Check out Moraine Park in RMNP this weekend. Photo by Peggy Moody.

Head up to Rocky Mountain National Park … FOR FREE!

The park entrance ranger will wave you on while waiving your $20 entrance fee through April 24.

Tomorrow–on Earth Day–there will be an open house at the park’s greenhouse, which features plants native to the area. Leave your car at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center on Highway 36 just west of Estes Park where park employees will direct you to the nearby greenhouse.

Beelte-kill trees at Timber Creek Campground | NPS

Camping in Rocky Mountain National Park means time to commune with nature, relaxing around the campfire, stargazing and long hikes.

And this summer, for two of the park’s five drive-in campgrounds, it also means views. Lots of them. Great vistas that are now totally unobstructed by the trees that used to be there.

That’s the positive spin that park Superintendent Vaughn Baker tried to put on the unfortunate fact that Timber Creek and Glacier Basin campgrounds have literally been clear cut to remove trees killed by pine beetles.  The campgrounds used to have plenty of shade, he said. Now they have plenty of views, but campers should provide their own shade.

From the park’s Website:

The removal reduces risk associated with falling trees. Always be aware of your surroundings, particularly during times of high wind. …

Glacier Basin and Timber Creek Campgrounds look extremely different than they have in the past. …

Timber Creek Campground sits in a lodgepole pine forest where the majority of trees have been killed by the beetle outbreak. Many trees in the campground and along the perimeter of the campground next to Trail Ridge Road were sprayed with Carbaryl over the past three years. However, the scale of the epidemic is enormous and it was not possible to protect all of the trees in the campground.

Read more about camping in the park here.

An elk in Rocky Mountain National Park | flickr photo by bardgabbard

Want to get some exercise and help the Rocky Mountain Nature Association raise a million clams? Now’s your chance: According to the Coloradoan, somebody has gone and given the association, which promotes educational programs and operates bookstores at the park and in visitors’ centers around the state, $1 million, with a catch:

The anonymous donor pledged $1 million to the association as long as it matches the donation dollar for dollar this year.

So the association has come up with the idea of the Million Mile Challenge:

The Million Mile Challenge works like this: Members of the public pledge a specific number of miles they want to hike, bike, ski or walk anywhere in the world and match each mile with a $1 donation.

The Million Mile Challenge Web site has a signup sheet for participants and donors who pledge to help out. And it also has this semi-cheesy inspirational video that’ll seem familiar to anyone who’s ever sat in a visitor center screening room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The still waters of Lion Lake No. 1 in Rocky Mountain National Park’s Wild Basin area shimmer in the sunlight with | Broomfield Enterprise

Nitrogen from fertizilizer and car exhaust that’s lofted into the air and then lands in the once-pristine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park is creating junk food for fish.

“It’s like eating marshmallows all day and expecting to grow. You can’t do it,” James Elser, a professor at Arizona State University and the study’s lead author, told the Associated Press.

Nitrogen deposition is not a new problem, but the new study shows that the effects may be worse than scientists thought.

From the AP:

More nitrogen can reduce long-term lake biodiversity because algae become poor food for other microscopic organisms and, ultimately, fish. The algae are high in nitrogen, but low in phosphorous and less nutritious.

Previous studies have documented rising nitrogen levels in Rocky Mountain National Park, 70 miles northwest of Denver. …

The fish in the park include the rare greenback cutthroat trout and other trout species.

The next step is to study how changes in algae populations are affecting the rest of the ecosystem, Elser said.

“This is filling in some of what we didn’t know before,” said Jill Baron, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct professor at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Baron has studied air pollution levels in Rocky Mountain National Park since 1981. Her research prompted Vaughn Baker, the park’s superintendent, to push for efforts to cut the pollution.

Along with changes to the algae, park biologists blame nitrogen for an increase in sedges, compared to other grasses and flowering plants known as forbs.

Read the full story at DailyCamera.com.

Lion Lake No. 1 in Rocky Mountain National Park’s Wild Basin, with Mount Alice and Chiefs Head Peak standing tall in the distance. Photo by Broomfield Enterprise.

In the future, there may be fewer snow-capped peaks to gaze at in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The meadows on the west side of the park may change as the climate warms and dries, making them less hospitable to moose and pine martens, and aspens across the park may disappear along with the plants that call the tundra home.

These are the dire predictions of a report released yesterday by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which called climate change “the greatest threat ever” to national parks.

The report, called National Parks in Peril, listed the 25 parks most at risk of climate change and included two in Colorado: RMNP and Mesa Verde.

From the report’s Colorado fact sheet:

Mesa Verde is vulnerable to a loss of water, more downpours and floods, a loss of plant communities, a loss of wildlife, and a loss of cultural resources. Rocky Mountain is vulnerable to a loss of ice and snow, a loss of water, more downpours and floods, a loss of plant communities, a loss of wildlife, more crowding, a loss of fishing, and more air pollution. Other parks in Colorado, including Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and Dinosaur National Monument, face similar vulnerabilities.

