In 2024, Colorado passed House Bill 24-1117 which placed the management of invertebrates and rare plants under CPW’s wildlife umbrella.
Invertebrates include all species without a backbone, including many familiar insects such as butterflies and bumblebees and many other species. The bill defined rare plants to mean a plant species that is indigenous to the State of Colorado and that is at risk of extinction or elimination across the entirety of their distribution due to restricted range, few populations or occurrences, steep declines or severe threats.
In the next two episodes of this podcast, we are going to dive more into CPW’s management of invertebrates and rare plants by talking with the experts now on CPW’s team to make sure the state has a cohesive plan to manage our ecosystems.
While Colorado may have been behind some other states when it comes to legislative authority over invertebrates and rare plants, CPW is running fast and looking to be a leader in that space. But it’s a really big job.
Previously, CPW managed 960 wildlife species. In Colorado, there are roughly 1,000 different native bee species alone, and that’s just one aspect of the invertebrate and pollinator community. Of those bees, we have 25 different bumblebee species, with 20% of those currently under federal consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
In this episode, we are going to start by talking about our invertebrates. But that is such a broad topic, we’ve decided to home in on bee species as we chat with Invertebrate and Rare Plant Program Manager Hayley Schroeder and Pollinator Program Conservation Manager Adrian Carper.
It’s time to pollinate your mind and learn why you should care about the state’s bee populations and what makes some of these so unique. Soon, you’ll know they are every bit as charismatic as many of the state’s famed wildlife species.
Learn more about Colorado’s Invertebrates and Bees
View the Colorado Department of Natural Resources’ Native Pollinating Insect Health Study.
Podcast hosted by Regional Public Information Officers John Livingston and Kara Van Hoose. Show edited by Ted Mitchell. Art19 is the host platform, and people can also find the podcast online at https://art19.com/shows/colorado-outdoors
