Laserfiche WebLink
<br />WETLANDS IN COLORADO: <br />What, Where and Why <br /> <br />,2 - <br />,.' <br /> <br /> <br />L'n"'. "',,/ ,'m'"...r I;,,~ f'lnr;",' {'..nn/, ~In"" 1",,/, lIn/" 7',.,,;/ On,,!..,. U^,,,d,,;,, 1'n.;^,,~1 /)"..1. <br /> <br /> <br />/lays/arks if/lrel flW(U!OIl'S f!mr./d(e/'So!l, SOIl/h Pmk Pll% /Jy Drll'id ('oo/WI: <br /> <br />Wetlands in Colorado are as var- <br />ied as our landscape. They <br />are found among high-moun- <br />tain slopes and valleys and along <br />lower-elevation rivers. <br />They are found in towns, pas- <br />tures and irrigated fields. They can <br />be wetlands with perennial water <br />sources like fens, where peat accumu- <br />lates over thousands of years...or wet- <br />lands with seasonal water like many <br />marshes, which come 10 life with an <br />influx ofwaler from snow melt or rain <br />in the spring, only to shrink or dry up <br />later in the season. They can be wil- <br />low areas flooded by beaver dams...or <br />cottonwood forests alung plains rivers. <br />Wetlands have always account- <br />ed for a very small percentage of <br />Colorado's total land area. Scientists <br />think that before settlers came to the <br />area, only 1-2 percent of what is now <br />Colorado were wetlands. In the last <br /> <br />150 years, as much as half of the <br />state's original wetlands have been <br />lost or changed by human activity. On <br />the other hand, thousands of acres <br />of wetlands have been created hy <br />irrigated agriculture. <br /> <br />Wetlands have <br />always accounted <br />for a small percent- <br />age of Colorado's <br />total land area, <br />Scientists think that <br />before settlers arrived, <br />only 1-2 percent of <br />what is now Colorado <br />were wetlands. <br /> <br />