CPW brings pronghorn experts to Colorado Springs for international workshop
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – More than 130 pronghorn biologists and wildlife managers from across the western U.S. and Canada are gathered in Colorado Springs this week to share research and address challenges facing one of North America’s most distinctive native species.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hosting the 31st Biennial Pronghorn Workshop, sanctioned by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Aug. 17-20. The workshop brings together leading pronghorn researchers and managers to exchange research findings, management strategies and ideas for addressing emerging issues across the species’ range. The gathering began in 1965 as the Antelope States Workshop.
“This workshop gives pronghorn biologists and managers an opportunity to learn from one another and work through issues that extend beyond state and international boundaries,” said Andy Holland, CPW Big Game Manager and conference planning committee chair. “The professional relationships we build here are among its greatest benefits because they strengthen collaboration long after the workshop ends.”
The workshop, hosted at the Great Wolf Lodge, features presentations Tuesday and Thursday and a field visit Wednesday highlighting pronghorn habitat, wildlife connectivity and land-use challenges along Colorado’s front range and eastern plains.
Colorado Springs offers a fitting setting for the workshop. The CPW Southeast Region manages 12 pronghorn herds containing approximately 40 percent of Colorado’s pronghorn population. Although some herds are experiencing challenges related to persistent drought, others remain strong.
“Pronghorn are an iconic plains species, and southeast Colorado supports a significant portion of the state’s population,” Holland said. “Hosting the workshop here allows us to showcase successful herds while having honest conversations about the pressures affecting pronghorn across their range.”
Among the workshop’s priorities are maintaining habitat connectivity and migration routes, addressing habitat loss associated with energy and residential development and understanding how drought and fluctuating moisture levels affect habitat conditions and fawn production. Some herds must move between seasonal ranges to survive, but highways, fences and development can restrict those movements. Seasonal changes in precipitation also can affect the availability and quality of pronghorn habitat.
Wednesday’s field visit offers participants a firsthand look at those challenges and some of the partnerships working to address them.
The tour includes the Greenland Wildlife Overpass along Interstate 25, where representatives from CPW, the Colorado Department of Transportation and Douglas County Division of Open Space and Natural Resources will discuss the crossing and its role in reconnecting wildlife habitat on both sides of the highway. Participants also will learn how conserved open space near Greenland supports broader efforts to maintain east-west wildlife movement.
The group also will visit Castlewood Canyon State Park to learn about Colorado’s state park system and eastern plains pronghorn habitat. Other portions of the tour will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with energy and residential development in wildlife habitat.
Along the way, CPW staff will discuss pronghorn management, partnerships with landowners and programs including Ranching for Wildlife and the Rookie Sportsperson Program. The tour also will highlight swift fox conservation and other wildlife-management work underway in eastern Colorado.
Native to the grasslands and sagebrush country of western North America, pronghorn are the continent’s fastest land mammal and the second-fastest in the world behind the cheetah. They are also the only surviving member of their biological family, Antilocapridae, after related species disappeared around the end of the last ice age.
“They are a fascinating species with a unique evolutionary history,” Holland said. “Bringing together the people who study and manage them helps ensure pronghorn remain part of western landscapes far into the future.”
Media availability: On Thursday, Aug. 20, the conference hosts a media availability from 8:30 to 10 a.m. News media interested in attending should RSVP to [email protected] by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19. Registered media will be provided the event location and interview time.
B-Roll video and still photos linked here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WrBKAVJiwecXkouTO4sTyO-U15ATgDnH?usp=sharing
Note: All imagery courtesy of CPW; Photographer names linked to image titles.
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