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ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Denver, CO U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Urban Transportation Connections Study ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Denver, CO REFUGE ACCESS PLAN November 2019 Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Urban Transportation Connections Study INTRODUCTION The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is located in Commerce City just 14 miles northeast of the City of Denver, between the Denver Central Business District and Denver International Airport. With nearly 15,000-acres, the NWR has had various identities—from farmland to war-time materials manufacturing site to now a wildlife refuge. It is one of the 101 Urban Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (U.S. FWS’s) Urban Program and was one of the initial refuges examined by the Urban Transportation Connections Study. THE REFUGE 1 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE REFUGE ACCESS PLAN Urban Transportation Connections Study REGIONAL OVERVIEW The larger Denver metropolitan area, with more than Park Station (A Line) to 60th and Dahlia, providing the 2.8 million people, contains Colorado’s capital and closest transit access to the Refuge. the state’s most populous city. Known as the “Mile Several higher education institutions call Denver High City”, Denver stands a mile above sea level, home, including the University of Denver and Colorado which is the highest elevation of any major city in the University-Denver. Given the refuge’s proximity to United States. Denver is placed in between the Rocky Denver’s downtown core, there are many K-12 schools Mountains to the west and the High Plains to the east, in within a 30-minute driving distance. The refuge offers giving it a varied topography. In recent years, Denver a variety of internship and work/training opportunities has consistently placed on U.S. News & World Report’s to local community members. list of Top Cities to Live in the United States. There are several active transportation facilities in the Denver’s main thoroughfares are I-25 (north-south), I-70 Denver region; the major facility nearest to the refuge (east-west), and I-76 (northeast). Denver also is served is the Sand Creek Regional Greenway, which largely by E-740, which serves as a limited-access toll road follows I-270 and connects Commerce City, Denver, and on the eastern side of the city. The larger metropolitan Aurora. Within the Refuge boundaries are the Prairie area is served by the Regional Transportation District Gateway Open Space, which features a trail facility that (RTD), which serves approximately 2.9 million riders leads to the Refuge’s Visitor Center, and the Arsenal annually with mass transit services. However, no rail Perimeter Trail, which connects from Second Creek and or bus services directly serve the Refuge. Route 62 largely circles the Refuge’s perimeter. (Commerce City/Dick’s SG Park) goes from Central November 2019 2 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Urban Transportation Connections Study WHERE HAVE WE BEEN? “It (Rocky Mountain Arsenal) may be one of the finest conservation success stories in history and a place where wildlife thrives.” -U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service REFUGE HISTORY Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR has a rich history, starting with the American Indians, who followed bison across the plains. The area designated as the ‘Rocky Mountain Arsenal’ was created shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, serving as a facility to manufacture chemical weapons in support of World War II. The site saw continued use through the Vietnam War and ultimately was used as a location for disposing chemical weapons and development of pesticides by a private company. As the clean-up for the site was jumpstarted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program in 1986, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered more than 300 species of wildlife inhabiting the site, including a roost of bald eagles, an endangered species. The legislation making Rocky Mountain Arsenal a NWR was signed into law in 1992. The timeline on the next page includes a high-level look at the history of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR. 3 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE REFUGE ACCESS PLAN Urban Transportation Connections Study 1942 Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) built to manufacture and test chemical weapons for WWII 1985 RMA closes 1986 A roost of the endangered bald eagle is found by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, initiating 1987 TSPLOST FULTON NORTH a thorough environmental assessment An investigation by the EPA discovers the site | needs extreme remediation 1992 Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Act enacted and signed into law 2004 Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge opens to the public with walking trails and bus tours giving visitors access to roughly 5,000 acres of the site 2010 The Arsenal’s cleanup program is completed 2011 PROJECTS OVERVIEW Rocky Mountain NWR opens to the public November 2019 4 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Urban Transportation Connections Study ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROPERTY MAINTAINED BY US ARMY WILDLIFE DRIVE A hold-over from its time as a military site Wildlife Drive enables vehicular-based visitors the opportunity to drive-through the Refuge for chemical testing and other activities, while experiencing glimpses of the wildlife who call the Refuge home, including the there is a small site within the Refuge famous bison that roam on the Refuge. This self-guided tour facility is 9 miles long trek that is still maintained by the US Army. where visitors can encounter bison, mules, white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks, prairie This site is a visible earthen mound that dogs, rabbits, waterfowl, shorebirds, and burrowing owls. can be seen from Wildlife Drive that marks where the site is. FUTURE FIRST CREEK OVERLOOK Along Peña Boulevard, the PRAIRIE GATEWAY OPEN First Creek overlook site will offer visitors an area to SPACE park and to view the bison Owned by Commerce City, the Prairie area as well as connect Gateway Open Space area offers trails to the First Creek Trail. and other recreational facilities leading This site was developed in up to the Refuge. For visitors traveling partnership with the Denver to the Refuge by foot, this 190-acre International Airport with facility is how they currently can enter the hopes that visitor coming the Refuge and begins to set the stage to or from the Airport can for the natural setting internal to the stop at the Refuge to take in Refuge. some nature. VISITOR CENTER The formalized visitor center at Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR features a Friends the Front Range Wildlife Refuges-run gift shop, a curated interactive REFUGE exhibit about the Refuge’s—including a life-size UNITS bison display, a Discovery classroom used by Refuge rangers for classes and other activities, public restrooms, and the Refuge staff offices. It also offers parking to those who wish to use the Refuge’s many nearby walking trails as well as a structured habitat for the Black-footed Ferret, the only native mammal to North America and an endangered species. 5 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE REFUGE ACCESS PLAN Urban Transportation Connections Study WHERE ARE WE GOING? The Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR is making efforts to complement and partner with the larger Denver community. The refuge offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities, including an environmental educational program, a catch-and-release recreational fishing ground, a variety of hiking trails (grassland, wetland, woodland), wildlife viewing opportunities, a self-guided wildlife driving tour, and docent-led site tours. Beyond the available activities within its boundaries, the Refuge has a strong desire to work with local stakeholders to best position its plans with the investment opportunities that are rapidly occurring in the surrounding communities. Providing multimodal transportation access to the refuge continues to be a challenge, particularly due to potential interactions with the bison. The Refuge envisions establishing safe, yet creative, access for community members that does not require invasive vehicular or bicycling infrastructure inside the Refuge. Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR continues to engage public and private partners to address these challenges and serve the community as an accessible resource. REFUGE VISION To help the Refuge realize its vision, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR has engaged the local community to implement projects and amenities. As a part of this partnership, the long-term vision for the Refuge is to provide more strategic access points that are grounded by a new, internal wayfinding system. This effort has already begun—with construction for five new access points into the Refuge slated for 2019—and was made possible by a Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant. These efforts are multimodal in nature and include efforts to increase vehicular access to the site, offer safe pedestrian enhancements within the Refuge, and to leverage bicycle infrastructure where appropriate. Beyond access into and out of the Refuge, Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR plans to begin a more rigorous marketing program—reaching out to partners such as the Denver International Airport, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (Commerce City), the K-12 school system, and bus and railcar advertisements. Continuing public awareness campaigns that leverage engagement with members of the community on an everyday level can boost the Refuge’s identity and resources within the Denver Metropolitan area. Some of the more regional partnership opportunities that the Refuge is engaging in include the First Creek Overlook, where the Denver International Airport is looking to partner with the refuge to add nearly 600 acres that will help bring the bison closer for viewing from Peña Boulevard.
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