News from Wilderness in the City

Morrison Nature Center and Sand Creek Greenway
Celebrate National Bird Day
Morrison Nature Center - 1600 East Smith Road, Aurora
Saturday, January 9th 10am-1pm

Celebrate National Bird Day by viewing live birds from Wild Wings Environmental Education, learning more about binoculars and scopes, making free bird feeders, and experiencing expert led bird walks at 10:30 and noon. And come for the chance to win North Face gear provided by Planet Explore.


The Mile High Million Tree Planting
Sand Creek Park, Aurora
Saturday, October 17th, 2009

The Greenway collaborated with Aurora and Denver for a great event on the morning of Saturday, October 17, at Sand Creek Park in Aurora with Mayors Tauer and Hickenlooper. One hundred and twenty-five trees were planted by more than 100 volunteers, including Sand Creek Greenway Board members Paul Frohardt and Jim Schrack.


Sixth Annual REI Volunteer Work-day
Saturday, September 5th, 2009


Our 2009 volunteer event with REI was a huge success! More than 75 volunteers repaired the trail, picked up trash, and removed weeds to improve our Wilderness in the City. Check out our photo album. Thank you to all who participated and to REI!

Pull-4-CO Volunteer Days
Saturday, July 11th and 25th, 2009

We pulled out large amounts of kochia and curly dock during these two days. Thank you to everyone who joined us, especially the Mile High Youth Core who came out in full force on the 25th for Colorado Cares Day and to Governor Ritter who joined them!

Prescribed Burn along Sand Creek
April 7th

Thanks to the whole community for supporting the very successful ecological burn that occurred on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. The Denver Fire Department led the project with the support of the Denver Parks and Recreation Natural Areas Program and the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership. Work began at 7am and was completed by 3pm. Key areas with heavy growth of invasive weeds were targeted and burned. Ecologists are looking forward to monitoring the burn areas over the next several months to see the changes to native plants.

To see photos of the burn, please check out our photo page.
To find out more information about the burn please click here.

"Old Friends, New Partners" reception a great success!
Friday October 17th, 2008

Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership, Adams County Commissioner W.R. “Skip” Fischer, Mayor of Aurora Ed Tauer, Adams County Commissioner Alice Nichol, Mayor of Commerce City Paul Natale, Adams County Commissioner Larry Pace & Mayor of Denver John Hickenlooper came together to honor United States Senator Ken Salazar, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers & the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, with special guest Governor Bill Ritter.

The roundtable discussion, reception, speakers and silent auction were all well received and great fun. Please check out our photos page for more pictures (click here).

Our REI Volunteer Work-day was a huge success!
Saturday, September 6, 2008


Over 100 people joined us to clear out Russian olive trees and plant new willows and chokecherries along the greenway near Bluff Lake and the Dahlia trailhead in Commerce City. Thank you so much to everyone who helped to organize and volunteered at this great event. Check out pictures of all our hard workers in their fun, new t-shirts here. W e moved and chipped 80 Russian olive trees; cut down 15 tamarisk trees; and we planted 140 coyote willows and 80 choke cherry trees. Groups from the Daniels School of Business, Boy Scout Troop 376, HSPER, Democrats Work, CARENET AmeriCorps, as well as many individuals helped to improve the greenway for everyone. Thank you!

MANRRS Volunteers Restore Native Habitat Along the Sand Creek Regional Greenway
March 27, 2008


Commerce City –Over 100 volunteers from the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) spent Saturday, March 29, restoring native habitat along the Sand Creek Regional Greenway.

The volunteer work, which took place in Commerce City near the Greenway's Dahlia Trailhead at 56th Avenue and Sand Creek Drive, was carried out with help from a grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation, one of a series of Xcel grants in support of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership for ecological restoration.

In their work, volunteers continued a project begun in January to remove Russian olive trees, an invasive species in the Greenway.  Trees were cut up and chipped, and replaced by native coyote willows. Nearly two acres along Sand Creek was cleared and revegetated and 200 coyote willows were planted.

The MANRRS volunteers were attending the 23rd Annual Career Fair and Training Conference, March 27-29, at the Denver Marriott Tech Center in Denver, CO. MANRRS promotes academic and professional advancement by empowering minorities in agriculture, natural resources, and related sciences; the group has a web site at www.manrrs.org.

5th Anniversary of Trail Opening
Reception on Friday, September 7, 2007

Attorney General John Suthers, Mayor Paul Natale, Mayor John Hickenlooper, and Mayor Pro Tem Brad Pierce welcomed guests to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City for the 5th Anniversary reception for the opening of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway.

