As Director of Boulder County Parks and Open Space, I strongly disagree with Dana Bove’s portrayal of BCPOS wildlife management on county open space in the guest opinion “Why should we care about these eagles?” BCPOS abides by state and federal laws governing wildlife.

In 2000, Boulder County had no bald eagle nests on county open space. Now we have 15 nests on or adjacent to city and county open space. This is a testament to the value of protecting wildlife habitat throughout the county. When an eagle selects a nest, we protect the buffer using the state’s 1/2-mile buffer guidelines, which are greater than the 1/4-mile federal regulations, if at all possible.

The management of this property does not come without its challenges as it is an intersection of agricultural usage, recreational and regional trails, and wildlife habitat due to the riparian corridors and man-made lakes. Managing multiple objectives on open space always requires complex decisions. For example, if a bald eagle pair sets up a nest near a regional trail, do we close the regional trail, impacting commuters and adding carbon to our atmosphere? We have done this for years at Carolyn Holmberg Preserve near Stearns Lake, rerouting the regional trail during seasonal bald eagle closures. The regional trail and agricultural usage on this property predate the bald eagle nesting on the property. Despite these activities, the Stearns Lake bald eagles established a nest and continue to return to the same vicinity. We have had 16 successfully fledged eagles at this site since 2012.

When the Stearns Lake bald eagle nest was destroyed by a bolt of lightning, BCPOS continued to protect the territory by keeping the Cradleboard Trail closed. We also modified agricultural work on a separate property where this pair was investigating a new nest.

The new nest location is further from the Cradleboard trail than the original nest. For this reason, we closed the nearest trail to the new nest along 104th Street and we reopened the regional Cradleboard trail.

Our philosophy is to provide open spaces where wildlife can thrive, and we have been very successful in that with the great support of our community. BCPOS works to ensure that naturally occurring ecosystems and their native species populations continue to exist and flourish. We promote sustainable conservation practices that encourage natural processes, including unhindered nest site selection and natural failure.

Please do not fuel these egregious misconceptions of how BCPOS manages wildlife. Instead, get out there and enjoy the treasure that is open space, respect all property closures on all public land, and support organizations that are helping to preserve and protect wildlife throughout the county and the world.

Therese Glowacki is the director of Boulder County Parks & Open Space.