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Botanical research in the state of Colorado has identified 12 plant species
that are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as threatened
or endangered (USFWS 1993a); and an additional 388 plant species
considered to be of special concern by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the USFWS, and/or the Colorado
Natural Heritage Program (CNHP 1996).
The Colorado Rare Plant Field Guide has been produced through the
efforts of the Colorado Rare Plant Technical Committee, a committee
representing government and private interests, and concerned with
protecting Colorado's flora. The Committee anticipates that a field guide to
Colorado's rarest plants will facilitate the collection of botanical data, be
indispensable to the establishment of conservation priorities, and enable
informed land management decisions.
This first edition of the guide provides a summary of 173 rare plant
species known to occur in Colorado, including all listed threatened and
endangered plant species, all species formerly recognized by the USFWS as
category 1 and category 2 candidates for federal listing (USFWS 1993b),
and all plant species listed by the BLM (BLM 1990a) and the USFS (USFS
1994) as sensitive. For each species, information is presented on
nomenclature, look-alike species, phenology, distribution, habitat, and
references. Photographs of the rare plants and their habitats are included, as
well as technical botanical illustrations showing distinguishing
characteristics. We also present tables that show species distributions
according to USFS, BLM, and National Park Service (NPS) boundaries.
The guide is arranged in a three ring binder, with each page, front and
back, devoted to just one species. This format was chosen to facilitate
future updates to the guide, and to allow users to organize the species in the
guide in a way they find most useful.
Data acquired over more than fifteen years by the Colorado Natural
Areas Program (CNAP), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Colorado
Natural Heritage Program (CNHP), and numerous individuals through field
research, herbarium research, published floras, and scientific literature were
used to produce the species accounts. As new information on rare,
threatened, and endangered species is acquired, these data should be
submitted to CNHP at Colorado State University. The Colorado Natural
Heritage Program serves as the central repository for information on rare
species and natural communities in the state, and welcomes all editorial
comments on the guide.
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