Clare Tone

Happy Trails – Lagerman Agricultural Preserve

Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel It’s taken more than 25 years for Boulder County and the City of Boulder to cobble together a complex assemblage of nine properties comprising more than 2100 acres, now known as the Lagerman Agricultural Preserve – but it’s done. And the new trail system, comprising the existing 1.6 miles at Lagerman Reservoir and 4.9 miles at AHI (the former “Double Dove”) is now open. Park at the P shown on the attached map at Lagerman Reservoir, on the south side of Pike Road. This trailhead parking facility has a shelter, picnic tables and a boat ramp, as well as 27 vehicle spaces and 5 designated pull-through Horse Trailer/Boat spaces (!). For a short ride with amazing panorama views of the Continental Divide, proceed clockwise around the lake. Be aware that the western half of this trail is closed seasonally from April 1- August 31 for various bird species; the 2012 management plan included many comments from the public requesting that the seasonal closure be lifted, but the county decided to continue it “at this time” (meaning that if enough additional comments are received the decision might be reversed). As you ride across the dam, we hope you will appreciate the new spillway trail bypass that makes this trail a safer experience for everyone, especially equestrians. The Management Plan calls for another trail, approximately 1.25 miles long, that will connect Lagerman Reservoir south to Oxford Road. Stay tuned for that development, or help make it a reality sooner by lobbying for it with county […]

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Rabbit Mountain Open Space

archives, Archives-Trails History /

By Suzanne Webel Prologue, written in October 2017. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time (again) learning about elk, this time in the context of Rabbit Mountain. In the past few years a growing herd of elk has decided that Rabbit Mountain is a great place to hang out. In spite of Boulder County Parks and Open Space’s mission of providing a haven for wildlife with no hunting, Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) has decided there are too many elk. So they imposed an elk hunt that will close the park to the public for half of every week, for half of every year, so that two hunters a week can have the entire park to themselves while they “harvest” a couple dozen animals a year. The theory is that hunting will inconvenience the elk into migrating off Rabbit Mountain. Whether trails actually inconvenience wildlife seems to be a perennial debate. Over the years we have asked for new trails on many BCPOS parks, and been told repeatedly that trails inconvenience wildlife so we can’t have more trails. Here, we suggested that staff should build at least the trails that have already been approved, especially if the goal is to inconvenience the elk. The first Rabbit Mountain management plan was written in 1984, when the park consisted of about 560 acres, and the plan promised some really nice trails. One short trail was built. By 1995 when the next management plan was written, the park had grown to more than 2400 acres, and more trails were

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Add a Serving of Caution to that Tender Spring Grass

Community News /

By Dr. Juliet Getty Spring is almost upon us in most of the country, so it’s time to revisit that critical topic: spring grazing. Transitioning a horse from hay to pasture must be handled with care; this point is non-negotiable. For every horse, a gradual change from hay to grass is required to allow the digestive system to adapt, but for the insulin-resistant horse, grazing time and duration can make the difference between soundness and a disabling condition like laminitis. This time of year can be a test of patience for horse—and owner. The horse may be pawing at the gate to get to the first taste of tender spring grass, yet the owner must pay close attention to making the transition safe and healthful. The first spring sprouts are actually lower in sugars and starch (non-structural carbohydrates—NSC) because they use all that energy to promote their own rapid growth. As the leaves form, the overall sugar and starch content increases, making it especially tempting. Regardless of the growth stage, quantities should be monitored because horses crave fresh grass and will eat volumes of it, making their overall NSC consumption really high—dangerously high for horses who are overweight, cushingoid, or who have experienced insulin-related laminitis. Temperature and sunlight play a major role in the amount of NSC accumulation. To be safe, here are the rules: When the night temperature is below 40 degrees F, the grass is too high in NSC. Once it gets above 40 degrees F at night, the lowest NSC level is before

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