The wee purple streak catches Ed Gorman’s eye.
No larger than a couple of bootprints, a small violet patch springs back and forth in the breeze. Sunken low, it rests just under the surface amid a sea of fading green and brown vegetation.
The strings of curiosity pull on Ed’s mind. He must know what it is.
Ed wades through the snarl of expired pigweed and kochia. He slips past a large anthill and tilts forward for a closer look. Not far behind, Peyton Burt, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife habitat biologist, makes her way through the cracking and crunching jungle.
“Oh! It looks like a Rocky Mountain bee plant,” Peyton exclaims.
“Yep, it is. Just a little behind everything else,” Ed confirms.
For Ed Gorman, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s small game manager, it’s a bit of a surprise to see it in full bloom during early October. But he’s not complaining. Stumbling upon the little purple blotch tells him everything he needs to know about the Corners for Conservation (Corners) property sprawled out before him.
The late-blooming Rocky Mountain bee plant indicates this is a healthy field. Though, it’s not the only sign.
“Now there’s switchgrass that went to seed this year, its first year. So that was planted in April, it’s already matured and went to seed,” Ed says.
With the toe of his boot he lightly bumps a spindly clump of stems and leaves, neatly tucked under the skeleton of a large kochia weed. For the switchgrass, this is a bit of a backup role. In due time, it will be soaking up the limelight and the kochia will be long gone.
Fall is settling in on the Eastern Plains, and Corners for Conservation properties like this one are going through a spectacular transformation. These pockets of habitat are entering a new phase of their lifecycle. In return, they offer up a whole new suite of benefits to the land and the wildlife around them.
The field that Ed and Peyton are standing in right now is what Ed calls a Phase 0.5 field. It’s going into its first fall. Over the next few years it will be going through a rather radical transformation. This is just the first stage.
As summer fades, the once-abundant wildflowers drift into dormancy (with the exception of a few late-bloomers). Gone for now are the benefits to pollinating insects and migrating songbirds, who have since moved south.
The weeds that tangle these early-phase Corners properties wither away, too. Native warm-season grasses like the switchgrass go to seed (drop their seeds ahead of fall), preparing to take on a more prominent role next spring.
The first act for this field is over, and it went exactly as planned.
“So you can see, looking around, the process is well on its way. There’s patches of grass everywhere, little sprigs of grass and forbs,” Ed says, scanning the property.
Ed and Peyton are standing atop a small rise at the crest of the field. It’s a warm morning. A lone cricket chirping underfoot punctuates the conversation.
“Next year there will be less weeds and different weeds. Mare’s tail instead of kochia. By year three, this will be mostly grass,” Ed adds.
This Corner spent the summer serving as wonderful pollinator and songbird habitat. Now it’s about to serve ring-necked pheasants, rabbits, deer and more through the colder months.
Ed is impressed by what he sees here. To most, it’s likely just a tousle of nasty weeds with a few bright spots of life, which is far from the truth.
It’s a sparkling treasure trove of food, shelter and space for ring-necked pheasants and other game animals as winter creeps closer.
“This is what it’s supposed to look like,” Ed says confidently.
Ed and Peyton hop back into Ed’s truck. This strip of weeds on the edge of a yet-to-be-harvested corn field is only the first of many stops today.
The bouncing, rattling washboard orchestra that is Ed’s truck slowly falls quiet. He guides the vehicle off the county road and onto a softer, sandier farm road.
He doesn’t announce it over a loudspeaker. There is no special entrance. There’s only a subtle stack of orange and white signs on a rusty fencepost. The second stop for the day is just ahead. Ed and Peyton bail out of the truck shortly after hitting the top of a knoll. Ed leans on the tailgate while Peyton moseys out into the field.
In front of her is a lofty grass clump. It’s stemmy, with plump golden tops. Peyton reaches out and runs her fingers over the seed head. She gently strips away some blonde pods.
“This tall grass right here is yellow indiangrass. It’s got a real fluffy seed to it,” Peyton says.
In her palm a few tufty seeds churn around before the breeze sends them farther out into the field.
“We’re starting to get into that time of year where you can decipher grasses a lot easier because they start to turn different colors,” Peyton says.
Beyond Peyton, nearly 60 acres of rolling farm country sits in a large golden square. It’s bordered by corn and wheat fields and rolling sandy hills. Tall clumps of yellow indiangrass dot the scene, and waist-high weeds carpet the field. Here, the native grasses like switchgrass, indiangrass and others are starting to overpower the weeds.