Five volunteer founders of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway were honored: Beth Conover, Pat McClearn, Happy Haynes, René Bullock, and Nadine Caldwell. Click here to see more photos of this great event!

Tree Planting on Saturday
September 8, 2007

On Saturday September 8, 2007, SCRGP held a tree planting volunteer day in Denver, Commerce City and Aurora. We planted 89 trees and 97 shrubs with the help of over 110 volunteers and wonderful donations from REI, Rose Medical Center, and the Mile High Million Trees project. Click here to see more photos of this great event!

Recent Activities:The April 21st, 2007 tree planting at the Commerce City Wetland Park was a great success. There were 140 children from Adams County School District 14 that volunteered to help plant. In addition, 40 adult volunteers, including several UPS and Suncor employees, were there to lend a hand. Thanks to all of the help we planted 21 cottonwood trees, 147 shrubs and bushes and 150 willow stakes. The Wetland Park is well on its way to becoming a welcomed refuge for wildlife and trail users. Already two hawks have made their home there! A special thank you to UPS and Suncor, who helped sponsor the event.

UPS VOLUNTEERS WORK ON INVASIVE WEEDS AT THE COMMERCE CITY WETLAND PARK ALONG THE SAND CREEK REGIONAL GREENWAY
Managers and staff spent many productive hours pulling invasive weeds at the Commerce City Wetland Park along the Sand Creek Regional Greenway on Tuesday, April 3 to help prepare the area for the major volunteer planting which will occur on Saturday, April 21, from 9am to Noon. Read More

WASTE MANAGEMENT FOUNDATION INC. MAKES GENEROUS DONATION TO SAND CREEK REGIONAL GREENWAY PARTNERSHIP
Waste Management Foundation Inc. has provided $5,000 to the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership (SCRGP) to support continued development of the regional greenway Read More

SUNCOR ENERGY MAKES GENEROUS DONATION TO
SAND CREEK REGIONAL GREENWAY PARTNERSHIP
Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership (SCRGP) announced today that Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. has provided $10,000 to the organization, in order to support the development of the regional greenway that runs nearly 14 miles from the South Platte River in Commerce City to the Highline Canal in Aurora. (click here to read the entire article)

COLORADO LOTTERY STARBURST CONSERVATION AWARD GOES TO SAND CREEK REGIONAL GREENWAY
2006 AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE USE OF COLORADO LOTTERY PROCEEDS FOR PARKS, RECREATION, OPEN SPACE AND WILDLIFE PROJECTS
Honored for excellence in use of Lottery proceeds for long-term and conservation values, the Sand Creek Regional Greenway took the top award for the Denver Metro region for over grants over $1 million. (click here to read the entire article)

At last! Final off-road section opens...

It’s done! The final off-road section of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway has opened!

Trail users can now travel off-road along the newly constructed section from 47th Avenue to the Commerce City Wetland Park. The trail opened on Monday, Dec. 4—with cheers from the hardworking Commerce City staff, construction crews, Sand Creek Regional Greenway partners and board, and all the trail users, especially those who use the Greenway everyday to commute to work.

Special thanks goes to Great Outdoors Colorado, which funded almost half of the construction cost of the last two miles of off-road trail. Other significant funders include Adams County Open Space fund, Colorado State Trails fund, and the city of Commerce City. Mike Brown, project manager from Commerce City, said, “We are very pleased to open this beautiful stretch of trail through cottonwood stands and thriving wetlands. Building the trail through this area presented big challenges, but the end result is a wonderful trail through an urban wilderness.”

“What a day to celebrate,” added Mary Gearhart, Board President of the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership. “Thanks to all who have contributed time and money to this vital off-road link. The celebration belongs to all of you!”

The trail was snowy from a weekend storm, but beneath, the concrete was set. Retaining walls are in place; barricades are removed; and there are no more detours onto dangerous Sand Creek Drive! The Commerce City Wetland Park received more improvements, as well, with a paved parking lot at the east end of 52nd Avenue and a new restroom—the first on the Sand Creek trail—at the east end of the park, next to the bridge.

Please come and enjoy our newest trail segment!

Check out our updated map.

