Say NO 🚨 to PFAS on CO public lands and YES to growing, eating, growing and legislating native plants!
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Happy spring, pollinator people!
As the equinox approaches, we hope you're finding that elusive balance between care for the earth and concern for our fellow earthlings. If you do find yourself wavering, we invite you to go outside and say hello to an emerging plant, look for the first buzzing insects (who will definitely be out and about with this week's high temps), and support pollinators in whatever ways you can—through loving, learning, and supporting policies that protect them.
FREE Webinar 3/19: Edible Native Plants of Colorado
Join PPAN this Thursday, March 19th at 12pm via Zoom, to discover how Colorado’s native plants can nourish both people and pollinators!
In this webinar, Idelle Fisher and Robert Greer will dive into Colorado-native plants you can eat, why they matter for local ecosystems, and how to grow vegetables in ways that actively support pollinators. Participants will gain region-specific guidance, garden design tips, and actionable steps to create productive gardens that give back to wildlife.
Legislative Updates
HB26-1132, the Native Plants Bill, passed through its first Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources committee hearing. It will be heard in the Finance Committee on March 26th. If passed, this bill will not only increase pollinator habitat on state lands, but will also bolster the entire native seed collection/plant production industry in our state.
The SEED Act, SB26-065, was defeated in Committee, meaning legislators did not even get the chance to consider the bill in either chamber. This was an affront to the 500+ beekeepers, farmers, and advocates who signed on to support the bill, testified, and engaged their representatives in favor of common-sense limits on neonic use.
However, we left this hearing hopeful because more and more people are calling out pesticides directly for their leading role in pollinator declines and human health issues, and the Seed We Need Coalition is already, we believe, the broadest alliance of farmers, beekeepers, medical professionals, environmental advocates and others that has ever come together in Colorado to support a pesticide-reduction policy. We now have a year to organize for 2027—will you join this common-sense coalition to demand that unnecessary pesticide use be reduced?
🐝 Long Live the Queens! 👑
The Nevada Bumble Bee, Bombus nevadensis, is the quintessential flying teddy bear bumbling through your garden. Look for Bombus queens emerging from their underground nests in late spring—which could be quite soon with this year’s warm weather! Relatively common, B. nevadensis has been documented from Mexico to Alaska, as far East as Wisconsin, and from the prairie to above 7,000 ft.
Plant for Bumble Bees
Early blooming flowers are critical for bumblebee queens’ survival when they emerge after diapause, so try to ensure that your garden has as many native early bloomers as possible. B. nevadensis are generalist foragers, but have a documented affinity for milkvetches, such as the Two-Grooved Milkvetch, Astragalus bisulcatus, pictured here. Their long tongues enable them to access nectar from deep tubular flowers that shorter-tongued bees cannot reach, making B. nevadensis an important pollinator for penstemons, lupines, monarda, and other tubular flowers, as well.
Invite Bumble Bees To Nest In Your Habitat
In addition to planting the forage flowers that they prefer, leave some loosely covered or bare ground, snake or rodent holes, or other underground cavities for queens to nest and raise their broods in. Avoid landscape cloth or overly thick, heavy mulches so that they can reach the ground.
Further Reading + Community Science
Attracting Native Bees To Your Landscape by Lisa Mason & Deryn Davidson, CSU Extension
Join the Western States Bumble Bee Atlas! Get free training to participate this season.
Explore The Mola Lab's research with Colorado’s “Bumble Bee Guy,” John Mola.
PFAS On Colorado Public Lands
Colorado has been a leader in the country in protecting public health by controlling PFAS contamination in our state. With the lack of EPA regulation on PFAS, the Colorado Department of Health developed water quality standards to use in permitting years ago. CO has passed groundbreaking legislation intended to prevent PFAS from entering the waste stream and waterways, and our state is spending vast amounts of money to test and filter water contaminated with PFAS.
At the same time, state agencies, counties, and private landowners are spraying pre-emergent herbicides such as Rejuvra, which contain the active ingredient indaziflam, over hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands and forests. Indaziflam is a powerful pesticide that we now know (through independent testing) contains multiple forms of PFAS.
Because indaziflam is nonselective, it also eliminates native annual plants that support pollinators and wildlife and naturally compete with cheatgrass. Field research in a Boulder County post-fire assessment found native species richness was 75% lower in sprayed areas compared to untreated zones.
It's important to realize that the EPA does not require pesticide manufacturers to disclose any of the "inert" ingredients in their formulas, which can make up to 95% of the product and have now repeatedly been shown to include PFAS by multiple independent researchers. The detection of PFAS in Rejuvra reinforces the need for full chemical disclosure of all ingredients in pesticides, and should compel land managers to create cheatgrass management plans that do not include PFAS.
🌻 What We're Reading 🌞
NYT: Trump Order Protected A Weed Killer and a Weapon of War "Bayer, which makes glyphosate, is also the only company in the United States that manufactures...white phosphorus, which it uses to make the weedkiller. That white phosphorus is also used to make munitions deployed as smoke screens and incendiary devices that can violently burn property or people."
How Flowers Made Our World will ignite your springtime contemplations of deep time, astonishing beauty and diversity, and, of course, pollinators, by one of our generations most lyrical science writers.
Save the date for April 29th, when Mr. Haskell will join PPAN for a free webinar! Register here.
"A book that reimagines what is possible when people see themselves as part of the ecosystem rather than as its predator. This book is a testament to the importance of a healthy biodiversity, and dispels the widely accepted premise of survival of the fittest, with wonderful illustrations!
Thank You to Our March Featured Partner!
📆 Upcoming Opportunities to Connect & Learn 📆
March 19 — Edible Native Plants of Colorado Webinar. Join PPAN's Board member, Robert Greer, & web designer, Idelle Fisher, at noon via Zoom to discover how Colorado’s native plants can nourish both people and pollinators!
April 4 — Boulder County Nature Association Ecosymposium. Come see us at this year's ecosymposium, Public Lands in Public Hands for the Public Good: Engaging law, policy, and advocacy to protect our shared natural heritage.
April 7—May 12 — Colorado State University Extension's new course Landscape Like You Live Here, a 6-week series full of practical guidance on designing your outdoor space, selecting trees, shrubs, and native plants, cultivating seasonal blooms, and more! 📌 Register here: https://col.st/r53iw.
Save the Dates!
June 26 — Big Day of Bugs at Denver Botanic Gardens
August 19 — Lyons Farmette dinner with Greens Point Catering to benefit PPAN 🎟️ Tickets on sale now.
September 19 — PPAN's 10th Annual Bumble Bee Bash at Old Elm Farm! 🐝
November 19-20 — 11th Annual Colorado Pollinator Summit at CU Boulder
🐝 Your Gift is Golden! 🍯
Your care and generosity are what make all of this work possible! Thank you for bringing pollen and nectar back to the hive through your actions, your gardens, and your donations!
Multiply your impact by repping' pollinators on the road! Every license plate gift goes directly into our statewide Habitat Grants fund.