There’s more depth to the landscape at this Corner. It’s maturing. There’s deeper flaxen hues to it. A subtle change to the color palette reflecting a properly aging property.
Where Peyton let the seeds drift from her palm is a Corners project that’s between two and three years old. It’s transitioning from the early stages of succession (types of plant growth and variety of species in a location) into the middle stages. It’s right in the sweet spot of providing benefits for pollinators, songbirds, game birds and more.
“So there’s a window in there, say one to three years, that it’s really meeting all their needs in one spot. As you get beyond three it starts to slant towards the winter survival and hunting habitat,” Ed says.
This field is heading that way, like it’s supposed to. As existing Corners change with the seasons and years, it begets the need to keep planting new Corners. For Ed, that’s far from being an issue.
Year-round, he handles phone calls from interested landowners. The 57-acre project he’s looking at now is the perfect example of how partnership between CPW and farmers benefits everyone.
The farmer who owns the field Ed and Peyton are looking at lives well south of the parcel. Like with any agricultural operation, a couple items are at the top of mind for the farmer: caring for the land and the cost of farming it. Here, Corners for Conservation provides the perfect balance.
This field was folded into the Corners program recently and provides a low-cost, high-convenience solution for the farmer. By no longer farming it, he saves time and money that can be invested elsewhere in his operation.
For Ed, that’s exactly what he’s looking for. Strengthening relationships with local farmers while creating native grassland habitat is a win-win.
This second stop along the tour was originally three separate pieces of land. Each piece was added to the Corners program over time. Now the property provides connected, robust habitat in several different succession phases.
“We’re always looking for bigger projects … The size of the project is appealing to me because [of] the additional habitat benefits you get out of it,” Ed shares.
The tools in the back of his truck rattle loudly as the truck returns to a washboard county road.
Right now, across the Eastern Plains, harvest is well underway. Billowing clouds of bronze dust flow in the wake of large combines and trucks chugging along crop rows.
It’s a stressful time of the year for farmers. There’s crops to harvest, late season storms to deal with, and a baker’s dozen other challenges to handle on any given day. The last thing Ed wants to do is add more stress, which is partly what guides his management of the Corners program.
For Ed, building strong relationships with local landowners is key to the success of Corners. Balancing the needs of farmers and the program keeps everyone happy.
“They’re too busy worrying about getting corn harvested, or the combine fixed, and wheat drilled, and proso picked up,” Ed shares.
He glances out the window. Rows of corn flicker past. Farmhouses fleck the horizon.
To accommodate everyone — farmers, hunters and his team of technicians — Ed built in the flexibility of working around harvest schedules in some cases. Even for tasks like installing public access signs, his team waits until harvest is done so they stay out of the way.
The Corners program also allows farmers to park, turn around or move equipment on the projects. Minimal mowing is approved as well to reduce the fire risk from driving farm equipment over tall, dry grass.
“The state has to be flexible on the little things, even if it means being a little inefficient at times. Because it increases the effectiveness of your landowners and your landowner relations if they know you’re not overly stringent on smaller issues,” Ed explains.
This part of Ed’s management philosophy reflects the ultimate vision he has. He wants to build as much grassland habitat as possible across the Eastern Plains.
“The thing is, you have to be solid when the bigger issues come, the ones that potentially make or break the success of the project — because those do come up. Worrying about the small things that don’t really impact the overall success is not worthwhile,” he says.
“The overlying vision of the Corners team is ‘If the Corners look good, they will become a source of pride for the landowners too,’ and that is exactly how it plays out,” Ed adds.
By sacrificing some inefficiencies in the moment, Ed and his team are rewarded with more powerful long-term benefits. To date, there’s over 12,000 acres of restored grasslands across eastern Colorado thanks to Corners, with more projects on the way each year.
“I can’t even do justice with words, the awesomeness of this project,” Ed says with wonder. There’s also a hint of vindication in his voice.
He and Peyton are at the next field on their tour. It’s quite the sight.
“To think about all the hurdles the Corners team had to clear … In the beginning the common rebuttal to the concept of Corners was ‘That stuff won’t grow here, landowners won’t agree to do it, you cannot get all that work done, pollinators don’t work in eastern Colorado’ … All of that stuff,” Ed laments.
