Boulder County’s population continues to grow, but the counties’ Parks and Open Space staff annually honors locals who are doing their best to preserve or allow access to the wilderness.
This year, among the achievements announced earlier this month as part of the Land Conservation Awards was the patience and generosity of Lowell and Diane Dodge. Beginning in 2013, the couple has allowed the land around their single-family home to become a part of the wilderness, according to a post on the Land Conservation Awards webpage. Located northwest of Hygiene, a portion of their 40-acre property was first placed under a conservation easement plan in 1982.
“It’s kind of funny the way things shaped up,” Lowell Dodge said. “We had a poison ivy problem. The guy who came to get rid of the poison ivy had a background in ecology. He said, ‘You have a great piece of land here. You could be doing a whole lot with it to make it better for animals.’ The first thing he said was, ‘You know you don’t have to mow everything that you’re mowing?’ I come from the East and my first job was mowing lawns. It didn’t take too long for him to convince me to mow half of what I was mowing.”
The two men took it upon themselves to draw up a plan that eventually included seven “zones,” each altered to fit the local landscape. After completing construction of their home, the Dodges promptly restored the land around the construction site and then implemented an ecological enhancement plan. The goal was to preserve the existing wildlife habitats and create new ones.
“It’s definitely based on what the animals around here like to eat, and places they can nest and hang out,” Dodge said. “Everything we plant, with one or two exceptions, has been growing in this area for at least a couple of centuries. I’ve been into this all my life. So when we got an opportunity to look at this property, bells were ringing in my head about what a good place it would be.”
Seven years later, the Dodges are seeing the results. An elderly giant snapping turtle, bobcats, elk, foxes, hawks and other visitors have found room to roam on their landscape located between Longmont and Lyons.
“It is always such an honor to bestow these awards on individuals who display the best in volunteerism and generosity in their dedication to agriculture, land conservation and the public enjoyment of natural spaces,” Boulder County Commissioner Deb Gardner stated in a news release. “Through their hard work and teaching of others, their broad subject knowledge and expertise, and in some cases, their critical donations of land, these awardees are helping to preserve existing farmland and wildlife habitats, create new natural landscapes, improve the overall ecological functions and diversity of land in Boulder County, and add to the public education and appreciation of land conservation for generations to come.”
Other recipients of awards include Paul Lev-Ary, who donated around two acres for a bigger parking area at the Anne U. White Trailhead. The original lot was destroyed by massive flooding in September 2013. Rob Alexander and Gedeon Lafarge each received awards for hundreds of hours volunteering, leading educational workshops and mentoring teens about wilderness management.
According to the county, the 2020 winners will be honored along with the 2021 winners, in person, on April 20, at an awards ceremony in Longmont.
“The land itself is very inspiring around here, in terms of wanting to do right by it,” Dodge said. “There is a very close link to the survival of the planet. A lot of what I’m doing is designed to soak up carbon and slow down climate change. Everything in the ecosystem is tied to everything else.”