Eighteen enthusiastic bird watchers arrived early (8:30 am) on Saturday, October 14th to enjoy a birder's paradise at Aurora's Sand Creek Park along the Sand Creek Greenway. Mary Ann Bonnell, Lead Naturalist, Parks and Open Space Dept, City of Aurora, hosted and guided the sharp-eyed bird watchers. The group saw over 25 species of birds.		Belted Kingfisher
Among the species spotted on Saturday are: Pied-billed Grebe, Black-crowned Night-heron (juvenile), American Kestrel, Killdeer, Wood Duck, Canada Geese, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, and the Northern Flicker.
Many of the bird watchers commented on the wonderful changes that had occurred in the last few years along the Greenway, including the beautiful new Sand Creek Park. Aurora Open Space and Natural Resources Division holds numerous naturalist-guided adventures all year, not only along the Sand Creek Greenway, but at all the wonderful parks in Aurora. Visit their web site at auroragov.org or call 303-739-2428 for more information.		American Kestrel

Volunteers Eradicate Invasive Plants
Xcel Energy Foundation, the City of Commerce City, over 40 volunteers, and the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership joined forces on Friday and Saturday, October 6 & 7, to remove invasive tamarisk from the Sand Creek Regional Greenway in Commerce City. (click here to read the entire article)

Click here to see all the photos from this massive effort

Read a related article in the Denver Post on the problems with these invasive species:

"While conservationists and politicians have brought much attention to global warming, the problem of "global swarming" - the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems - has gone relatively unnoticed.

Invasive species pose a major threat to the productivity of the soils and water on which our economies depend. They endanger the conservation gains of the past century, and endanger the native species that make the United States unique." (read the entire article)

Member, SCRGP Board of Directors
Alice Kelly, 2006 Winner
The Karen Patterson Award for Community/Organizational Change
"For having accomplished significant positive change in an organization and the broader community"
Regis University
Denver, Colorado

What Does Aquatic Chemistry and a Monitoring Plan for Three Local Cities Have in Common?

Keith Miller, Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry, and his students are working to find that answer. By utilizing the resources within Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, Miller has started a relationship with the Sand Creek Regional Greenway....Professor Miller’s Aquatic Chemistry class (Chemistry 3411) is spending the quarter analyzing this data and developing a comprehensive monitoring plan for the Sand Creek.
(click here to read the entire article)

We had a wonderful time on at the Sand Creek Art & Photo Contest Award Ceremony on Saturday, Oct 22. The winning photos and art will be on display October 22 through October 31, 2005 at the Morrison Nature Center/Star K Ranch. The response to the contest was very strong this year! We hope to hold the contest again in 2006 - so check back at this site in the spring of 2006 for new rules and dates for next year's contest.

One hundred fifty happy walkers turned out for the Rocky Mountain Wanderers, 5 & 10 K event at Star K Ranch on Saturday, October 15. Stay tuned for photos from the event on this site in a few days.

Sand Creek Greenway Newsletter .....click here

Commerce City and the AmeriCorps volunteers tackle the Wetland Park

On Saturday, April 16, Commerce City and the local AmeriCorps organized a vital volunteer day at the new wetland park between 52nd and Sand Creek Drive (behind the UPS facility). Over 100 volunteers showed up to get muddy and plant native reeds, sedges, and other wetland plants during the day. View Photo Album...

REI, Denver Parks and Recreation and Neighborhood Volunteers partner to clean up Greenway

Sand Creek Regional Greenway sparkles more brightly after the hard work of 45 volunteers on Saturday, August 14, in the project sponsored by REI, Hands On Denver, Forest City, and the Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership.

Paul Bareis-Golumb, a resident at Stapleton, picked up trash, pulled shopping carts out of the creek, and scraped off sand from the recent rainstorm in the runway tunnels. After nearly four hours of hard work he declared, “Sand Creek Greenway is a hidden treasure and real asset for Stapleton residents – and for citizens from miles around. I am happy to spend my Saturday morning helping to make it a better place for everyone.” More details..... View the Photo Album....

Morrison Nature Center

The Pauline A. and George R. Morrison Nature Center at Star K Ranch opened October 26, 2003. The nature center features historical and interpretive exhibits and is staffed by a park ranger who can answer questions and provide a walking tour of the area. The 200 acre Star K Ranch features walking trails around the oxbow wetland and serves as the primary trailhead in Aurora for the Sand Creek Regional Greenway. Hours and Directions

Odyssey School Cleans Up

Fifty seventh and eighth grade students from The Odyssey School volunteered for a full day October 13, 2003 to clean up the trail under Quebec Street and I-70. The students and their teachers painted over the graffitti that completely covered the bridge supports and picked up a truckload of trash. More details..... View the Photo Album....

Star K Ranch Project

Star K Ranch in Aurora was the site of a Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado project on Sunday, August 17, 2003. Over 300 people participated in creating new trails, building fence and a beautiful overlook deck.