ARAPAHO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Walden, Colorado also BAMFORTH, HUTTON LAKE, MORTENSON LAKE and PATHFINDER National Wildlife Refuges administered from Walden, Colorado ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1993 U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System ARAPAHO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Walden, Colorado also BAMFORTH, HUTTON LAKE, MORTENSON LAKE and PATHFINDER National Wildlife Refuges administered from Walden, Colorado ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1993 U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System < REVIEW AND APPROVALS ARAPAHO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Walden, Colorado also BAMFORTH, HUTTON LAKE, MORTENSON LAKE and PATHFINDER National Wildlife Refuges administered from Walden, Colorado ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1993 ^ Project Leader Date 6 -Jthll Associate Manager (Zone III) Date Regional OftS ee Approval Date INTRODUCTION Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1967 primarily to furnish waterfowl with a suitable place to nest and rear their young. The refuge was created to offset, in part, losses of breeding and nesting habitat in the prairie wetland region of the Midwest. Most of the land was purchased with funds derived from the sale of Duck Stamps. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in an intermountain glacial basin immediately south of Walden, the county seat of Jackson County, Colorado. The basin is approximately 30 miles wide and 45 miles long. Since it is the most northern of four such "parks" in Colorado, it is known locally as "North Park". The Ute Indians referred to North Park as "Cow Lodge" and "Bull Pen." They were the first visitors to the area and remained only during the summer months to hunt bison, abandoning the valley during the long, snowy and icy winters. Their small numbers and nomadic life style left but a small imprint on the land. The first recorded exploratory footsteps to appear in North Park belonged to Jacques Bijeau in the year 1820. Like many of his French countrymen, Bijeau was lured by the promise of profit in trapping beaver. In 1844, Lieutenant John F. Fremont transversed the park from Northgate to Willow Creek Pass and recorded the following in his journal: "The valley narrowed as we ascended and presently divided into a gorge, through which the river passes as through a gate - a beautiful circular valley of 30 miles in diameter, walled in all around with snowy mountains, rich with water and grass, fringed with pine on the mountain sides below the snow, and a paradise to all grazing animals." Others like James O. Pinkham, came to exploit mineral wealth. Miners preferred the summer months for their endeavors. The first residents to brave the cold were Jacob Fordyce and his family. They stayed during the winter of 1878, two years after Colorado became a state and a full 50 years after the first explorers entered the valley. The high elevation and northern latitude provides North Park with a unique climate. The refuge elevation ranges from 8,100 to 8,700 feet. North Park is classified climatically as a cold desert. Winters are very cold and normally have 60 inches or more of snow while the surrounding mountains receive at least 120 inches of snowfall. Extreme low temperatures of minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit have been recorded. Summers are cool and dry with high temperatures in the 80's and the average lows near 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Mean annual precipitation is only 9.6 inches and the mean annual temperature is 36.5 degrees Fahrenheit. There is an average of only 30 consecutive frost-free days each year. Jackson County was formed in 1909 and supports a rural population of approximately 1,800 people of which about half live in Walden, one mile north of the refuge. The economy of North Park relies on four main resources. The largest and most stable of these is ranching followed by lumbering. Tourism and recreation are growing activities in North Park while mining currently is in a slump. Nearly one-half of the North Park population lives on ranches which indicates the importance of ranching to the economic stability of North Park. The refuge currently encompasses 23,267 acres and when all proposed lands are fully acquired and the land exchanges are complete, the refuge will consist of approximately 24,080 acres. The refuge excluding the recent Stelbar acquisition, presently consists of 7,944 acres of irrigated and sub-irrigated meadows, 9,286 acres of sagebrush-grassland uplands, 771 acres of wetlands, 188 acres of riparian willow and stream habitat, and 64 acres of administrative lands including building sites and roads. The refuge currently produces an average of about 7,275 ducks (10 year average) and 150 to 300 Canada geese annually although production varies from year to year. The current refuge objective is to produce 11,000 to 12,000 ducks and 500 Canada geese annually. To meet waterfowl production objectives and provide optimum habitat conditions for other species of wildlife, the refuge utilizes several habitat manipulation techniques such as pond development, water level manipulation, irrigation, rest-seasonal grazing systems and prescribed burning to create habitat diversity and maintain vegetative vigor, growth and density. . < TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A. HIGHLIGHTS. 