It’s finally time to announce that an exciting art + science collaborative project is completed, for this round anyway! Over the last six months, with lots of help, I’ve been reaching out to Steamboat Springs area artists, wildlife biologists, and other wildlife experts to create the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Cards.
The goals of this project were to provide information and action items to help protect wildlife and reduce our climate impacts, while also showing off some of the great artists in Northwest Colorado. Each card has three informational areas for the featured species: facts, issues they face, and how to help. Below is the Black Bear card, one of 20 in the set, this one with text by Christy Bubenheim of Bear Aware Steamboat and painting by Pat Walsh.
If you’d like to see all of the cards, head over to www.rockymountainwildlife.net where you can explore each species along with bios of the contributors.
These cards are available two different ways, as a set of 20 5” x 7” informational cards in a fun tin case, or individually as folded greeting cards printed on cotton paper with an envelope. Below is the Pika greeting card with art by Sandi Poltorak, and text by Missy Dressen.
This concept was a natural growth from my last wildlife project that involved interviewing people whose work and interests revolve around wildlife, and then creating art and telling their stories in Wildlife Zines. The thing that I wanted to include in that project that was missing was the action items. So that was the focus for this project! Also, I knew it would take me forever to create all of the artwork myself, so I made it a group project and reached out to many of the great artists in the area to contribute. I love the variety of the finished work!
But back to those action items- check out these great examples:
Greater Sage-grouse- Help with restoration projects to improve sage-grouse habitat. Some have been done by Wildland Restoration Volunteers and the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council.
Osprey- Pack out your trash and pick up litter, especially along the shoreline to keep osprey and other wildlife safe. This trash, like fishing line or 6-pack rings, can get used for nest material and entangle the birds.
River Otter- Conservation can start at home! Take steps to prevent contamination to stormwater. Common household pollutants like animal waste, litter, yard clippings, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, paints, solvents, antifreeze, motor oil and soap should be disposed of properly to keep from entering our waterways.
Rainbow Trout- Stay out of the water when the Yampa or any other body of water is closed to protect stressed fish from low water flow, heat, and lack of oxygen. To help shade fish habitat, plant trees along waterways through Yampa Valley Sustainability Council’s ReTree program, or other volunteering opportunities.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird- Plant a pollinator garden with native plants loved by hummingbirds. Be sure not to use pesticides which can harm birds and beneficial insect pollinators.
These beautiful and helpful Rocky Mountain Wildlife Cards can be found online, or at the Steamboat Art Museum Store. Just the sets are at Pine Moon Fine Art, or just the greeting cards at Lyon Drug.
I’d like to thank every contributor: Libbie Miller, Eric VanNatta, Tracy Bye, Missy Dressen, Christy Bubenheim, Erin Gelling, Harold Bergman, David T. Moulton, Lisa Williams, Kevin Rogers, John Murtaugh, Sandi Poltorak, Joanne Orce, Gael Fetcher, Judy Jones, Julia Ben-Asher, Audrey Bortz, Jason Santucci, Maggie Smith, Pat Walsh, Kathryn Fresques, Kevin Dietrich, Cyndi Marlowe, Abby Jensen, Dedi Knox, Sista Luna, Carla Jones and Debbie McCulliss.
Head over to the new Rocky Mountain Wildlife website to read their bios, see digital versions of the cards, and find links to more of their artwork in the case of the visual artists.