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Seasonal raptor closures to begin Feb.1
Jan 31st
The City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Department will institute seasonal closures to protect area raptors on Saturday, Feb. 1. The closures – which protect peregrine falcons, prairie falcons and golden eagles raising their young in nests located along Boulder’s mountain backdrop – will be in effect from Feb. 1 until July 31. Closures may be lifted sooner if monitoring indicates that raptors are not present.
High-quality habitat and rich food resources make cliffs on OSMP lands a regionally important area for nesting birds of prey. The following areas and formations will be closed:
- Lefthand Canyon Palisades, at the intersection of Lefthand Canyon Drive and Olde Stage Road (Buckingham picnic area remains open);
- Mount Sanitas, First Buttress, accessible from the Mount Sanitas trailhead, a half mile west of Fourth Street and Mapleton Avenue (no closures to the bouldering areas along the ridge; Mount Sanitas trail will remain open);
- Third Flatiron, including the East and West Ironing Boards, Queen Anne’s Head and Jaws, and WC Pinnacle, accessible from Chautauqua trailhead;
- Flagstaff Mountain: the north side of Flagstaff Mountain will be closed (the Boy Scout Trail will remain open);
- Skunk Canyon, including Ridges 2, 3 and 4, the Aechean Pronouncement, the Dreadnaught, the North Ridge and the entirety of Sacred Cliffs, accessible from NCAR trailhead at the west end of Table Mesa Road;
- The Back Porch and The Box, accessible from the NCAR trailhead at the west end of Table Mesa Road;
- Bear Creek Spire, accessible from the NCAR trailhead at the west end of Table Mesa Road;
- Fern Canyon, accessible from the NCAR trailhead at the west end of Table Mesa Road¡¡ (the designated Fern Canyon hiking trail will remain open);
- Shadow Canyon and the Matron, accessible from the South Mesa Trailhead (the Maiden will remain open and accessible from the east; Shadow Canyon Trail will remain open).
- The Sphinx and The Wings, accessible from the NCAR trailhead at the west end of Table Mesa Road;
- The entire Mickey Mouse wall, accessible from the Goshawk Ridge Trail.
Boulder-area volunteers and staff have been monitoring important raptor nesting and resting areas on OSMP lands since 1984. They are an integral part of efforts to protect the species and adaptively manage the closures.
Trespassing into closed areas can result in a summons with penalties up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.¡¡ OSMP relies heavily on the public to respect the closures, and the cooperation of visitors to these areas is greatly appreciated.
Please visit Open Space and Mountain Parks’ website at www.osmp.org for detailed maps and up-to-date information on raptor closures or call 303-441-3440.
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City, county, state declare war on Emerald Ash Borer
Nov 13th
The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) today issued an emergency quarantine in the Boulder County area related to the recent discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle in Boulder in late September. The quarantine is effective immediately.
“Our urban trees provide enormous environmental, economic and social benefits to our community, and ash trees contribute greatly to our urban tree canopy,” said City Forester Kathleen Alexander. “We are currently developing a plan to minimize the impact of the highly destructive Emerald Ash Borer to the city of Boulder, and the quarantine is an important step to limit the infestation and slow the spread, which allows other Front Range communities time to prepare.”
The emergency quarantine prohibits the sale and/or movement of all plants and plant parts of ash trees, including but not limited to:
· Logs and green lumber
· Nursery stock
· Chips and mulch, either composted or uncomposted
· Stumps, roots and branches
· Firewood of any non-coniferous (hardwood) species (Because ash is difficult to distinguish from other hardwood species when cut into firewood, the quarantine is for all hardwood firewood.)
The following areas are included in the emergency quarantine:
· Boulder County
· The entire town of Erie
· The area extending east from Boulder County to the south including Highway 7, to the north including Highway 52 and to the east including Weld County Road 7
· Highway 93 extending south from the Boulder County line to the entrance of Republic Landfill, including the entire landfill property, and including the entire property at 11218 Highway 93 on which the business of the Singing Saw Woodworks is operated
· The 15-acre, fenced Community Sort Yard located at 8200 Highway 7 in Allenspark, on the Boulder/Larimer county line
Quarantined items may be transported within the quarantined area but may not be moved outside its borders without specific authorization from the commissioner of agriculture or the United States Department of Agriculture. Any person violating this quarantine is subject to civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation. The full text of the quarantine, including additional restrictions, can be found at www.EABcolorado.com.
