2020 trends | about the report

There is a critical need for all of us in Boulder county to understand how our ecosystems are changing in order to promote positive actions for the future of our local landscapes and communities.

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities (CSLC) collaborated with the City of Boulder’s Climate Initiatives Division in Fall 2018 to plan and host a one-day gathering on cities, ecosystems and climate change. One outcome of this vibrant and well-attended event was an identified need and motivation to regularly track and communicate the status and trends of Boulder County’s ecosystems and ecosystem services.

Why now?

Boulder County has a long history of community engagement with our local and regional ecosystems. Because our communities are increasingly connected with regional and global dynamics of environmental change, now is a critical moment to both understand and respond to those changes. The CSLC was identified as an ideal entity to engage students, faculty, and community members to collate information from diverse sources to produce the first-of-its-kind “Boulder Ecosystems Trends Report” in Fall 2020.

6 trend categories

Through several public gatherings in 2019-2020, the CSLC brought together CU students, faculty advisors, and community stakeholders to identify data types and sources relevant to current ecosystem status and trends. A long list of potential trends was vetted through community members and local land management staff, with the end result of a prioritized list of six categories of data types to be collated and synthesized for the 2020 trends report.

These six trend categories were chosen based on their relevance to local policy and management, the availability of high-quality data sources to inform the trend, and their direct impact on tracking environmental change. The six categories of trends identified for the 2020 report are: climate, soil health, watershed health, air quality, biodiversity, and urban land cover.

Funding provided by

City of Boulder Climate Initiatives Department

City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks

Boulder County Parks and Open Space Resource Management Division

Boulder County Office of Sustainability, Climate and Resilience

Boulder County Parks and Open Space Foundation

Community Foundation Boulder County

project contributors

Rella Abernathy
Kathleen Alexander
Justin Atherton-Wood
Brian Anacker
Elizabeth Black
Boulder A.I.R. LLC
Boulder County Nature Association
Boulder Parks and Recreation
John Brown
CDPHE Open Data
Cindy Copeland
City of Boulder’s Current Tree Inventory of Trees
City of Boulder’s Open Data Catalog
City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
Colorado Climate Center
Seth Davis
Department of Commerce
Timothy Dunn

Sabre Duren
Michelle Durant
Jessica Egan
David Haines
Tracy Halward
Detlev Helmig
Jeff Herrick
Erik Hinkley
Deb Hummel
Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Steve Jones
Matt Kelsch
Michael Lawlor
Left Hand Watershed Center
Ann Lezberg
Amanda Looze
Valerie Matheson
Diana M. McKnight Group
Jeff Moline
Sheila Murphy

Keith Musselman
National Weather Service
NOAA’s Earth System Research Lab
NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information
Jessica Olson
Candice Owen
Gabrielle Petron
Ellen Pesek
John Potter
Tim Seastedt
Yana Sorokin
Christy Spielman
Cindy Sutter
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Colorado
Bruce Vaughn