Rocky Flats

National Wildlife Refuge

Vision & Issues Workshop Summary Report

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

Report Contents

Colorado’s Newest Refuge..........................................

Planning for a Refuge ..................................................

Developing a Refuge Vision & 

Goal Statements.............................................................

Draft Refuge Vision.......................................................

Draft Refuge Goals........................................................

The Next Steps...............................................................

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3

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An Open Space Link

For the future visitor to Rocky Flats, the Refuge

location is remarkable because it offers striking

views of both the Rocky Mountains and the

Denver skyline. With nearly 50,000 acres of

publicly owned land surrounding Rocky Flats,

the Refuge is also a key component of the

Metropolitan region's open space network. The

substantial mass of contiguous land encompassing

the Refuge will provide wildlife with a habitat

corridor that extends from the Continental

Divide to the prairie. 

Rocky Flats History

From 1952 to 1992, the Department of Energy

used the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology

Site (Site) to house facilities for the production

of nuclear weapons components. Manufacturing

at the Rocky Flats Site was conducted in the

400-acre Industrial Area. An approximate

6,000-acre expanse of grasslands called the

Buffer Zone surrounds the Industrial Area. The

Buffer Zone has been left largely undisturbed

ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

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over the years resulting in the preservation of

native flora and fauna throughout the site.

With the end of the Cold War in 1992, weapons

production at Rocky Flats was terminated and

the Department of Energy (DOE) began focusing on the cleanup and closure of the Site.

Sometime after 2006, it is anticipated that all

nuclear materials and wastes will have been

removed from the Site, all buildings demolished, 

and any remaining contamination will have been

remediated and will comply with the appropriate

health and safety standards. The

Rocky Flats National Wildlife

Refuge Act of 2001 stipulates that

upon completion of the cleanup

and closure tasks, most of the

Rocky Flats site will be transferred from the DOE to the U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service (Service)

and will become a national

wildlife refuge. DOE will retain

primary jurisdiction over portions of the site and will continue

to have stewardship responsibility of all land in their control.

There is more to the history of

Rocky Flats than the Cold War.

For example, the settlement of the western frontier represents an early chapter in the history of

Rocky Flats. The area known as Lindsay Ranch

in the Rock Creek drainage of the Rocky Flats

site was homesteaded by the Scott family in

1868. Within 50 years of its original settlement,

the Scott property transferred hands and,

through consolidation, was enlarged to over 640

acres. In 1941, G. Lindsay purchased the ranch

and surrounding lands. Ten years later, in 1951,

the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission purchased

Lindsay Ranch barn and homestead in Rock Creek © RFETS
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP)

& Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

A Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) is a

15-year plan that will provide long-range guidance and management direction for the Rocky

Flats NWR. 

In summary, the Rocky Flats' CCP will:

 Outline a vision for the Refuge

 Guide management decisions 

 Outline goals, objectives and strategies to

achieve the Refuge's visions and purpose 

 Provide other agencies and the public with

an understanding of the management

strategies to be implemented

 Describe the desired future condition of

the Refuge 

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a

complementary document to the CCP.

Required by the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) to examine a range of federal

actions and their potential effects on the environment, the Rocky Flats EIS requires a comprehensive inventory and analysis of the Refuge's

resources. Qualities build upon the

Congressional findings. They are the characteristics and features of Rocky Flats that make

it special and worthy of refuge status. Issues

are defined as management concerns that need

to be addressed during the refuge planning

process. Issue identification requires consideration of management challenges both within the

Refuge and in relation to adjacent communities

and the public.

ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

Rocky Flats NWR’S Legislated Purposes:

1. Restoring and preserving native ecosystems

2. Providing habitat for, and population

management of, native plants and migratory and

resident wildlife

3. Conserving threatened and endangered

species [including species that are candidates

for listing under the Endangered Species Act

of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.)]

4. Providing for opportunities for compatible

scientific research. 

Congressional Findings for Rocky Flats NWR:

1. The majority of the Rocky Flats site has

generally remained undisturbed since its

acquisition in 1951 by the Federal government.

2. Increasing growth and development within

Denver's metropolitan region reduces the

amount of open space and, thereby, diminishing

Front Range mountain vistas for many metropolitan Denver communities. 

3. The Rocky Flats site provides habitat for

many wildlife species, including a number of

threatened and endangered species, and is

marked by the presence of rare xeric tallgrass

prairie plant communities.

