Two Big Updates in Today’s Newsletter: SSI Joins IUCN + Field Work in Colorado
This month brings two milestones for SSI—one close to home in the canyons of northwest Colorado, and one on the international stage. We’re deep into our second season studying some incredible springs in Colorado canyon country, and we’ve just joined the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), opening the door to global conservation work.
Big News: SSI Joins IUCN
Since January, SSI has been working toward membership in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and this month we were honored to join this global network of conservation leaders.
In October, I’ll travel to Abu Dhabi for the World Conservation Congress, where thousands of decision-makers gather to shape biodiversity’s future. It’s a rare chance to bring the quiet but vital voice of freshwater springs to this global stage—places that sustain countless species yet are often overlooked.
We’re especially proud to co-sponsor a motion and host a session alongside partners including Re:wild, the Saint Louis Zoo, the International Water Management Institute, SHOAL, and others. This isn’t just another meeting, it’s a call to action to save rapidly disappearing springs. Together, we’ll work to close critical gaps in knowledge, policy, and funding, chart a clear roadmap for conservation, and hopefully launch a dedicated IUCN Springs Specialist Group. This is the moment to ensure springs and their incredible biodiversity finally get the recognition and protection they deserve.
But to make this possible, we need your support. Please consider donating to help SSI take this vital step on the world stage:
Every gift moves us closer to a future where springs have a seat at the table and a voice that can’t be ignored.
Field Notes: Canyon Country Springs
The rusty hues of canyon country, broken by vibrant ribbons of green cottonwood, are an iconic feature of the American West. In this remote canyon of northwest Colorado, as in countless others, those ribbons of green are the gift of springs. Between Grand Junction and Montrose, springs emerge abundantly at the contact between the Wingate Sandstone and Chinle Formation. Here, they occur at densities of up to ten per square mile, seeping, tumbling, and flowing into ever-larger creeks until their combined waters are big enough to raft and support vast swaths of agriculture.
SSI began working in this area in the summer of 2024. For more than a century it had been a working ranch, but was recently purchased by The Conservation Fund in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management. At first glance, the red sandstone walls evoke memories of Indian Creek and much of southern Utah—complete with juniper gnats and bighorn sheep. These remote springs, all emerging from the Wingate–Chinle contact, are among the most pristine I’ve had the pleasure to work on.
While the surrounding landscape bears the marks of a century of human use, the springs themselves remain ecological treasures. They host an astonishing array of life: critically imperiled (T1) Speyeria nokomis nokomis and its host plant, the bog violet; bighorn sheep; black bear; helleborine orchids; the list goes on.
This summer, our work has focused on developing habitat models for both the bog violet and Nokomis fritillary, conducting additional spring surveys, and drafting restoration and management plans to strengthen the ecological function of these extraordinary sites.
Mating Speyeria nokomis nokomis: