02 / Wildlife
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) staff identified nesting raptors, elk winter range, calving and fawning habitat, buffers and seasonal closures years before the Draft EIS. Sweetwater should receive protections at least as clear and enforceable as those CPW uses elsewhere. Are CPW Wildlife's recommendations optional when CPW Parks is the developer?
The agency record · 2021–2024
Area 8 identified Bald Eagle, Osprey and Peregrine Falcon hunting and nesting habitat and recommended minimizing nearby development and maintaining nesting-period buffers. It also identified elk winter, severe-winter and concentration habitat; recommended a December 1–June 15 closure for the proposed horse area; and opposed trails on elk-calving and deer-fawning ground north of the county road.
Area 8 wildlife concernsWebsite copy · View PDFCPW Resource Stewardship staff warned that recreation planning was getting ahead of resource analysis. Thompson reported that proposed west-side development fell inside 400-meter Bald Eagle and 800-meter Peregrine Falcon nest buffers, described seasonal no-surface-occupancy periods and recommended applying CPW's own buffer guidance.
Jeff Thompson memorandumWebsite copy · View PDFCPW asked that alternatives evaluate temporal and spatial buffers for nests, seasonal recreation restrictions, wildlife movement and effects on elk and mule deer. The same letter called emergency analysis for every alternative “critical.”
CPW scoping commentWebsite copy · View PDFColorado Parks and Wildlife’s site-specific plan · March 2024
This is the site’s own conservation planning record—not a generic statewide policy. It documents the resources at Sweetwater and identifies access restrictions to protect them.
Open the complete public planWhat the plan records
The public Resource Stewardship Plan records 33 raptor nests at Sweetwater, including 11 active nests in 2022.
Its Resource Management and Conservation Actions Priority List identifies temporary trail and lake-access closures during breeding season as High priority.
The same list identifies temporary or seasonal public-access closure of sensitive elk and mule-deer habitat as High priority. It maps elk winter, severe-winter and concentration habitat, as well as elk-calving and mule-deer-fawning habitat.
The plan’s “High” priority pages
These clippings are from the Resource Management and Conservation Actions Priority List. Select either image to open the complete plan.
The Resource Stewardship Plan is a planning document. The Draft EIS, Record of Decision and special-use permit are where any selected measures can be stated as enforceable project commitments.
Standards and precedent
CPW publishes species-specific spatial buffers and seasonal restrictions. Because those recommendations are advisory, the Sweetwater decision and permit must say which measures actually apply.
Open CPW's guidanceCPW's park regulation requires visitors to remain outside a posted half-mile Peregrine Falcon nest buffer from March 15 through July 31. The rule is a park-specific precedent, not a standard that automatically applies at Sweetwater.
Read the CPW regulationOn July 4, 2026, Roaring Fork Audubon Society asked its members to urge CPW to use its 2020 raptor guidelines at Sweetwater, citing Bald Eagles, returning Peregrine Falcons and approximately 100 documented breeding and migratory bird species.
Roaring Fork Audubon call to actionJuly 4, 2026 · View PDFThe Working Group's position
The public record is open
Request a route-specific evacuation analysis and enforceable, project-specific wildlife protections in the decision and permit.