Bureau of Land Management Colorado: Restoring Gunnison Basin Wet Meadows for Climate Resilience

In addition, BLM Colorado manages the following: 1) three national conservation areas; 2) 53 wilderness study areas; 3) five wilderness areas; 4) 1 national historic trail; 5) one national scenic trail; and 6) two national monuments.

Unlike many other recreation destinations, BLM Colorado’s public lands are still quite rustic. There are no entrance stations and comparatively few developed recreation areas. BLM Colorado focuses recreation on the visitors’ freedom to choose where to go and what to do. More than one-quarter of BLM lands in Colorado are managed specifically for recreation and tourism. About six million visitors per year come to BLM Colorado lands to hike, mountain bike, whitewater raft, camp, and fish. The Gunnison Field Office (GFO) is responsible for the management and stewardship of more than 600,000 acres of public land in the upper Gunnison River Basin of southwestern Colorado. Collaborating with a number of public and private partners, GFOâ¿¿s management and staff guide the protection and sustainable use of a wide variety of public resources. Ecosystems within the GFO range from dry sagebrush steppes at 7,000 feet to forests of aspen, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, lodge pole pine, Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir to alpine tundra meadows that reach to over 14,000 feet. GFO is also responsible for the Alpine Loopâ¿¿a byway that travels through Ouray, Lake City and Silvertonâ¿¿adding 50,000 acres to its territory.

Wet meadows and riparian areas occupy a small proportion of the sagebrush ecosystem in the Gunnison Basin, yet provide critically important habitat for many species. These mesic areas, in an otherwise semi-arid climate, are vital to the life cycle of the federally threatened Gunnison sage-grouse, providing important brood-rearing habitat for the grouse to raise their young chicks. These meadows also provide important food and cover for insects, pollinators, neo-tropical migratory birds, mule deer, elk, and forage for domestic livestock. Wet meadows and riparian areas also serve as natural sponges to hold water in the soil, slowly releasing it after runoff events, ensuring continued base flows and maintenance of water tables throughout the growing season. Holding water in these systems later into the summer season and during droughts benefits plants, wildlife, and ranchers.

Many riparian areas and wet meadows in the Gunnison Basin have been degraded by erosion and past land uses, resulting in incised gullies and lowered water tables. Intense episodic droughts, such as the one in 2002, have
exacerbated these problems. As temperatures continue to rise, droughts and intense runoff events that increase erosion are likely to become more frequent. If these already uncommon habitats degrade further, the many plants and animals that depend on them will suffer, including the Gunnison sage-grouse. Since only about 5,000 of these birds remain in the world, they cannot withstand more loss of this important habitat. Degraded riparian areas and wet meadows also pose challenges to ranchers, who are already experiencing other pressures. BLM Colorado seeks a cooperator to assist with restoration of critical habitats in the Gunnison Basin to enhance resiliency and adapt to change.

GFO along with federal partners, state and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, local ranchers and landowners have created partnerships to enhance ecosystem resilience of riparian areas and wet meadows by restoring their hydrologic and ecological function. Various restoration techniques have been identified as best practices to help slow down water during flow events, raise water tables, reduce erosion, stabilize head cuts, reduce impacts of wildlife and cattle trailing, reconnect channels to floodplains, and increase cover of wetland plants.

Some restoration techniques that have been employed were designed by Bill Zeedyk, co-author of the book, Let the Water do the Work: Induced Meandering: An Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels (2014). The treatments work to raise the water table, re-connect the stream channel to the floodplain, restore livestock and wildlife compacted trails, and increase wetland plant cover. The structures capture sediments, hold/spread water, and allow water to infiltrate into the soil, thus enabling wetland plant species to expand.

Restoration techniques include grade control structures (one rock dam and low water crossing), flow dispersal structures (media luna, low water crossing, plug and spread, and filter dam) and headcut control structures (Zuni bowl, rock rundown, log and fabric, and layback). Most of the structures were hand-constructed with rocks; several other techniques were used depending on site conditions and objectives. For example, the drift fence was used to reduce wildlife and cattle trailing in meadows. To date, approximately 140 acres with over 1,000 structures along 21 stream miles in eight watersheds, enhancing over 1,000 acres of Gunnison sage-grouse brood-rearing habitat. BLM Colorado seeks to continue a variety of restoration activities along the Gunnison Basin through this funding opportunity.