EAB in Colorado
A suspect ash tree was spotted in Boulder County on Sept. 23 by City of Boulder’s Forestry staff. Insect specimens from the ash tree, located near the intersection of 30th and Iris, were collected and sent to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Systematic Entomology Laboratory, where the identity of the insects was confirmed. The confirmation of EAB in Colorado marks the western-most occurrence of this invasive pest in North America. Colorado is the fourth state to detect EAB in 2013.
Ash trees are popular in Colorado with an estimated more than 90,000 in the city of Boulder alone; the Denver metro area has an estimated 1.45 million ash trees.
EAB general information
EAB is an invasive insect that has been responsible for the death or decline of more than 50 million ash trees in 21 states. It is a small, green metallic beetle, originally from Asia, first detected in North America in 2002 in southeastern Michigan. The emerald ash borer attacks only ash trees and all ash species – including green, white, black and blue – are at risk. Signs of emerald ash borer infestation include a general decline in the appearance of the tree, thinning of upper branches and twigs, loss of leaves, and serpentine tunnels produced by EAB larvae under the bark. Woodpeckers may often be observed removing the bark of infested trees to access the larvae.
It is possible that EAB could infest an ash tree for three or four years before visible signs of decline of the tree. If you suspect your ash tree maybe infested with EAB, residents are encouraged to have it inspected by a city of Boulder licensed certified arborist , contact CDA at 888-248-5535, or the City of Boulder Forestry office at 303-441-4406. Infestation signs include:
· Sparse leaves or branches in the upper part of the tree
· D-shaped exit holes about 1/8 inch wide
· New sprouts on the lower trunk or lower branches
· Vertical splits in the bark
· Winding S-shaped tunnels under the bark
· Increased woodpecker activity
How You Can Help
“The public can play a vital role in preventing the spread of this destructive bug by simply not moving firewood,” said Mitch Yergert, CDA’s Plant Inspection Division director. “EAB larvae can survive underneath the bark of ash firewood, and when it’s moved from one place to another, the pest can hitchhike to a new location. Furthermore, it’s important to note that trees begin to decline a bit during fall months but there are certain features of an EAB-infested tree that residents can look for.”
Emergency Quarantine Issued to Protect Colorado Ash Trees in Boulder County, parts of Larimer, Jefferson, Weld Counties
Boulder County, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Agriculture has established an emergency quarantine in and around Boulder County including parts of southern Larimer, western Weld and northern Jefferson Counties (see quarantine map) related to the recent discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The quarantine is effective immediately. Boulder County is working with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the City of Boulder, and other affected entities to address the quarantine and plan for the potential impacts of the EAB in Boulder County.
“We have cooperated with the state on the implementation of the temporary quarantine and will continue to work to understand the potential impacts of the EAB in Boulder County,” said Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones. “Boulder County, in conjunction with the state and affected local partners, has begun to develop a response plan that will outline potential actions on county owned lands and provide guidance for private residents.”
The emergency quarantine prohibits the sale and/or movement of all plants and plant parts of the genus Fraxinus, including but not limited to:
· Logs and green lumber
· Nursery stock, scion wood, and bud wood
· Chips and mulch, either composted or uncomposted
· Stumps, roots and branches
· Firewood of any non-coniferous (hardwood) species
Quarantined items may be transported within the quarantined area but may not be moved outside its borders without specific authorization from the Commissioner of Agriculture or the United States Department of Agriculture.
Quarantined items can be transported within the quarantined area to:
· Denver Regional Landfill, 1441 Weld County Road 6, Erie
· Front Range Landfill, 1830 Weld County Road 5, Erie
· Republic Landfill, 8900 Colorado Highway 93, Golden
Residents participating in Boulder County operated flood-debris removal programs, including curbside debris collection do not have to take any special steps to maintain compliance with the quarantine. Debris collected by Boulder County is being treated and transported according to the requirements of the quarantine.
Any person violating this quarantine is subject to civil penalties up to $1000 per violation. The full text of the quarantine, including additional restrictions, can be found at www.EABcolorado.com.
