Oct. 24–A prime 29-acre swath of open space in Boulder, near the west bank of South Boulder Creek and across the water from the popular Bobolink Trail, is about to undergo a dramatic makeover — back-to-the-future style.
More than 2,000 truckloads of topsoil and vegetation are anticipated to be hauled away over the next month or so, with roughly 100 trips a day moving along Baseline Road near Cherryvale Road at peak periods, as crews strip out up to half a foot of soil and yank out a tangle of stubborn weeds.
But don’t expect the result of all that work to be a finely manicured turf field with evenly spaced trees. This piece of ground between Baseline Road and Sioux Drive is going back in time — to an era when the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse leapt high and the Ute ladies’-tresses orchids waved wild.
“We’ve been eyeing that property for such a long time — it adjoins some of our nicest riparian habitat,” said Lynn Riedel, plant ecologist for Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. “This additional buffer around the South Boulder Creek corridor and the adjacent meadows is ideal. It helps long-term management of endangered species and other species.”
And it all comes at a fire-sale price for the city, courtesy of the threatened orchid and protected rodent, along with a little help from the strong arm of the federal government.
Federal law requires mitigation
Boulder took possession of the open space property in two parcels earlier this year after the Colorado Department of Transportation, in accordance with the federal endangered species act, sought a way to mitigate the impacts its U.S. 36 Managed Lanes project was going to have on the land around it.
The agency is expanding the busy highway between Boulder and Denver by adding a managed lane in each direction, in addition to building a corridor-long bikeway. Ironically, it is the footprint for the bikeway that is specifically impinging on the orchids and sensitive habitat and requiring CDOT to take action.
That affected ground, located in the area where South Boulder Creek crosses under the highway, includes ideal habitat for the Ute ladies’-tresses orchid, a perennial plant with small white or ivory flowers, and the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, a small water-loving rodent with large hind feet suited to leaping. Both are federally listed as threatened species.
CDOT approached the city and struck a deal whereby it would purchase the larger 24-acre parcel for $1.3 million and Boulder would buy the smaller 5-acre parcel for $500,000. Both parcels, which were sold willingly by their previous owners, are located just north of the East Boulder Recreation Center.
The transportation agency then ceded its parcel to Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks and embarked on a $1.2 million restoration project to make the land amenable to both the mouse and flower. The restoration work, which will include transplanting a dozen Ute ladies’-tresses orchids from the highway corridor to the open space property, could begin as early as next week.
Mark Gosselin, project director for the U.S. 36 Managed Lanes project, said the arrangement works well for both Boulder and CDOT.
“It’s property the city of Boulder has coveted for years, and CDOT won’t have to maintain it for the long term,” he said. “It’s not cheap, but I consider it a win-win.”
‘Great for Boulder’
Crews will scrape 30,000 cubic yards of soil this fall and then put in new shrubs, willow cuttings and wetland plants in the spring. The 12 uprooted orchids will have to be kept intact with the surrounding soil because the health of their roots depends on a fungus.
Eric Stone, open space division manager for Boulder, said the deal with CDOT is “great for Boulder.”
“For $500,000, we’re getting $1.8 million worth of land,” Stone said. “And that land will support these threatened species. It’s going to be restored at a cost to the state, not the city.”
He said no plans have been made for the future of the property, and they probably won’t be for another year or so.
“It has not been decided yet if there will be recreational use there,” he said.
But what is certain is that no homes or condos will crowd the western bank of South Boulder Creek directly south of Baseline Road, keeping intact a pristine view of the foothills for the hundreds who walk and run the Bobolink Trail each day.
Contact Camera Staff Writer John Aguilar at 303-473-1389, [email protected] or twitter.com/abuvthefold.