The Colorado Prairie Initiative began humbly in spring of 2014, when a group of law students, with more passion that nonprofit experience, decided it was time to take action to restore the great prairie ecosystems of eastern Colorado.
Mission Statement
“Real freedom lies in wilderness, not in civilization”
-Charles Lindbergh
Purpose
The purposes of the Colorado Prairie Initiative are to aid the restoration of the prairie ecosystems across the eastern portion of Colorado; to protect and conserve native species of wild prairie plants and animals; to make the prairie ecosystem more accessible to the public; to begin the long and difficult task of restoring the grasslands to their former vitality and beauty; and to use all legal means to carry out these objectives.
Beliefs
The mighty grasslands once stretched across the middle of the country, from Mexico to Canada. Home to untold millions of bison, elk, and antelope, the seemingly boundless prairies came to symbolize the intrepid spirit of the new America. But politics and agriculture devastated much of the great plains, as the bison herds were wiped out, cattle were introduced to and overgrazed the rangelands, native grasses were plowed under to make way for crops, and aquifers were depleted to irrigate dry climates not suited for farming. Eventually the Great Depression necessitated the buy back of some of the heartland of America by the government, which led to the creation of the National Grasslands.
But these National Grasslands failed to materialize as the bastion of prairie restoration they could have been. It is beyond debate that the rangelands are in poor condition, and private landowners and not-for-profit organizations have emerged as playing an ever larger role in their recovery.
Colorado Prairie Initiative exists to aid that recovery effort within Colorado, in the hopes that future generations may be able to enjoy what remains of the American prairies. Perhaps one day the thundering of countless bison hooves will shake the Heartland once again. Prairie life provides the best of what nature has to offer: power, resilience, unspeakable beauty. Let’s ensure we treat it such that future generations will judge us favorably.
Goals
- To restore Colorado’s great prairies and grasslands
- To foster the creation of healthy soils and robust vegetative communities
- To return wild bison herds to Colorado’s public land
- To generate community support for prairie restoration
- To organize volunteer efforts to conserve and restore prairie lands
- To cooperate with local governments and other non-profit organizations to coordinate prairie conservation and restoration efforts
Staff Bios
Meet our Board of Directors:
Trevor is the founder and President of the Colorado Prairie Initiative. After earning a writing degree at Northern Michigan University, he moved to Montana where he worked as a hunting guide in the plains of northeastern Montana. While chasing mule deer and antelope through the sage, Trevor fell in love with the expansive grasslands of the American heartland, and eventually decided to pursue a career in public land law. While at the University of Colorado, Trevor has participated in environmental student groups and serves as the Executive Editor of the Environmental Law Review, for which he wrote an article about the role of private conservation efforts in prairie restoration. He has worked for the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as well as a private law firm. After graduating, Trevor hopes to continue to pursue a career in public lands and natural resources law. Harmon is a CPI Board member with a background in city, regional, and environmental planning. In the last ten years, he directed the update of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s regional plan and served as the head planner for Douglas County, Nevada, updating the county’s master and open space plan documents while also drafting numerous ordinances that preserve ranchland while increasing the economic vitality and enhancing the built environment of the Carson Valley’s small towns. Harmon and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado in 2012 so that Harmon could attend law school at the University of Colorado. He has interned for a Federal District Court judge, is an editor of the Environmental Law Review, and currently works as a law clerk for a midsize law firm in Boulder. He intends to specialize in land use, environmental, and public interest law after graduation. Paul has a life-long interest prairie conservation and habitat restoration. He grew up on a small southeastern Nebraska farm that still has draws that have never been plowed. He has lived most of his life on Midwestern land that was historically prairie, with the exception of a few years spent in graduate school earning a Masters degree in trombone performance. Paul attends law school at the University of Colorado, where he has focused on Energy and Environmental Law. He is the Managing Editor of the Environmental Law Review, and has competed in several mock trial and moot court competitions, including the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. Paul has also written about agriculture policy, and his paper arguing that federal crop insurance policy should consider the predicted effects of climate change will be published in the fall of 2014. Paul has worked as an intern at the Department of Energy in Golden, CO, the Byron R. White Center for the study of American Constitutional Law, the Boulder County Courts, and the Denver District Attorney’s Office appellate and county court divisions. After graduation, Paul hopes to work as a trial attorney in Colorado. Meryl has a varied background in natural resource management, outdoor alternative education and veterinary medicine. Growing up in Detroit, she fell in love with the untouched acres of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She attended Northern Michigan University, earning a bachelor’s degree in outdoor recreation leadership and management, with the skills to connect people to the environment that surrounds them. After graduation, she moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota to work as a veterinary technician. Impressed with the green spaces afforded by the Twin Cities metro area, Meryl interned with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, combining her love of animals, wildlife management and public health. Traveling to the Dakotas and Montana has reinforced Meryl’s desire to educate others about the conservation of these wild lands. Meryl will be starting veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in the fall of 2014. Upon graduation, she hopes to pursue a career with a mixed animal practice or in public health. Kassandra is attending the University of Colorado to receive her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology with a minor in computer science. She also works at a local software company. Spending much of her life abroad gave her the opportunity to recognize the importance of land conservation. Upon moving to Colorado she fell in love with the terrain and climbing opportunities. She is passionate about many conservation efforts, one being the grasslands. Upon graduation she hopes to go into cancer research. Dayton studied Conservation Biology and Natural Resources Management at Colorado State University. He grew up along the Colorado Front Range enjoying camping, backpacking, running, hiking, and climbing. Work experience includes policy and GIS work for The Wilderness Society, and helping implement a fuels program focusing on wildlife conservation on private land in northern Thailand. He loves tree identification, is passionate about conservation in collaboration with working landscapes, and hopes to attend law school in the future. Courtney was born and raised in the mountains of Colorado, and thinks baby bison are pretty adorable. After graduating with a Studio Art degree from the Colorado College, Courtney further developed her design skills and began doing freelance logo and layout projects. In addition to freelancing, Courtney also works in the art department of a sportswear company and displays artwork locally on a regular basis. Craig is a middle school STEM teacher in the Chicago suburbs. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Iowa and has been the treasurer for his teacher’s union for the past five years. In addition to his teaching duties, Craig also works to further incorporate technology into the classroom and train other teachers in its use. He is an avid sports fan and coaches his school’s basketball team. On his visits to Colorado, Craig enjoys hiking and sampling the offerings of the local breweries.
Other Staff