1 B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 1 C. LAND ACQUISITIONS 2 1. Fee Title 2 2. Easements Nothing to Report 3. Other 4 D. PLANNING 4 1. Master Plan Nothing to Report 2. Management Plan 4 3. Public Participation Nothing to Report 4. Compliance with Environmental Mandates Nothing to Report 5. Research and Investigations 5 E. ADMINISTRATION 14 1. Personnel 15 2. Youth Programs 16 3. Other Manpower Programs Nothing to Report 4. Volunteer Programs 20 5. Funding 21 6. Safety 22 7. Technical Assistance 23 8. Other 26 F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT 27 1. General 27 2. Wetlands 27 3. ForeStS Nothing to Report 4. Croplands Nothing to Report 5. Grasslands 28 6. Other HabitatS Nothing to Report 7. Grazing 29 8. Haying 33 9. Fire Management 33 10. Pest Control 33 11. Water Rights Nothing to Report 12. Wilderness and Special Areas Nothing to Report 13. WPA Easement Monitoring Nothing to Report G. WILDLIFE 34 1. Wildlife Diversity 34 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species 35 3. Waterfowl 35 4. Marsh and Water Birds 42 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species 43 6. Raptors ; 43 7. Other Migratory Birds 43 8. Game Animals 45 9. Marine Animals Nothing to Report 10. Other Resident Wildlife 47 11. Fishery Resources 50 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking Nothing to Report 13. Surplus Animal Disposal Nothing to Report 14. Scientific Collections Nothing to Report 15. Animal Control 50 16. Marking and Banding Nothing to Report 17. Disease Prevention and Control Nothing to Report H. PUBLIC USE 50 1. General 50 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students Nothing to Report 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers Nothing to Report 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 50 5. Interpretive Tour Routes 52 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations 53 7. Other Interpretive Programs 53 8. Hunting 54 9. Fishing 56 10. Trapping 56 11. Wildlife Observation Nothing to Report 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation Nothing to Report 13. Camping Nothing to Report 14. Picnicking Nothing to Report 15. Off-Road Vehicling Nothing To Report 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation Nothing to Report 17. Law Enforcement 57 18. Cooperating Associates Nothing to Report 19. Concessions Nothing to Report I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES 59 1. New Construction 59 2. Rehabilitation 60 3. Major Maintenance 62 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement 62 • ii I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES : Continued 5. Computer Systems 63 6. Other 63 J. OTHER ITEMS. 63 1. Cooperative Programs 63 2. Other Economic Uses ; 66 3. Items of Interest 66 4. Credits 69 K. FEEDBACK Nothing to Report L. INFORMATION PACKET Inside Back Cover iii 1 A. HIGHLIGHTS 1. Purchase of a portion of the Stelbar Ranches adds 5,014 acres. (Section C.l) 2. New maintenance worker arrives from Missisqquoi NWR. (Section E.l) 3. Three Private Lands projects completed. (Section E.7) 4. Four Colorado Duck Stamp funded wetland development projects begun. (Section 1.7) 5. Owl Mountain Ecosystem Management Projects takes roots. (Section J. 1) 6. MMS FY92 funded equipment finally arrives. (Section 1.4) 7. First documented river otter sighting on the refuge. (Section G.2) 8. Largest wintering elk population ever recorded on the refuge. (Section G.8) B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Overall, the climatic conditions were good in 1993 with relatively mild temperatures and precipitation arriving when we needed it most. The refuge received 11.82 inches of precipitation resulting in excellent habitat conditions. Snowfall measured 55.6 inches in Walden, resulting in an average to good spring runoff. Summer temperatures were several degrees cooler than "normal", resulting in a shorter growing season, while the winter season was near the normal average. The extreme high/low temperatures were 89 and -23 degrees Fahrenheit. Table I. 1993 Weather Data: Walden. Colorado (NOAA) Temperatures Precipitation (inches! (degrees fahrenheit) Nonnal Month 1993 Normal Snow Max. Min. Avg. Average January 0.41 0.51 7.2 40 -14 18.7 15.7 February 0.75 0.46 7.6 40 -23 17.9 18.4 March 0.74 0.61 7.0 61 -14 27.6 24.6 April 1.31 0.87 7.1 64 8 34.8 35.4 May 1.23 1.14 73 16 45.6 45.0 - June 1.76 0.96 1.6 82 29 52.0 53.6 July 0.29 1.06 89 28 55.5 59.0 - August 1.47 1.23 83 26 55.6 56.6 - September 1.20 0.94 78 16 47.8 49.3 - October 1.12 0.68 3.6 73 -10 37.6 39.2 November 1.29 0.52 16.5 50 -20 20.9 26.8 December 0.25 0.51 5.0 44 -19 17.5 18.5 Total 11.82 9.55 55.6 Extremes 89 -23 C. LAND ACQUISITION 1. Fee Title Stelbar Acquisition The proposed Stelbar land acquisition was approved for purchase by the Migratory Bird Commission in March. The actual purchase was finalized on May 26, 1993, completing Phase I of the project. The North Park Wetlands Project was bom at a multi-agency meeting in September, 1990. The primary focus of the meeting was the acquisition of a portion of the Stelbar Ranches (14,470 deeded acres plus associated water rights) which are adjacent to the refuge. The project involves the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), the Colorado Chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) and ranch manager/owner Blaine Evans. Stelbar Ranch was owned by E.B. Shawver and