MonumentMonument CreekCreek WatershedWatershed LandscapeLandscape AssessmentAssessment a Legacy Resource Management Program Project Monument Creek Watershed Landscape Assessment prepared for: United States Air Force Academy 8120 Edgerton Dr Ste 40 Air Force Academy CO 80840-2400 prepared by: John Armstrong and Joe Stevens Colorado Natural Heritage Program 254 General Services Building Colorado State University, College of Natural Resources Fort Collins CO 80523 31 January 2002 Copyright 2002 Colorado Natural Heritage Program Cover photo: Panorama of Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range (the western boundary of the Monument Creek Watershed) from Palmer Park. Photograph by J. Armstrong. Funding provided by the Legacy Resource Management Program, administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers. table of contents list of figures ................................................................................................3 list of tables ..................................................................................................3 list of maps ..................................................................................................3 list of photographs .....................................................................................4 acknowledgements...........................................................................................5 introduction .......................................................................................................7 project history .............................................................................................7 background ..........................................................................................7 the military mission ...................................................................................8 assessment overview ..................................................................................8 planning team .............................................................................................9 methodology ...............................................................................................9 project area boundary.......................................................................12 a note about units, scale and accuracy ...........................................13 terminology ...............................................................................................14 landscape ............................................................................................14 project area overview and planning context ........................................15 other regional assessments ..............................................................17 watershed characterization ...........................................................................19 a landscape ................................................................................................19 the Monument Creek Watershed landscape ........................................21 watershed landscape regions ..................................................................22 regional history .........................................................................................24 biological systems context.......................................................................27 biologically significant species and communities ........................27 physical systems context .........................................................................30 physiography .....................................................................................30 soils ......................................................................................................32 geology ................................................................................................38 climate .................................................................................................39 social systems context ..............................................................................40 land use...............................................................................................40 land status ..........................................................................................45 recreation ............................................................................................47 economics ...........................................................................................47 current condition ............................................................................................51 biological systems ....................................................................................51 vegetation ...........................................................................................51 wildlife ................................................................................................59 physical systems .......................................................................................64 hydrology ...........................................................................................64 social systems ............................................................................................67 population / settlement patterns / development ..........................68 reference condition.........................................................................................71 historic biological systems ......................................................................73 vegetation and fire ecology / history ..............................................73 Public Land Survey summary .........................................................77 original township descriptions .......................................................83 short-term change: 1958 to 2001 ......................................................97 1 wildlife ................................................................................................ 97 historic physical systems .........................................................................98 hydrologic function...........................................................................98 historic social systems.............................................................................. 98 historic human populations.............................................................98 landscape synthesis...................................................................................... 101 characterization of change over time .................................................. 101 landscape trends .....................................................................................104 results and discussion............................................................................ 104 watershed prioritization.............................................................................. 107 watershed prioritization analysis ........................................................ 107 methods ............................................................................................ 108 results and discussion............................................................................ 109 desired future condition.............................................................................. 111 stakeholder input ...................................................................................112 issues summary and synthesis ...................................................... 112 planning issues and opportunities ...................................................... 114 issues summary and discussion.................................................... 115 change analysis .......................................................................................117 the desired future condition .................................................................117 future condition of the biological domain ...................................117 future condition of the physical domain .....................................117 future condition of the social domain .......................................... 118 recommendations .........................................................................................119 biological domain ...................................................................................119 vegetation .........................................................................................119 wildlife .............................................................................................. 121 rare and / or imperiled plants and animals .................................123 physical domain .....................................................................................123 soils.................................................................................................... 123 hydrology .........................................................................................124 slope .................................................................................................. 124 social domain .......................................................................................... 125 notes ................................................................................................................ 129 references .......................................................................................................131 digital data sources.......................................................................................135 appendices .....................................................................................................137