Statewide Natural Heritage Survey - Colorado Natural Heritage Program

Colorado Statewide Natural Heritage Survey
(SNHS)

Why SNHS ?

It’s important to know which species are in Colorado, where they are, how they’re doing and what threats they face, so the state and local communities can be strategic about conservation and protect critical places. CNHP’s biologists work throughout Colorado to document our critical biological resources. We conduct inventories for rare and declining animals, plants, wetlands, riparian areas, and other important plant communities. The Statewide Natural Heritage Survey advances our goal to identify and describe locations of Colorado’s significant species and habitats and explore under-surveyed geographies.

Key Points

Support Colorado’s Regional Partnerships, open space departments, and other planning efforts.

Enable pro-active planning for conserving

at-risk species, anticipating climate change impacts,

and supporting biodiversity credit markets.

Identify critical wetlands that protect

communities from fire and drought.

Enable successful accomplishment of the

10-year private lands conservation roadmap.

Support CPW through any changes

in statutory responsibility for additional

taxonomic groups.

Identify the best opportunities for

collaborative conservation and

create a baseline for measuring progress.

Support recreation planning and

the sustained enjoyment of Colorado’s

biological wealth.

Leveling-up the conservation data across all

of Colorado’s counties, bringing equity to planning

efforts and empowering all of our communities with data.

Key Outcomes and Deliverables

Digital data layers incorporated into Colorado’s Conservation Data Explorer (CODEX).
Story map and interactive website that provides profiles and photos of the landscapes, species, and communities of interest for conservation.
Methods and results will be provided in a final report.
A Statewide Natural Heritage Survey Summit in 2029.