Dawn Wilson

For the Coloradoan

In 2012, I attended one of John Fielder’s presentations filled with calming music and his beautiful photography. The purpose of the presentation was to promote the 20-year anniversary of Great Outdoors Colorado.

This initiative, established in 1992, dedicates proceeds from the Colorado Lottery to fund and protect open space, recreation areas and lands for wildlife throughout Colorado, including in Fort Collins. To celebrate this anniversary, John Fielder published a book that year called, “John Fielder’s Guide to Colorado’s Great Outdoors”, which I purchased that evening.

Inside the covers I found information about more than 500 places to visit and explore throughout Colorado. I quickly started tabbing the pages with Post-it Notes to mark the new places I wanted to visit. One of those places was the Plains Conservation Center.

It took me three years before I had a chance to head down to the prairie landscape on the eastern edge of Aurora to see the open space that preserved grassland habitat. What I learned was that this outdoor education facility had been in existence in some form since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

More than 200 years ago, Colorado’s landscape east of the Rocky Mountains was covered with a green desert, a landscape of prairie grasses full of wildlife and wildflowers. As settlers moved west and settled on the plains of Colorado, they brought with them the dream of lush lawns, vibrant gardens and thick groves of trees. But there were more settlers than trees on the prairie at that time. And the plains are unforgiving with little shade to escape the hot sun and little water to quench the needs of thirsty trees and flowers.

The plants and animals that naturally exist on the prairie, however, have adapted to the harsh climate of the sunny plains. The hare bells, wild sunflowers, prickly pear cactus and prairie zinnia thrive in the dry conditions.

The grasses, such as grama and bluestem, create wonderful ground cover for the abundant wildlife that exists on the grassland. Bull snakes, prairie rattlesnakes and horned lizards move about underneath the shade of sagebrush bushes. Western meadowlarks, horned larks and lark buntings dash about above the plants searching for insects. And pronghorn antelope, black-tailed prairie dogs and desert cottontails feed throughout the day on grasses and sage.

These are the reasons the Plains Conservation Center exists.

The land where the Plains Conservation Center is located was originally set aside from development in the 1930s by the State of Colorado. The state wanted to preserve the land as a sort of laboratory to preserve and educate about proper farming techniques and reduce the impact of development.

In 1948, the center was established when the land was located at the end of a dirt road.

Today, the suburbs have encroached on the borders of the property on the west, busy Hampden Avenue borders on the south and Buckley Air Force Base sits to the north.

But thanks to forward thinking politicians and conservationists, 1,100 acres of prairie have been preserved for the landscape and for visitors in eastern Aurora. The Plains Conservation Center also includes almost 7,800 acres along West Bijou Creek south of Strasburg.

Visiting the Aurora location offers a variety of activities. The site includes programs and replicas of life on the prairie in the late 1800s, including the Wells Crossing pioneer farm with two sod homes, a blacksmith shop and a schoolhouse. There is also a replica of a Cheyenne Camp with Cheyenne-style tipis and replicated Native American artifacts. And there are 6.5 miles of trails that meander through the prairie and down into riparian areas.

The sod homes are particularly interesting. One home has exposed sod and the other has wood siding. According to the signs at these homes, the wood siding represented a successful homestead where the family could afford to ship in wood, which would help to keep dirt, bugs and animals out of the home.

Sod was frequently used to build homes on the prairie. Trees for wood were not readily available so homesteaders had to get creative. The prairie grasses created thick root systems so settlers would cut bricks of prairie sod to build homes. This combination of mud, grasses and roots needed constant repair from the harsh winds, sun and rain.

Dawn Wilson is a professional photographer and writer, and volunteers as a Master Naturalist with the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department. Visit her website at www.DawnWilsonPhotography.com.

If you go

The Plains Conservation Center is currently operating on winter hours, which are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday. There is no fee to visit Plains Conservation Center but donations are appreciated to help with education programs about the impact of grassland loss.

For information about bringing a school group to the center or to learn more about the Plains Conservation Center, visit www.plainscenter.org.

The Plains Conservation Center is approximately one and a half hours from Fort Collins. Take Interstate 25 south to Exit 228 for E-470 south toward Limon. Continue on E-470 south for 29 miles. Take Exit 16 for Jewell Avenue. Head east on Jewell Avenue for a half-mile and turn right onto Colorado Highway 30/South Gun Club Road. Turn right onto Hampden Avenue and travel one mile. The Plains Conservation Center is located at 21901 East Hampden Avenue, Aurora.