Friends of Mount Evans and Lost Creek Wildernesses Receives Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Volunteer Organization Receives Grant to Assist U.S. Forest Service Manage Invasive Species
Contact: Gordon Brown, FOMELC Marketing, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Evergreen, CO (June 25, 2018) – Friends of Mount Evans and Lost Creek Wildernesses (FOMELC) has received a grant to complete a comprehensive inventory of invasive species in the Mount Evans Wilderness Area. FOMELC was award the Grant from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance (NWSA) funding program. “The NWSA is excited to offer this 5th round of funding to support the volunteer nonprofit organizations and agency partners who are stewarding their local public lands. … Americans are lucky to have such diverse and beautiful wilderness areas across our country but we are even luckier to have caring stewards who give their time and their energy and their love to this unique American resource.” – Randy Welsh, NWSA Wilderness Stewardship Performance Project Manager.

The comprehensive inventory of invasive species will provide the Forest Service critical information for enhancing the wilderness characteristics of Mount Evans through the control of those species and improve of native species population. An invasive species is one that is not native to Colorado and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause harm to the local environment or human health. FOMELC has partnered with the Forest Service since 2005 in developing an effective program for the control and eradication of invasive weeds – Orange hawkweed, Yellow toadflax, Canada thistle, Musk thistle and Common Mullein. This summer’s project will identify if there are non-native species that could be considered invasive and should be monitored or control immediately. Mount Evans Wilderness with its proximity to Denver is one of the closed designated wilderness areas to any major metropolitan center. The ease of access to the wilderness provides many opportunities for the inadvertent introduction of non-native species.

Utilizing NWSA grant funds, FOMELC has created a paid internship position to research non-plant invasive species and enhance the existing weed eradication program. By the end of this season nearly 100% of the priority areas for noxious weeds in the Wilderness will have been inventoried. Sean Uhle, a 2018 graduating senior at Colorado State University has accepted the 10-week summer internship. In December, Sean will graduate with B.S. in Rangeland Ecology with a concentration in Ecological Restoration. Prior to beginning his undergraduate Sean has served in the US Navy. During the summer of 2017, he worked for the US Forest Service.

FOMELC, based in Evergreen, Colorado, was formed in 2004 as a 501 c(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer organization operating in partnership with the US Forest Service. 72 volunteers strong, members engage in a full range of activities: trail patrols, trail clearing and maintenance, camp site inventory and rehabilitation, invasive weed surveys and control, outreach and wilderness education. For more information about FOMELC, visit www.FOMELC.org .