OCR Text |
Show B10 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Vernal Express Ouray National Wildlife refuge holds open house By Kevin Ashby Express Publisher There is not doubt that the refuge is a little out of the way, and it is odd for desert dwellers to think about a short visit to a birds and wetlands refuge. But visitors were welcomed to an informative open house last weekend in Ouray. Saturday marked the 14th annual open house sponsored by the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge that welcomes more than 10,000 visitors a year. "We'll have over 200 today, but we have many more who enjoy our wildlife observation points here," explained Dan Alonso, refuge manager. "Our auto tour takes you into the wetlands at your own leisure." Alonso described the open house as a good way to explain the function of the refuge as a migratory mi-gratory bird sanctuary that was set by congress in 1960. Along with protection, the 12,000-acre refuge also offers opportunities for limited hunting and fishing. Early in the year, because there is not enough water in the Green River, water is brought in from Pelican Lake to accommodate accom-modate the early nesters at the refuge. These would include geese and owls that have already made their nests and hatched offspring by May. "The neotropical song birds are going through their courtship court-ship rituals right now and will be nestingsoon," explained Alonso. "Remember that early morning or evening hours are the best to see what is happening here." Alonso stated that he and his current staff of five have a variety of job descriptions that cover irrigating, mowing, farming, prescribed burning and greeting the visitors. And that's to say nothing of tracking the coming and going wildlife. There are 248 different species spe-cies of birds that have been recorded re-corded on the refuge with many of them repeat visitors. "Very common here, and not so common in other places, are the American and Least Bittern," said Alonso. "This isabird that's usually secret and very private and are viewed easily here because be-cause there are so many." Visitors to the open house had the opportunity to tour the 12,000-acre park and stop at a variety of stations explaining wildlife and refuge practices. Kids of all ages were shown the atlatl or spear thrower that was introduced to North America 12,000 years ago. Participants would load up the spear throwing throw-ing device, spread their feet and arch the spear towards a variety of targets. Visitors had the opportunity to construct birdhouses made for Wrens with a small hole for the entryway. The wren is a cavity nester and if the bordhouses are plaqed in the right locations in the county those who took one home should be able to watch a wren. Travis Anderson brought in some trout from the Jones Hole 7 " : f I Hatchery for visitors. With a lesson on the trout and hatchery, visitors touched and watched trout both in and out of the water. Because only two out of 2,000 trout make it to 4 years old, trout numbers are supplemented in area lakes and streams, the age when they are able to produce eggs used for procreation. Insects native to the refuge are shown in great detail to the visitors. Already the mosquito larvae are present in the water and park officials are planning their first spraying of a natural protein that is used to control the pesky insect. Officials at the refuge work hard to provide the best habitat possible for the wildlife. This entails getting rid of the old marsh undergrowth on a regular basis by using prescribed burns. Visitors were shown an area that was burned only two weeks earlier ear-lier which already showed signs of new growth and a variety of animal life staking claim. Nathan Darnall was a visiting official from Salt Lake who discussed dis-cussed with visitors the variety of songbirds found at the refuge. In two hours he had documented more than 30 different bird species spe-cies while sitting at a table next to the flowing Green River. He also pointed out a porcupine in a nearby tree. Another description was giving giv-ing about the different kinds of beaks on birds and how they are used by the birds. Participants used such things as tongs, tweezers, twee-zers, pliers and salad thongs to see the motion of how birds use beaks to scoop in their food. Other booths included aquatic aquat-ic insects, wetlands, invasive weeds, wetland birds, radio telemetry te-lemetry and a tour of the Ouray National Fish Hatchery that is used to recover and bolster the number offish endangered in the Green and Colorado rivers. The two fish they are specifically spe-cifically working with are the Humpback Chub and Razorback Sucker. pate w w Mi mlmmmk in? ill h H I mm Prescribed burns happen on a regular basis at the refuge. The area pictured was burned two weeks prior and already new growth in and around the ponds can be seen along with a variety of wildlife moving in to stake claim. A, 7 ,' AA.XA i J A ' . . n n I 'f-th 3" . . 7 inn ;,1 ' Visitors were shown first hand how to throw an ancient Atlatl weapon. 9 i f t 1 1 -. ; II"' . - s. .. j I AM tfv' : f - 'I 1 i I Ut" f : 1 . 1 j , j Jr ? i v . -I . .-v ; ;( , ,; ,j l Travii? Andfirsnn hrnimht in Henry Kitchen was caught looking at an explanation of insect some trout from the Jones Hole Over 100 birdhouses were built by visitors. Dace McCormick and Matthew Harris, who is also a larvae aescriDea with large color photos. Hatchery for visitors to see. leuKemia uancer survivor participated irom vernal bcout racK zzy. 1 1 i i. i r r r rr l j i 9 f "vf i r""1" " T-r- '.,X r80l) S J ' ) yr- -..A V- ' . - ? , . . . .,' 2007 Buick LaCrosse v rrr 4 door. Leather Seats. 9RK. J ' N Tir-r-:! ' 1 With Full Factory Warranty! ' -r " . - X -!ia st-Tr'.-; j s; , r -rr-N,., .. jAi.vi! fe-v- . :,k " i i ... ) , tmm I'M M nri liyK ilYfl Trt Uir ... 2008 GMC Yukon XL Dcnali Only 4000 Miles, With Full Factory Warranty! 2004 GMC 12 Ton cxi. uau CoCrCnil 4y4 Antn Air ... ' niKtnmprQ'ic .. .. Center Backs uur&i uoai: X , ' A, : A :a. . p. -' t I .... Factory Service i-Al 2007 Chev Malibu LTZ 4 door, V6, Totally Loaded!, Heated Leather Seats, 26K, With Fuil Factory Warranty! 100,000 MILE g YEAR POWERTRAIN LIMITED WARRANTY Up Every Safe! THE BEST COVERAGE 100,000 -MILE 5YEARS OF COURTESY TRANSPORTATION I . jTj n IN AMERICA. 100,000 MILE oor MoMta an. IJ YEARS OF ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE Whicnever comes lirnt. 2007 Pontiac G6 GT Moon Roof, Cloth seating, 27K With Full Factory Warranty! rorvixixc MOTORSPORTS "If" frf "" T?l lj) m iPJ U lyJ ill Calvin Murray Leon Nielsen Rob Reynolds Doug Murray Open Monday - Friday 8 am to 6 pm, Saturday 9 am to Noon, Service Department Closed Main Office 722-5107, Budget Lot 722-1600 Used Cars & Trucks 722-4100 |