On May 12-18, 2024, Rocky Mountain Wild and our partners will host the 8th annual Colorado Endangered Species Week! This week is dedicated to providing educational events and advocacy opportunities to protect the planet and species at risk here in Colorado.
During this week, Rocky Mountain Wild and our partners organize speakers, fundraisers, direct actions, and other activities along the Front Range, with major events occurring in Boulder and Denver, as well as activities you can take part in from the comfort of your own home.
Join us for the events and for The Most Awesome Environmental Online Auction in the Front Range! All items in this auction have been donated by members of a green coalition (1% for the Planet, Certifiably Green Denver, Certified Green Lafayette, Climate Neutral Certified, The Conservation Alliance, Good Food 100, Green America, etc) or the item itself may replace a less environmental one.
Events for your favorite CO endangered species:
During Colorado Endangered Species Week, we’ll be focusing on a few of our important species or wild places, or a solution that protects our important species or wildly places here in Colorado. We will feature a suite of activities, including things to read, direct actions to take, and things to watch to help us learn about and advocate for our Colorado imperiled, threatened, and endangered species!
Not in the area? A lot of the activities can be taken from wherever you are! You can also check out Endangered Species Coalition’s Event Map for activities and actions in your city!
Be a boreal toad hero through community science and direct action, May 12
Boreal toads inhabit a variety of high-altitude wet habitats – such as marshes, wet meadows, streams, beaver ponds, glacial kettle ponds, and subalpine forest lakes- at altitudes primarily between 8,000-11,500 feet. They are Colorado’s only alpine amphibian and an indicator of the environmental health of our mountain streams and wetlands.
In the past two decades, 168 known amphibian species on the planet have gone extinct. One-third of the world’s amphibians are considered threatened, and almost half of all species are declining. The causes for recent amphibian declines are many, but an emerging disease called chytrid fungus and global climate change are thought the be the biggest threats to amphibians. Here in southern Rocky Mountain region, boreal toads, once a common member of our alpine ecosystems, are estimated to occupy just 1% of their historical breeding areas.
Join us for Be a boreal toad hero through community science and direct action, to learn about community science you can participate in and direct actions you can take to protect this species!
A huge thank you to our partners for the day: Denver Zoo and Wilderness Workshop.
Unlock the joy of community science to protect Colorado bats, May 13
Bats face numerous threats in Colorado, such as habitat loss and climate change. In addition, hibernating bats in Colorado may be impacted by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a pathogen that has killed millions of bats in the eastern and midwestern U.S. since 2006. WNS was just detected in a Colorado bat on April 24 of last year.
Unfortunately, relatively little is currently known about the population status of most species of bats in Colorado. This prevents land managers and conservation organizations develop strategies and programs to protect bats and their habitats.
Thankfully, we have a community science project where you can help collect data about Colorado bats!
Join us for Unlock the joy of community science to protect Colorado bats, to understand more about Colorado bats and how you can help us learn more about them. And be sure to join the evening bat conservation events in Wheat Ridge, scheduled May 13 and 15!
A huge thank you to our partner for the day: Bat Conservation International.
Learn about our soon-to-be new neighbors, wolverines, May 14
Historically, wolverines ranged south from Canada and Alaska through the mountainous regions of the West to California, Utah, and Colorado. Today, wolverines inhabit high-elevation areas of the Northern Cascades in Washington, and the northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. There are fewer than 400 wolverines in the contiguous US. They are vulnerable to climate change and protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Colorado’s wolverine population went extinct due to unregulated trapping and poisoning in the early 1900s. The last wolverine confirmed in Colorado was a lone male who wandered 500 miles from the Tetons in Wyoming to central Colorado in 2009, and then to North Dakota where he was shot. Colorado continues to have prime habitat for wolverines, but female wolverines tend to stay closer to where they were born and are unlikely to make the difficult journey to Colorado.
But recently, Rocky Mountain Wild has been working to reintroduce the species, and earlier this month, the bill to reintroduce wolverines passed the Colorado legislature!