Many of these impacts are already happening, as human activities—the emission of heat-trapping gases—are now changing the climate. To preserve our national parks for ourselves and future generations, we need to both stop changing the climate and take actions to preserve the resources and values that make our parks special.

Read the full report.

Aspen leaves show the first hint of yellow while Chris Cheek rides his mountain bike near Nederland on Friday. Photo by Marty Caivano.

There’s still a couple more days until the official first day of fall. But the aspens in Colorado aren’t waiting.

Some of the trees clustered along the Peak to Peak Highway have already changed a brilliant gold. Others remain a verdant green — but that won’t last for long.

Foresters are guessing that peak-leaf viewing may fall next weekend or the first few days of October.

From the Daily Camera:

On Tuesday — after this sunny, warm weekend has given way to a cold front predicted to sweep into Boulder County on Sunday night — the sun will shine directly on the Equator, and fall will officially begin.

And on the heels of autumn’s wintry entrance (the National Weather Service is forecasting a chance of snow in the high country both Sunday and Monday nights) comes the golden glow of Colorado’s changing aspen leaves.

“I usually tell people the third week in September will be the peak,” said Bob Sturtevant, a forestry specialist with the Colorado State University Extension Service. “And it seems to be right on schedule.”

Read the full story at DailyCamera.com, or check out five great places to view the changing leaves after the jump.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Driving directions: If you want to take in the aspens as you drive to the park, head north on the Peak to Peak Highway. Otherwise, head up U.S. 36 from Boulder to Estes Park.

Hiking possibilities: There are 355 miles of hiking trails in the park, and that means plenty of options for walking through the aspens. Some good starting places are the Hidden Valley and Bear Lake areas.

Cost: $20 for a seven-day pass. There are no passes for shorter durations.

More info: Call the park at 970-586-1206 or visit nps.gov/romo.

Brainard Lake

Driving directions: Drive north on the Peak to Peak Highway to the turnoff just north of Ward`s northern town limit sign. Head west for the Brainard Lake Recreation Area.

Hiking possibilities: A hike up Mount Audubon could provide a nice platform to see the valleys of aspens below, and you can pass through some stands on the way up the trail. The Sourdough Trail goes through heavy forest and can link up with Pleasant Valley and Camp Dick to the north.

Cost: $9 per vehicle.

More info: Call the Boulder Ranger District at 303-541-2500 or visit fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/fallcolors.

Mountain towns

Driving directions: To reach Gold Hill, take Mapleton Avenue west as it turns into Sunshine Canyon Drive. Drive roughly 10 miles to reach the town. To reach Sugarloaf Mountain, head up Boulder Canyon and turn north on Sugarloaf Road. At 4.8 miles, turn north on Sugarloaf Mountain Road. Trailhead is one mile up.

Hiking possibilities: The Switzerland Trail is well-marked and sits atop Sugarloaf Mountain, so it could provide nice views of colors on the peaks to the west in addition to the trees along the trail. The Mount Alto picnic area, west of Gold Hill, will provide the same wide-open views to the west and to the canyons below.

More info: Call the Boulder Ranger District at 303-541-2500 or visit fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/fallcolors.

Mount St. Vrain

Driving directions: This trailhead is just outside Allenspark. From Lyons, drive west on Colo. 7 and go three miles north of the junction with the Peak to Peak Highway. In Allenspark, take Ski Road south for about 1½ miles to a junction. At the junction, take a right, and the trailhead is less than a mile ahead.

Hiking possibilities: The trail follows a steady, moderately difficult climb through aspen stands, and the boundary to Rocky Mountain National Park awaits about four miles up. From there, you can catch views of sweeping valleys beneath and the soaring peaks within the park. The views to the east provide more color and the vast expanse of the Great Plains.

More info: Call the Boulder Ranger District at 303-541-2500 or visit fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/fallcolors.

Moffatt Tunnel

Driving directions: From Nederland, take the Peak to Peak Highway to Rollinsville. Turn right onto Gilpin County Road 16 and head west, through the town of Tolland, until you hit a parking lot just in front of the tunnel.

Hiking possibilities: Trails lead from the parking lot into the James Peak Wilderness, while several other roads — including the Magnolia Gulch and Rollins Pass roads — offer lots of trails.

More info: Call the Boulder Ranger District at 303-541-2500 or visit fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/fallcolors.

Read more posts about trees on BigGreenBoulder:

Rocky Mountain aspens could disappear by 2090

Battle over toxic beetle killer is on in Estes Park

A nuclear power plant

During a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park this week, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall — D-Eldorado Springs — espoused his (relatively) new love for nuclear power at a press conference.

“I agree with Sen. McCain that nuclear power has to be a significant part of the mix,” Udall said. “There are some that would say, ‘Well, Senator, that’s a change of view on your part.’ It may be, but as I’ve listened and learned and studied, it’s clear that if we want to respond to the threat of climate change, nuclear energy has to be part of the solution.”

His comments frustrated all kinds of anti-nuclear environmentalists, including the folks at the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center in Boulder, who blasted Udall in their weekly column for the Colorado Daily, Peace Train:

How could you, Senator Udall?

