Baca NWR vital habitats

One last post on the Baca NWR in the San Luis Valley because it provides very important habitat for birds, fish and mammals. The top pic shows the some of the refuge's wet meadows, these in the Willow Creek watershed. Wet meadows are used by amphibians including northern leopard frog and many bird including waterfowl, Sora and Virginia Rail, and several waterbirds that migrate nest or migrate through the San Luis Valley including Sandhill Cranes.

The middle pic is of a female Lark Bunting (this species is the state bird of Colorado). They breed usually in the grassland habitat offered on the refuge but sometimes nest in shrubland.The bottom pic shows Crestone Creek the only perennial stream that moves down from the Sangre de Christo Mountains, through the town of Crestone into the refuge providing important riparian habitat with willows and cottonwoods. I saw an empid flycatcher, probably a Willow Flycatcher, in a cottonwood adjacent to willows along Crestone Creek near the headquarters area. The Rio Grande Sucker, a fish listed as Endangered by Colo Division of Wildlife, has been found in Crestone Creek as have the Rio Grande Chub, a fish species of concern in Colorado. I saw a number of minnows in this creek but have idea which species they belonged to. Both the top and bottom pics will enlarge nicely for close-up views (but the Lark Bunting pic does not) so double-click on them for more detail.
It is of concern to many conservationists including myself that a company that has the mineral rights under the refuge is pushing to conduct exploratory drilling for gas on the refuge. Many of us believe that a full Environmental Impact Statement evaluation should be conducted before they are permitted to conduct any drilling so the vital species, habitats and water resources are properly protected. We will soon hear the ruling by the USFWS. SeEtta