Join us for Learn about our soon-to-be new neighbors, wolverines, to understand more about wolverines and the reintroduction effort. And be sure to join the webinar on Tuesday evening to hear from wolverine experts!
A huge thank you to our partner for the day: Denver Zoo.
Unlock the joy of community science to protect Colorado bats, May 15
Bats face numerous threats in Colorado, such as habitat loss and climate change. In addition, hibernating bats in Colorado may be impacted by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a pathogen that has killed millions of bats in the eastern and midwestern U.S. since 2006. WNS was just detected in a Colorado bat on April 24 of last year.
Unfortunately, relatively little is currently known about the population status of most species of bats in Colorado. This prevents land managers and conservation organizations develop strategies and programs to protect bats and their habitats.
Thankfully, we have a community science project where you can help collect data about Colorado bats!
Join us for Unlock the joy of community science to protect Colorado bats, to understand more about Colorado bats and how you can help us learn more about them. And be sure to join the evening bat conservation events in Wheat Ridge, scheduled May 13 and 15!
A huge thank you to our partner for the day: Bat Conservation International.
Demystify the majesty of Colorado’s new wolves, May 16
Wolves once roamed the snow-capped peaks and rim rock canyons of the West, but their howl was missing from Western Colorado for 75 years. On November 3, 2020, Coloradans voted yes to Colorado Proposition 114, the Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative. And at the end of last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reintroduced wolves to the state!
Join us for Demystify the majesty of Colorado’s new wolves, to understand more about our new neighbors and how you can coexist with them!
A huge thank you to our partners for the day: Endangered Species Coalition and Wild Connections.
Envisioning equity in the outdoors and environmental nonprofits, May 18
Climate change disproportionately affects members of disadvantaged communities and groups who face socioeconomic inequalities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), trans people, and people with disabilities. So why are our organizations and outdoor recreation groups overwhelmingly white?
Join us for Envisioning equity in the outdoors and environmental nonprofits to understand why this is happening, why folks should be concerned, and which organizations you can support to change this trend.
The Most Awesome Environmental Online Auction in the Front Range:
Colorado Endangered Species Week includes The Most Awesome Environmental Online Auction in the Front Range, with auction items that are either donated by a business with a green coalition membership or items that are environmental in nature.
The online auction will open at noon MT on May 10 and close at noon MT on May 18. Register here! You must be located in the United States to participate out of respect for our donors and their shipping costs.
A huge thank you to Wild Connections for sponsoring the auction!
Thank you to 2024’s Most Awesome Environmental Online Auction in the Front Range donors:
Colorado Endangered Species Week Partners:
This week can’t happen without the help of all our partners. If you are interested in becoming a Media Sponsor, a Resource Partner, an Event Partner, or a Sponsor, please check out our Sponsorship Packet and email Chris at chris@rockymountainwild.org with the type of partnership you would like to have this year.
For the Kids (and Kids at Heart):
Feel free to download any of our coloring pages! And if you love how it turned out, please send it to us and we’ll post it on our Instagram page!
- American pika coloring page
- Bighorn sheep coloring page
- Boreal toad coloring page
- Canada lynx coloring page
- Gray wolf coloring page
- Greater sage-grouse coloring page
- Gunnison sage-grouse coloring page
- Townsend’s big-eared bat coloring page
- Wolverine coloring page
- Colorado Parks & Wildlife coloring pages
Header image: Top row: American pika (imperiled, but not listed) courtesy of Will Thompson, USGS; boreal toad (state endangered) courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife; greater sage-grouse (state special concern) courtesy of Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management; Colorado River cutthroat trout (state special concern) courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife; least tern (state endangered) courtesy of Amanda Boyd, USFWS; Bottom row: burrowing owl (state threatened) courtesy of Ben Lawrence; kit fox (state endangered) courtesy of Kelly Rigby, Bureau of Land Management; clay-loving wild buckwheat (state endangered) courtesy of Langton Alicia, USFWS; longnose leopard lizard (state special concern) courtesy of William Bosworth, ID Department of Fish and Game. All images are public domain.