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Cal-Wood News
What's been happening at the ranch?
Spring 2006-Land Purchase
After negotiations with our long time neighbors The Elrick’s, Cal-Wood has finally been able to purchase their 160 acre parcel. Formerly known as Circle E, the 160 acres sits due west of the lodge and, as you might imagine, is a stunning piece of property. The 130 acres of Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir forests coupled with 30 acres of open meadows make this prime habitat for the Lefthand Elk Herd as well as deer, coyote, bobcat, and various bird specie. Historically, the land was used for its mineral resources—most likely gold, silver, and uranium. If you look at the shape of the new property boundary you will notice that it’s not a perfect square, rather it has a number of intersecting rectangles that make up the northern portion of the ranch. The long rectangles are old mining claims that date back to gold rush days; a standard claim measured 150’ wide by 1500’ long for a total of five acres. It has been said that these particular claims were given out to miners in lieu of actual payment—the payroll apparently went down with the Titanic in 1912. Other uses included timber harvesting and ranching. There is an old homestead house and corral on the property but no specific information about them has been uncovered at this point.
We are thrilled to be the owners and stewards of this special piece of property and hope to share it with our clients in the near future.
Spring 2006-Cal-Wood receives land stewardship award
The following is Cal-Wood’s nomination letter written by Ariel Steele
Cal-Wood Environmental Education center is exceptionally deserving of the Boulder County Environmental Stewardship Award for its land stewardship activities, its outreach to others to promote land preservation and its unwavering dedication to educating our region’s youth in natural resources and environmental ethics.
In the area of land stewardship, Cal-Wood is continually making efforts to create a positive impact on the approximately 1000 acres of land on which its education center is located. Cal-Wood updated their forestry management plan in 2004 and has been actively implementing the terms of the plan both through obtaining grants for forestry projects and by performing much of the work through their staff and volunteers. Most recently, Cal-Wood received a $5,000 grant from the Colorado State Forest Service to create a shaded fuel break (an area of forest that is extensively thinned in order to slow an approaching wild fire). When creating the fuel break, Cal-Wood took care to hire a contractor that had the same respect for the forest health that Cal-Wood has. Each tree was carefully examined to determine a thinning plan that would allow as many of the older trees to remain to create a break from fire that also enhances the forest ecology.
Cal-Wood also knows the value of managing invasive weeds and has taken an aggressive integrated approach to weed management for years. Just recently Cal-Wood discovered that a seed eating weevil that attacks musk thistle just made its way to the Cal-Wood Property. They are using it as an opportunity to add another tool to their weed control arsenal and create an educational experience at the same time. As a matter of fact, weed control was the seed that germinated into the protection of not only the 1000 acre Cal-Wood Property, but also the neighboring 700 acre Balarat Property. In 2001, Rafael Salgado, Cal-Wood’s executive director contacted Cindy Lair, the County’s former weed coordinator to get some help controlling leafy spurge. Cindy brought some goats over to help eat the spurge and suggested to Rafael that Cal-Wood consider putting a conservation easement on the property. Rafael then talked to his neighbor, Patrick Emery, who runs the Balarat Education Center and encouraged him to pursue a conservation easement on their 700 acres. A few years later, 1700 acres of important elk travel routes were permanently protected through Boulder County conservation easements.
Cal-Wood staff and trustees make an even bigger impact in their work with our area’s youth. The programs at Cal-Wood are designed to teach all aspects of the school’s curriculum in a manner that integrates a respect for the natural environment. A class may learn math by taking counts of plants found in transects. Another class may write poetry that is inspired by the breathtaking views from Solitude Point. History comes alive while making Johnny cakes the same way kids did back in the mid 1800’s at the Homestead. What is clear to all is that after a few days and nights at Cal-Wood, every student leaves with a greater understanding and respect for the natural resources that the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Department works very hard to preserve and protect. Cal-Wood is an exceptional partner to our department. Cal-Wood has and continues to make extraordinary contributions to the conservation, preservation and protection of Boulder County’s land-based environmental resources through land stewardship projects that enhance the land’s wildlife habitat, encouraging regional land preservation and educating future generations to respect our natural resources.
Program Success
Cal-Wood had a successful 2003 academic year with our school programs. We conducted over 70 programs for about 50 different schools with over 3,000 students. Cal-Wood's Dream Account, our scholarship fund for low-income schools, distributed over $40,000 in financial subsidies to schools with high percentages of students on the free and reduced lunch program. We thank the major donors that have helped make a valuable education experience happen for over 800 economically disadvantaged students. The Dream Account needs consistent support, large and small, and we urge you to consider a contribution. Please see Support Cal-Wood for more details.
As evidence of the success of our program, Cal-Wood received important recognition from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. Our School Program received the 2003 Award for Excellence in K-12 Education. Important attributes of Cal-Wood's program are our commitment to work with teachers to customize programs, effort in outreaching and teaching effectively to underserved populations, and our ability to integrate the learning of Cal-Wood with conservation related themes.
Our other main programming component of workshops, trainings and retreats also had a good year. We did notice, however, the poor economic situation affects these programs as certain groups from previous years were not able to re-attend. Please see programs page for a description of the various programs we offer and examples of other organizations and agencies that Cal-Wood collaborates with.
Land Management
Cal-Wood has always assumed the role of stewards of the land seriously and with our new conservation easement, this responsibility is reinforced. We actively study and manage the 1,200 acres to maintain its unique ecological integrity. Cal-Wood's overall land management goal is to positively influence the ecosystem through the least impacting methods possible. In general, the conservation projects we choose to conduct are an attempt to reduce the impact from past detrimental human activities. Another important aspect of our conservation approach is to create positive learning experiences for our programs and visitors. There is so much to learn from studying the land and we want to be able to share this opportunity.
Please see our Conservation Projects page for information on land management activities in forestry, weeds, wildlife, water, mapping and more.
Web Site Changes
Finally, Cal-Wood's web-site has undergone a significant overhaul meant to make it easier for our visitors. Feel free to contact us at info@calwood.org for comments/suggestions about this site.