Wildlife habitat is among the most critical functions wetlands provide. Wetlands comprise less than 3% of Colorado’s landscape, but over 75% of the wildlife species in the state use wetlands at one point of their lives or another. Wetland wildlife habitat is spread across the state, in all river basins and all ecoregions. Wetlands are especially critical for waterfowl and other migratory bird species. Important concentrations of waterfowl habitat are located in the San Luis Valley, North Park, and along the South Platte River on Colorado's eastern plains.
In the State Wildlife Action Plan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has identified priority wetland-dependent species that are most in need of habitat conservation, including waterfowl and several declining species. The list is broken into Tier 1 and Tier 2 species, with Tier 1 being the highest priority. CPW's Wetland Wildlife Conservation Program is a voluntary, incentive-based program that provides up to $2 million in grant funding every year to restore or enhance wetland wildlife habitat on public and private lands for these priority species. Projects funded by the CPW Wetland's Program are often organized or recommended by Wetland Focus Area Committees, which are voluntary committees comprised of private landowners, concerned citizens, natural resource professionals, and conservation groups.
In order to manage, restore or enhance wildlife habitat for these priority species, it is important to understand how to evaluate its quality and value. Good habitat for one species may be poor habitat for another. For instance, Piping Plover and Black Rails use very different wetland habitats and improving habitat for one might not benefit the other. Through a series of projects funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CPW, CNHP assisted in developing factsheet and habitat scorecards for many of the priority wetland-dependent species. The purpose of the factsheets is to provide landowners and land managers with easy-to-use guidelines for understanding habitat needs of priority wetland-dependent wildlife.
Wetland-Dependent Wildlife Species Factsheets and Habitat Scorecards
- All Factsheets formated for printing double-sided
- All Factsheets formated for printing single-sided-sided
- Introduction to the Factsheets
- American Bittern
- Arkansas Darter
- Bald Eagle
- Black Rail
- Brassy Minnow
- Dabblin Ducks
- Least Tern
- Leopard Frogs
- Lewis's Woodpecker
- Long-Billed Curlew
- Pipping Plover
- Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse
- Redbelly Dace
- Red-Sided Garter Snake
- River Otter
- Sandhill Crane
- Short-Earned Owl
- Yellow Mud Turtle
