While on WaltAbout I have been very fortunate to observe the buffalo year round at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) National Wildlife Refuge and Lookout Mountain in Genesee. Both of these herds are healthy and well managed. Each trip is about thirty miles but when I go to RMA I will get on the light rail system to Commerce City and save the legs for the 20 plus miles around the preserve. Once there it is generally a flat ride at an elevation of about 5500 feet. The trip to Genesee is done solely on the bike when I go up Floyd Hill (which parallels the I-70) on the south side of Lookout Mountain the elevation is around 7500 feet so it is a somewhat more challenging ride. If I go up the north side on 19th Street I will take the light rail into Golden and then bike up from there. Either way I am cranking it out on a bike that is in excess of 50 pounds with my photo gear.

The herd at Lookout mountain is rather unique as they mostly originate from a herd of 7 bison brought from Yellowstone National Park in 1914, although I know of at least one very large bull that came from non-other than onetime late night talk show host David Letterman’s Montana ranch. The bison herd can be seen from I-70 when heading west into the mountains on the right side of the road. There is a tunnel that goes beneath the interstate that has been there way before the roadway was built that enable the bison to get access to both sides for grazing. Young bison calf’s are also known as Red-Dogs because of their bright red coats that will turn to brown as they grow older.

Buffalo spend most of their time eating, one of the reasons they are the largest mammals in North America and can grow in excess of 2000 pounds. They are generally mellow and will co-exist with other wildlife like deer and elk as shown in the picture above with an elk in a field with two of them as one is grazing and the other is rocking and rolling on it’s back. Never take it for granted that they are safe to approach or harass in any way, especially when they are mating or around those young red-dogs. They can run 30 miles an hour and are extremely agile as they can turn on dime.

A handful of bison from Montana were reintroduced to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in 2007. The refuge with more than 17,000 acres were reclaimed and made habitable for not only bison but white tail deer and many birds including ground owls which are quite unique. In the 1940’s the government started using the property for chemical warfare development and testing in addition to leasing part of it for petroleum development which created a huge environmental problem. Two decades later the US no longer produced chemical weapons but still used it for chemical disposal. Eventually it was determined that the site was supporting a large wildlife population including our national symbol the Bald Eagle which it used as a breeding and wintering area. Not long after that the petroleum development was shutdown and the entire venue was no longer used for anything but it’s reclamation.

The reclamation project was a complete success and displayed just how nature can be restored when we put our minds to it. The project was so successful the bison enclosure had to be expanded. RMA is still a work in progress as the 17,000 acre preserve not only features the bison but also has a nature center, a lake you can fish at and an abundance of other wildlife including whitetail deer. The panoramic views that you get of the Rockies alone are a great reason to visit the seldom heard of RMA which is one of the largest metropolitan parks in the federal park system.