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Springs and seeps provide groundwater recharge ROCKY MOUNTAIN fEN RESEARCH PROJECT CALL FOR PARTNERS ~ The Rocky Mountain Fen Research Project is seeking p.rs in a project designed to explore the extent to which the harvest and transplantation of slow forming organic peat soils, from an area of potential impact to a specifically prepared receiver site, can serve as mitigation of fen impacts. By definition, fens are unique wetlands that form at high elevations (above 8,000 feet) in Colorado through the accumulation of decayed plant material in low points in the landscape, or near slopes where groundwater is intercepted by the soil surface. The implication for land use and water resource managers is that fens tend to exist in the same high altitude locations as potential water collection, transmission, and storage fal:;ilities, and are currently considered to be "unmitigatable" resources. Category 1 Habitats In a 1999 policy document, the USFWS classified fen wetlands as Resource Category I Habitats, or esst:ntially I irreplaceable habitats for which the mitigation goal is "no net loss of existing habitat value." currenM!o acceptable form of mitigation for damage to, or elimination of a fen is recognized by the jurisdictional ag s. The implications of encountering an "unmitigatable" resource within a project area can be severe, and ave. resulted in the abandonment or relocation of critical projects for drought protection, flood control, water storage, and the transmission of run-off from the Rocky Mountains to the State's population centers. The main reason that fens are considered unmitigatable habitat is because it takes thousands of years of accumulation of partially decomposed plant matter, subjected to constant saturation by a groundwater flow regime, to form the organic peat soils that influence every aspect of their form, ftmction, and ecology. The forcing factors in fen formation and function are hydrology, soils, and vegetation. By transporting intact blocks of slow forming organic peat soils, with the vegetative mantle intact, and reassembling them in a specially modified basin that mimics the elements of groundwater recharge, flow rate, and saturation of a natural fen, it is believed that an effective, reproducible method of fen mitigation can be demonstrated. Professional Wetland Scientist Brad Johnson, Ph.D., refers to the Rocky Mountain Fen Research project as, "a rare opportunity to both systematically develop and test innovative methods of fen' creation' and impact rehabilitation." Slow fonning organic peat soils of a typical ff n