Biological resources along the Front Range are as varied as the topography, ranging from high mountain forests to plains grasslands.  Plains riparian (streamside) habitats are of particular interest in the context of the FRIR project because they are often a focal point for conflicting societal demands.  Drainages along the Front Range support plants that are definitely more diverse and more robust than surrounding upland sites and can be classified as riparian. Approximately 75% of the wildlife species known or likely to occur in Colorado are dependent on riparian areas during all or a portion of their life cycle.  Riparian areas are also primary sites for other types of uses including, water development, agriculture, grazing, sand and gravel mining, and recreation.  USGS scientists are studying the restoration of riparian areas after sand and gravel mining and also the impact of  this type of mining on the Prebles Meadow Jumping Mouse habitat.  The impacts of  water development on riparian communities are of particular interest because the effects are often not immediately obvious.  The Colorado Riparian Vegetation Mapping Project is a multi-agency cooperative effort spearheaded by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as part of the Natural Diversity Information Source (NDIS). The purpose of this effort is to map riparian/wetland vegetation in Colorado for use in natural resource planning.  Several cooperative efforts with the U.S. Geologic Survey, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation resulted in the production of over 50 quads of riparian data along the Front Range from the Wyoming border south to Colorado Springs.

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/frontrange/virtour/ftcoll.htm Contact: Carol Mladinich  mailto:csmladinich@usgs.gov Updated: 05/16/2001