that empower residents to undertake mitigation work. “Collaboration” refers to diverse partnerships formed across different scales, to share knowledge and facilitate impactful, on-the-ground actions. While there is still work to be done to prepare for future wildfires, these county-wide efforts represent meaningful progress toward resilient and sustainable grasslands.
Agriculture as part of our prairie ecosystem
Andy Breiter
Andy is a rancher and the founder and owner of Grama Grass & Livestock, a regenerative meat company based in Boulder County, CO. Grama Grass & Livestock, which is named for the state grass of Colorado, aims to heal Colorado’s native prairie through the use of livestock, specifically the ruminant cattle. Grama Grass’ regenerative grazing style mimics bison’s native grazing through high impact followed by long periods of rest. By creating healthy land, Grama Grass produces healthy beef.
Ruminant animals like Bison, Elk, and Antelope evolved with our native prairie ecosystem. These herd animals would constantly move through the landscape, allowing grasses to rest after they were consumed. This movement was interrupted when we developed the range. To reintroduce the principles that allowed native plants to develop roots ten feet or more deep, we utilize cattle and electric fence. This allows us to restore our ecosystem throughout the wildland-urban interface while creating grass-finished beef and forging connections within our local food system among ranchers, land owners and stewards, and consumers.
Wet Now?! How WRV is working to increase climate resilience by storing more water in our landscapes
Morgan Crowley
Morgan, Program Director with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) at the Longmont, Colorado headquarters, has been with WRV for over a decade working on noxious weed removal and habitat restoration with a particular focus on wet meadow restoration. Morgan holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, where she originally hails from. In her free time, she enjoys transforming her tiny property into half homestead and half native habitat and trying to keep up with her toddler.
As climate change intensifies, action toward solutions is falling short. Simple, easy-to-implement natural climate solutions are needed to maintain forward momentum and engage the public. Low-tech, process-based restoration techniques like beaver dam analogs and Zeedyk structures offer opportunities to increase local climate resilience by re-wetting the “sponge” of our soils and wetlands. Simultaneously, these techniques offer individuals the opportunity to take direct action to address the threat that climate change poses. Wildlands Restoration Volunteers will offer examples of how well-trained and well-organized volunteers can implement projects that can have a profound impact on ecosystem function while building a community with the skills, knowledge and drive to act on the scale needed.
Boulder County Nature Association
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