By Carol Gilmore, Colorado Master Gardener

If you are a plant enthusiast and want to learn more about ecosystems, then the Colorado Natural Heritage Program at Colorado State University is for you. This is your chance to contribute scientific data to a statewide database and discover what is in your own back yard. CNHP is conducting a statewide survey in Colorado from 2024 to 2029, and Arapahoe County is a priority for 2025. Their goal is to collect information about plants and animals to inform conservation and recreation strategies.

The CNHP website states that it “tracks and ranks Colorado’s rare and imperiled species and habitats, and provides information and expertise on these topics to promote the conservation of Colorado’s valuable biological resources.” Part of CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources, CNHP strives to monitor natural plant communities from a state to international level.

CNHP was awarded a $7.8 million grant in 2024 from Greater Outdoors Colorado to conduct the study. The study is led by CSU, and they invite community members as well as professional scientists to help collect data on Colorado’s plant and animal life. “Information gathered will provide the first consistent baseline measurement of the state’s biodiversity and will be publicly available through the Colorado Conservation Data Explorer (CODEX) website.”

CNHP partnered with iNaturalist to allow interested community members and citizen scientists to upload their observations, including photos with location coordinates, to the iNaturalist website. Instructions and training are available to help. Note that this must be done on the iNaturalist website using a computer, not a phone.

If you are a plant lover, you will find it endlessly fascinating to scroll through the photos that capture Colorado’s natural life and even more fun to realize anyone, even you and I, can participate in this project. Learn more at https://cnhp.colostate.edu/ourwork/snhs/snhs-engagement/