Pawnee National Grassland

Background | Criteria | Northwest Colorado | Northeast Colorado
Southwest Colorado | Southeast Colorado

Pawnee National Grassland
Weld County

Size: 193,060 acres

Elevation: 4500 - 5500 feet

Habitats: Primary – grassland

Secondary – open water, rocky arroyos, bluffs, woodland

Ownership: Federal (U.S. Forest Service)

Land Use: Nature and wildlife conservation, hunting/fishing, recreation/tourism, utility/right-of-way, research

IBA Criteria: 1, 2, 3, 4 (waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, landbirds), 5

ABC Status: Globally significant

Site description

Location: Pawnee National Grassland is located in northeastern Colorado, near the town of Briggsdale.

Vegetative/natural features: This shortgrass prairie ecosystem is bordered on the north by the High Plains (500 feet higher) with a transition zone between known as the Chalk Bluffs. Within the shortgrass prairie are the Pawnee Buttes, two 500-foot remnants of the High Plains. The Colorado Native Plant Society has identified several plant communities at the site worthy of special study.

Historic features: The federal government created the Pawnee Grassland during the 1930s Dust Bowl to reclaim land that had been inappropriately farmed. There are numerous pre-historical and historical sites in the area, on both public and private land.

Ornithological Importance

This is one of the main breeding grounds in the world for Mountain Plovers. The Chalk Bluffs area is habitat for many raptor species.

Breeding species:	Average #	Maximum #
Burrowing Owl	50
Mountain Plover	~1500 ~1500
Ferruginous Hawk		6-50
American White Pelican	100
Brewer’s Sparrow Baird’s Sparrow
Swainson’s Hawk	~60+
American Avocet
Northern Harrier	~100
Prairie Falcon
McCown’s Longspur	>3000
Cassin’s Sparrow
Lark Bunting	>5000

Migrant species:	Average #	Maximum #
Sandhill Crane	1000 (spring)
Long-billed Curlew	~20 (spring)
Swainson’s Hawk	>400 (fall)
raptors	>1000 (fall)
shorebirds	>750 (spring)
waterfowl	>2000 (fall)

Wintering species:	Average #	Maximum #
Ferruginous Hawk		2-10

Research and educational activities: The University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service have conducted research at the site for many years.

Conservation/Management Issues

Serious threats:
1. predators (swift fox on Mountain Plover);
2. disturbance to birds (the causes of decline of Mountain Plover and other grassland species is unknown).

Minor threats:
1. development;
2. impact from increasing recreation.

Management details:
The ownership pattern in the Pawnee Grassland is checkered – private and public. The public land is managed under the U.S. Forest Service’s "multiple-use" concept, while surrounding private land is grazed and farmed for wheat, corn, alfalfa, beans, and sunflowers. There are two Colorado Watchable Wildlife sites within the Grassland.