You, of all people — from one of the premier environmentally conservative and protective political families in the U.S. You must know that nuclear power is actually counterproductive to efforts to address climate change that are environmentally protective, effective and timely enough to avoid environmental catastrophe.

The nuclear energy industry is striving mightily to have its dangerous, polluting technology, declared “clean” by employing remarkably creative, persistent “greenwashing” techniques, in order to have it included with renewable, clean energy sources as the world scrambles to confront mounting global climate changes.

Read the full column at ColoradoDaily.com, or see a video from Udall’s press conference with Sen. John McCain.

A pika muses on its pile of rocks Aug. 13 at Sourdough Mountain in North Cascades National Park. Photo by Jason Bruggeman, Beartooth Wildlife Research via Seattle Times.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying whether pikas — fuzzy little cousins of the rabbit that prefer chilly temps and high altitudes — need protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Environmentalists are concerned that warming global temperatures will push pikas higher and higher, eventually eliminating their habitats altogether. (Temperatures above 78 degrees can kill the squeaky little critters.)

In Colorado, pikas are easy to find on the slopes of the state’s many fourteeners, but scientists are concerned about their futures. Rsearchers have recently been studying the pika populations in Rocky Mountain National Park, trying to figure out how many of the animals live there now so they can better understand how those populations are affected as the climate changes.

Historical baseline data for number of pikas in the park don’t exist.

“The way it was, there were so many pikas no one thought to count them,” said Judy Visty, park ecologist.

Scientists in the North Cascades National Park are starting a one-year study that is also aimed at establishing a baseline count of pika populations.

This from today’s Seattle Times:

Some wildlife advocates warn that pikas, with their preference for the cool, lofty high country, are at risk of extinction throughout the West by the end of the century as the climate warms. They have sued the feds to determine whether the animal should be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

But others say losses of some local populations don’t spell extinction risk for an animal still abundant in many places.

A decision is due from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by February.

Meanwhile, in a separate effort, scientists are studying pika populations at North Cascades National Park, in a first-ever, one-year pilot study funded by Seattle City Light, which tracks habitat in the North Cascades, where it operates hydroelectric dams. The study is intended to build a baseline of data about where pika are presently found.

“Climate change is the biggest issue facing our national parks,” said Chip Jenkins, park superintendent. “Scientists have determined that our climate is changing, and it is changing rapidly. What we are doing is looking for key indicators, key species that are likely to be the ones that show the first response to climate change.”

Read more of this story at www.seattletimes.com, learn more about our local pikas from Stephen Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman, authors of the Boulder County Nature Almanac, at dailycamera.com or read about the Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to study whether 20 plants, six snails, two insects and a fish may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

About a hundred people showed up Wednesday to collect water samples from streams, rivers and lakes scattered throughout Rocky Mountain National Park for the second annual WaterBlitz.

When the samples are tested, scientists at the University of Colorado hope to learn how beetle-killed trees and global warming might be affecting the park.

Read more about the WaterBlitz at DailyCamera.com or check out the video above.

A mountain pine beetle.

The pine beetles are still hungry, and nothing is going to stop them from killing the vast majority of Colorado’s mature lodgepole pines in the next several years.

(Last year, the beetles chewed through nearly half a million acres of trees in Colorado, bringing the total bug damage in the state to about 2 million acres.)

But some organizations and homeowners hope that there’s some chance of at least saving a few of the pines — the ones that shade campsites, line ski runs or decorate a back yard — and that hope goes by the name of carbaryl.

The problem is that carbaryl — which to have any hope of fending of the munching beetles would have to be sprayed every year for a decade — is  a “likely carcinogen,” according to the EPA, that can also cause a host of other unpleasant neurological problems. And two years ago, it showed up in Boulder’s water for the first time.

This month, a group of residents in Estes Park have begun organizing to fight carbaryl, forming the Mountain Pine Beetle Defense Council, according to the Trail Gazette.

Around Estes, the chemical is sprayed by the city, the forest service and Rocky Mountain National Park.

From our friends at the Estes Park Trail Gazette:

Headed by Thomas Booth and Janet Miklolitch, the Mountain Pine Beetle Defense Council seeks to “provide education, support and sound solutions to the people of the state of Colorado in their defense of our trees against the ravages of the mountain pine beetle,” the proposed mission statement reads.

“I think the name and the mission statement work to get people to agree that the mountain pine beetle is BAD,” Booth said. “We want to save our trees. We want to spend our tree-saving dollars on sound solutions that have a lasting positive effect on our trees, which support all living creatures, who support our trees in return… until we fog them with a poison cloud.”

Booth points to Grand Lake as a prime example of how spraying has not worked.

All of the trees sprayed in Grand Lake died, he said.

Read the Trail Gazette’s full story on the beetle battle or read a story about carbaryl use in Boulder County in the Daily Camera.

For more information on Colorado pine beetle epidemic, check out the U.S. Forest Service beetle page, and for more information on carbaryl, visit the Environmental Protection Agency.