Annual Wildlife Closure

The SSB is sensitive to the seasonal wildlife closures which occur annually in the mountains near Boulder. If you intend to fly out of Boulder during the spring and summer you should be aware of this information and be a good neighbor in helping our feathered friends. Please review the map in the SSB flight shack before flying.

Last Update - February, 2006

In Effect from February 1 to July 31

Boulder OSMP raptor closures are over for 2006.

St. Vrain Eagle Cam
The Fort St. Vrain Eagle Cam features the bald eagle nest at Xcel Energy's Fort St. Vrain Power Station in Platteville, CO. Mountain Standard (MST), is used for these images. If the picture appears dark, possibly mr. sun has gone to sleep.

Who
In order to protect nesting birds of prey, the City of Boulder Open Space Department and the City of Boulder Mountain Parks Division, in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Boulder County Nature Association, have set up annual closures of areas around the Flatirons and Boulder Reservoir. To read how successful this program has been in 2005 click here.

What
This to protect a number of birds of prey during their nesting season, including prairie falcons, peregrine falcons, and golden eagles. The primary concern is disturbance of nest sites by ground bound folks, but the SSB has worked for several years to limit potential disturbance caused by over flights of gliders and towplanes. For more City of Boulder closure information and maps click here.

Where
The areas of concern to us as pilots are highlighted on the map accompanying this article (See the map in the SSB flight shack or see the closure maps here) Gliders are asked to maintain a minimum clearance of 1000 feet from the indicated ridge lines. The lower areas indicated should also be given the above clearances. Tow planes are asked to keep well clear of these areas as powered aircraft are especially disturbing to the birds. Note that the map is not inclusive; for clarity I've omitted a number closures lower down which are not likely to be of concern to us; if someone does get close to these, then that pilot has other, more serious, problems to deal with. Anyone who wishes to see copies of the complete closure notices should contact me.

When
The closures are scheduled to be in effect from February 1 to July 31. As a practical matter, the closures are generally ended prior to July 31 by notification. It is difficult to say how much our efforts have helped, but the last several nesting seasons have produced a lot of fledglings. I hope everyone will continue to cooperate with the closures.

There are two local organizations that also support local raptor preservation. These are the Birds of Prey Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.

Submitted by Denis Michaud, the SSB's liaison with the City of Boulder Open Space Department and the City of Boulder Mountain Parks Division.

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