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Prairie Dog © Michael Mauro
A Unique Refuge [QUALITIES]

The following were identified as important qualities of the Rocky Flats NWR:

Natural Resource Qualities

 Healthy upland shrubland communities in

Rock Creek and Woman Creek drainages

 Preble's meadow jumping mouse (a federally

listed threatened species) habitat

 Intact native plant communities 

 Soils that support a xeric tallgrass prairie in

an area where rainfall is usually not sufficient

to sustain such plant communities 

 Mesic mixed grassland 

 Year-round deer habitat 

Site Qualities

 An adjacent wildlife habitat corridor extending from the prairie to the Continental Divide

 Nearly 50,000 acres of open space surrounding

the site

 Mountain and prairie ecotone

 Proximity to many people in surrounding

urban areas

 Unobstructed views of both

downtown Denver and the

Rocky Mountains

 Proximity to two major universities that can use the site for

scientific research

 Preserved habitat and scenic

open space on the edge of

Denver's rapidly expanded

Metropolitan region

Management Qualities

 A high level of public interest in the Rocky

Flats project 

 Many potential partners

 A collection of resource and planning

experts at the nearby Arsenal NWR that

can be called upon to lend assistance

Public Use Qualities

 Striking views of the surrounding landscape

that are likely to attract visitors 

 Wildlife diversity for environmental education

and interpretation programs

 A scenic open space enjoyed by visitors and

passerby's 

Cultural Resource Qualities 

 Lindsay Ranch historic structures

 Cold War history

 An Apple orchard and old stagecoach site

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VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

Burning helps maintain the ecological health of the prairie © Fred Krampetz, USFWS
8 ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is a healthy

expanse of grasslands, shrublands and wetlands

including rare xeric tallgrass prairie where natural

processes support a broad range of native wildlife.

The Refuge provides striking mountain and prairie

views and opportunities to appreciate refuge

resources in an urbanized area through compatible

wildlife-dependent recreation and education.

Working with others, the Refuge conserves the

unique biotic communities and sustains wildlife

populations at the interface of mountains and

prairies on Colorado's Front Range.

The DRAFT Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Vision 

Looking 20 years into the future....
Safety Goal: 

The Service will conduct Refuge operations and manage

public access safely and in accordance with the final Rocky

Flats' cleanup decision documents. 

In response to concerns about the cleanup and closure of the Refuge, the safety goal demonstrates the Service’s

commitment to providing a safe visitor experience. The Service will comply with the Department of Energy's

cleanup decision documents and abide by all institutional controls. 

3

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VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

Effective and Open Communication: 

The Service will proactively communicate with the public

and stakeholders about Refuge programs and management

decisions as well as the mission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Public outreach will be an important component of Refuge management. The Service intends to keep the public

informed about Refuge news and plans to educate Refuge visitors and surrounding communities about the Service

and the NWR System. 

DRAFT Refuge Goals (cont.)

4

Refuge wildflowers © RFETS
ROCKY FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

VISION & ISSUES WORKSHOP

The Next Steps

Engaging the public...

With a draft vision statement and a preliminary

list of goals in hand, the CCP/EIS core production

team will turn to the public for their input. The

core team will conduct public scoping meetings

in which they will educate the public about the

CCP/EIS process and the Refuge's resources.

The meetings will also provide a forum for the

public to provide feedback on the draft vision

and goals. 

The Service is interested in learning more about

the public’s concerns and will encourage meeting

participants and all other interested parties to

expand on the issues and qualities lists. The

public will be asked to share their ideas about

what makes the Refuge an asset for their community and how they think its should be managed in the future to serve both wildlife and people. 

Planning for the future...

The next phase of the CCP/EIS process will focus

on the development of alternative management

strategies. After analyzing comments gathered

during the public scoping phase, members of

the Service staff, partnering agencies and the

core production team will reconvene in order

to develop several planning alternatives for the

Refuge. Alternatives will address conservation

techniques and Refuge management actions

as well as compatible wildlife-dependent

recreation opportunities.

Once draft management alternatives have been

produced, the core team will again turn to the

public for their input. During an Alternatives

Workshop, the Service will present the alternatives to the public and will solicit their feedback

and ideas for the further refinement of the various strategies. 

As the planning process unfolds over the next

three years, the Service will return to the draft

vision statement outlined in this document.

While the statement today seems like a fair

expression of what the Refuge will be like in the

future and what it will offer visitors and wildlife,

the vision of Rocky Flats NWR may continue to

evolve over time. Public comments, innovative

ideas and new partnerships will continue to

shape the refinement of the vision statement

and, in turn, guide the development of the CCP. 

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The three-year CCP/EIS schedule
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Comprehensive Conservation Plan

Building 121

Commerce City, CO 80022 

303/289 0980

rockyflats@fws.gov

http://rockyflats.fws.gov

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

http://www.fws.gov

http://www.r6.fws.gov/larp

For Refuge Information

1 800/344 WILD

September 2002