“Then you pile a severe drought lasting for a couple years on top, well, I am just really proud that the team believed in the concept and the model,” he says.
Flowing before Ed and Peyton is an ocean of auburn. Waves of native grasses crash into each other lightly in the swirling breeze. The tops of each grass clump are laden with ripe, heavy seedheads.
Between the pillars of warm-season grasses are alleys, expansive and interconnected. Wide enough to walk through, bordered by low forbs and smaller, younger bunches of grass.
This property, across the road from a newly planted wheat field, is a prime Corners for Conservation property. This project is the zenith of grassland habitat. For pheasants, it’s what will get them through the fall and winter, but still support them through next spring and summer.
Fully developed Corners like this one bring Ed a lot of satisfaction. Late-stage succession on a property means it’s very healthy, will support plenty of wildlife, and provides good hunting opportunities.
“Anytime from now on, the birds will start piling into these … This is going to be the best place they can survive the winter, fields like this. So they’re a magnet,” Ed says.
The alleys Ed and Peyton work their way through are exactly what pheasants are after once the weather hits.
“There’s plenty of pockets in there where they can persist and move around and not get covered up by a snow drift. The grasses will still stand through a severe blizzard and be good cover after the snow melts. Plus the birds just like to be in that cover, that grassy cover where they can move around,” Ed explains.
This field is a quick stop, but that’s alright. It’s like stealing a look behind a thick velvet curtain. Peeking at a resplendent painting, yet to be on display. Ed’s tour must move along
Peyton jumps out of the truck and lands right in a thicket of sand burrs. Nasty, prickly little pods that are more akin to an agitated pufferfish than a little seed.
Right then a ring-necked pheasant flushes nearby. Peyton excitedly calls it out. The mottled brown bird — an immature rooster (male) bird — lands on the edge of the Corner. It’s just out of sight and silently tucks into the shadows of the neighboring corn rows.
“There you go. Big bluestem. That’s gotta be 7 feet tall,” Ed remarks with amazement after sidling into the field.
He’s looking up. Dark bluish-purple stems dance well above his head. The grass is light and tipsy in the afternoon zephyr. All around, columns of big bluestem, yellow indiangrass and switchgrass weave in the wind.
A maze of towering grass clumps are sprinkled about the Corner. Old wildflowers litter the ground. A few weeds poke up here and there through the labyrinth of flowers, forbs and tall grasses.
The land is alive. There’s rich golden splashes. Deep purple stems bursting from tow-colored bunches. Warm, earthy tones fill the scene.
This Corners property is nearly eight years old, and fully matured. It’s a masterpiece of grassland habitat. It’s exactly what Ed wants an older property to look like.
Tall grasses will stand up and provide shelter for pheasants and other small animals during winter storms. The wildflowers and weeds still provide food in the spring and summer for pheasant broods. There’s plenty of room in the understory for birds of any age to navigate the property, but still have cover from predators.
After a 31-year career with CPW, this Corner truly embodies Ed Gorman’s legacy as a small game biologist and program manager. It’s not boastful or exuberant. It’s quiet and regal. It’s a mirror of sorts. This Corner reflects profound passion, countless hours of hard work, and true commitment to a calling.
Back at the truck, Peyton and Ed brush a pile of sand burrs off their jeans. They tramped right through the only patch to be found on the property. They talk about the different qualities of this project, and what makes it a quality project. Seeing the young pheasant flush gives Ed a conviction. He knows there was a hen with the rest of this year’s brood just out of sight.
At the end stages of succession, this property is in peak shape. It’s the pinnacle of the Corners for Conservation program. A flushing, scruffy brown bird weighing a couple pounds is the mark of success. A pheasant brood using it just as it’s intended confirms that for Ed.
Despite all the challenges, three decades into his career, he knows what he’s doing is right.
Restoring grasslands. Supporting wildlife. Cultivating community. Even with all the sand burrs, blizzards, droughts and unforeseen obstacles, he rests easy thinking about his work.
“It was well worth all the hassles and difficulties,” Ed says with credence.
“Because when you see the transformation, it’s not an understatement to say it’s shocking,” he adds.
He glimpses the truck’s rear view mirror. The Corner falls into the distance amid a pale dust cloud. Onto the next project.
Written and photographed by Forrest Czarnecki. Forrest is a Colorado hunter and angler, and he is a Digital Media Specialist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.