If you think you have EAB in your ash trees, or if you have any questions or concerns, or would like additional information, please contact the CSU Extension in Longmont at 303-678-6238, email EAB@BoulderCounty.org or visit www.bouldercounty.org/property/forest/Pages/eab.aspx.
CU study: Global warming no hoax in the Eastern Canadian Arctic
Oct 23rd
Average summer temperatures in the Eastern Canadian Arctic during the last 100 years are higher now than during any century in the past 44,000 years and perhaps as long ago as 120,000 years, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.
The study is the first direct evidence the present warmth in the Eastern Canadian Arctic exceeds the peak warmth there in the Early Holocene, when the amount of the sun’s energy reaching the Northern Hemisphere in summer was roughly 9 percent greater than today, said CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Gifford Miller, study leader. The Holocene is a geological epoch that began after Earth’s last glacial period ended roughly 11,700 years ago and which continues today.
Miller and his colleagues used dead moss clumps emerging from receding ice caps on Baffin Island as tiny clocks. At four different ice caps, radiocarbon dates show the mosses had not been exposed to the elements since at least 44,000 to 51,000 years ago.
Since radiocarbon dating is only accurate to about 50,000 years and because Earth’s geological record shows it was in a glaciation stage prior to that time, the indications are that Canadian Arctic temperatures today have not been matched or exceeded for roughly 120,000 years, Miller said.
“The key piece here is just how unprecedented the warming of Arctic Canada is,” said Miller, also a fellow at CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. “This study really says the warming we are seeing is outside any kind of known natural variability, and it has to be due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”
A paper on the subject appeared online Oct. 23 in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal published by the American Geophysical Union. Co-authors include CU-Boulder Senior Research Associate Scott Lehman, former CU-Boulder doctoral student and now Prescott College Professor Kurt Refsnider, University of California Irvine researcher John Southon and University of Wisconsin, Madison Research Associate Yafang Zhong. The National Science Foundation provided the primary funding for the study.
Miller and his colleagues compiled the age distribution of 145 radiocarbon-dated plants in the highlands of Baffin Island that were exposed by ice recession during the year they were collected by the researchers. All samples collected were within 1 meter of the ice caps, which are generally receding by 2 to 3 meters a year. “The oldest radiocarbon dates were a total shock to me,” said Miller.
Located just east of Greenland, the 196,000-square-mile Baffin Island is the fifth largest island in the world. Most of it lies above the Arctic Circle. Many of the ice caps on the highlands of Baffin Island rest on relatively flat terrain, usually frozen to their beds. “Where the ice is cold and thin, it doesn’t flow, so the ancient landscape on which they formed is preserved pretty much intact,” said Miller.
To reconstruct the past climate of Baffin Island beyond the limit of radiocarbon dating, Miller and his team used data from ice cores previously retrieved by international teams from the nearby Greenland Ice Sheet.
The ice cores showed that the youngest time interval from which summer temperatures in the Arctic were plausibly as warm as today is about 120,000 years ago, near the end of the last interglacial period. “We suggest this is the most likely age of these samples,” said Miller.
The new study also showed summer temperatures cooled in the Canadian Arctic by about 5 degrees Fahrenheit from roughly 5,000 years ago to about 100 years ago – a period that included the Little Ice Age from 1275 to about 1900.
“Although the Arctic has been warming since about 1900, the most significant warming in the Baffin Island region didn’t really start until the 1970s,” said Miller. “And it is really in the past 20 years that the warming signal from that region has been just stunning. All of Baffin Island is melting, and we expect all of the ice caps to eventually disappear, even if there is no additional warming.”
Temperatures across the Arctic have been rising substantially in recent decades as a result of the buildup of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Studies by CU-Boulder researchers in Greenland indicate temperatures on the ice sheet have climbed 7 degrees Fahrenheit since 1991.
A 2012 study by Miller and colleagues using radiocarbon-dated mosses that emerged from under the Baffin Island ice caps and sediment cores from Iceland suggested that the trigger for the Little Ice Age was likely a combination of exploding tropical volcanoes – which ejected tiny aerosols that reflected sunlight back into space – and a decrease in solar radiation.
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