S2E15: 2.15 – Extreme Botany: Colorado's Rare Plants

Colorado Parks and Wildlife now has the authority to study and conserve the state’s native invertebrates and rare plants in a comprehensive manner, which has strengthened Colorado’s ability to protect biodiversity.

In 2024, Colorado passed House Bill 24-1117 which placed the management of invertebrates and rare plants under CPW’s wildlife umbrella. The bill defined rare plants to mean a plant species that is indigenous to the State of Colorado and that is at risk of extinction or elimination across the entirety of their distribution due to restricted range, few populations or occurrences, steep declines or severe threats.

In the second part of our two-part series on this topic, we transition to talking about these rare plants.

There are more than 2,800 native plants in Colorado, and 125 of those are endemic to our state, which means they only are found here. Of those, 90 are classified as rare.

As Colorado updates its State Wildlife Action Plan, 195 rare plants are included in that plan.

In this episode, we are going to chat with CPW Natural Areas Program Manager Raquel Wertsbaugh about her program’s longstanding work with rare and native plants, while we also talk with Savanna Smith, CPW’s new Rare Plants Program Manager, to learn more about CPW’s work in this field. 

You’ll hear the great lengths they go to for monitoring these plants, learn what makes some species such as the Rocky Mountain monkeyflower and Pagosa skyrocket so special, and get some information on what you can do to promote the health of rare plants in our state.