On this full-day field trip, attendees will visit two diverse Wildlife Refuges in the Rocky Mountain region: the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. 

Rocky Mountain Arsenal

On 27 square miles and just 10 miles northeast of downtown Denver, the Army established Rocky Mountain  Arsenal (RMA) in 1942 to produce chemical warfare agents and incendiary munitions used in World War II. Following the war and through the early 1980s, some RMA facilities were leased to private companies to  manufacture industrial and agricultural chemicals. Standard industrial waste disposal practices during those years resulted in significant concentrations of contamination. The Remedial Investigation (RI) and subsequent investigations identified chemicals, contaminating soil, ditches, streams, lakebed sediments,  sewers, groundwater, surface water biota, and structures. The site was eventually listed as a Superfund site in 1987 and has been the focus of over $2 billion of remediation, cleanup, and ecological restoration. In 1992, with the signing of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Act, which transferred the  management of portions of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado to the Secretary of the Interior for wildlife and public use to create the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages almost 16,000 acres of the site with prescribed burns, collects and plants seeds, manages shortgrass prairie and wetland habitats, and more to provide habitat on-site for bison,  black-footed ferrets, prairie dogs, burrowing owls, bald eagles, mule and white-tailed deer. Portions of the  Rocky Mountain Arsenal remain under the jurisdiction and control of the U.S. Army to conduct ongoing  remedial activities and to ensure the continued protection of human health and the environment. 

Rocky Flats

In 2007, the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, located north of Golden, Colorado, was established to  preserve and protect more than 630 species of plants and the globally rare xeric tallgrass prairie. Prior to  becoming a Refuge, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission acquired the Rocky Flats property to produce  nuclear and nonnuclear weapons, including plutonium fission primaries for nuclear weapons. During its  operations between 1952 and 1994 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the 6,500-acre Rocky Flats Site  was one of 13 nuclear weapons production facilities in the United States during the Cold War. President  George H. W. Bush ended the Rocky Flats mission when he canceled the W-88 Trident Warhead program. Nuclear and nonnuclear production stopped in 1993, and in 1994, the last shipment of defense-related  materials was sent off-site. After being added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National  Priorities List (Superfund List) in 1989, the plant underwent a $7 billion Superfund investigation and  environmental cleanup effort.

Through the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Act of 2001, the site became a National Wildlife Refuge while the cleanup of the site continued. The DOE still maintains 1,300 acres as part of its legacy management for long-term care and maintenance to ensure the cleanup is  functioning as designed and remains protective of human health and the environment. 

Recommended for the trip: Dress in layers. Long-pants, short or long-sleeved shirts, sturdy closed-toed  shoes, broad-brimmed hat, gloves, jackets, rain gear, sunscreen, and drinking water. Weather can vary in  one Colorado day, this is a field trip at 5,164 to 6,000 feet and will be hiking in some areas without shade. 

Detailed description 

During the tour of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge you will explore an ecologically unique area, and visit by bus the internal part of the Refuge containing some of the remedy structures: over 773 acres of  cover areas, including landfills and areas once used to create munitions now turned into native prairie. After  departing the conference center hotel, you will arrive at the RMA Refuge visitor center after a 30-minute  drive and meet with the Refuge Manager. You will have time to tour the visitor center displays and read  about the history of the site. Participants will then hop on the bus to tour the site while the tour director  discusses the history from cleanup to Refuge. You will see waterfowl habitat for white pelicans, egrets,  great blue herons, avocets, and many duck species, Sandhill cranes, cormorants, and more. You will see  bald eagle nests and learn about the Bald Eagle Management Area (BEMA) identified during the  implementation of the remedy. During the bus tour you will also pass by and learn about some of the  remedy components including the different landfills and the Lime Basins cover areas and the water  treatment plants that will remain under Army management in perpetuity. Discussion on the tour will also  focus on the Bison range, Temple Grandin-designed corrals, and roundup facilities. If time allows, hike Lake  Mary and Lake Ladora.  

Sack lunch provided at RMA visitor center before heading out on the second part of our tour 45 minutes west  to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The tour of the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge will be provided by  the Refuge Manager and include a discussion of the site history and the refuge management. Participants  will have the opportunity to walk some hiking trails on the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, taking in  the expansive views and wildlife viewing opportunities. The Refuge has striking vistas of the Front Range of  the Rocky Mountains and rolling prairie grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands. It is home to 239 migratory  and resident wildlife species, including prairie falcons, deer, elk, coyotes, songbirds, and the federally  threatened Preble’s meadow jumping mouse. It provides a protected corridor for migrating wildlife. 

Maximum participants allowed in a single bus is 40 people.