Eagle Monitoring Program

Boulder Canyon

Each year the Boulder Climbing Community partners with the Boulder District of the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest to help monitor nesting eagles in the area. The main nesting sites, which are popular climbing areas in Boulder Canyon, are closed to visitors for up to 6 months. Volunteers help by observing the birds as they go through their nesting process and completing detailed reports for the Forest Service. This active management helps to ensure the eagles are not bothered during their nesting and that climbing resources can be re-opened in a timely manner.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The Boulder Climbing Community is partnering with Rocky Mountain National Park to monitor active raptor nests in the Park. The majority of monitoring efforts are focused on Lumpy Ridge and document activity from March through July for species such as Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, and Golden Eagles. RMNP is also soliciting citizen science raptor observations in order to build up an online database.

If you are recreating in RMNP and observe raptor activity, please fill out the form below.

“As part of a small team of volunteer climber-biologists, we install trail cameras on the cliffs before the nesting season and make observations to determine when and where the eagles choose to nest. Once nesting is confirmed by observations of incubation behavior and/or an egg, the USFS opens the other areas. Ongoing observations are used to keep track of the number of eagles fledged and sources of mortality. Once fledging is confirmed, the nest cliff is opened again to climbing. This is a collaborative effort built on trust and shared interest between the climbing community, biologists, and USFS, so please get the word out. (Knuckleheads who violate the closures to climb anyway, selfishly violate that trust, put the eagles at risk of nest failure, and face a hefty fine.)

Climbers played essential roles in the research and recovery of peregrine falcons and Sierra bighorn sheep, and brought the California condor back from the brink of extinction. It is our time to do our part again, and respect the closures when they are in effect, as golden eagles face an uncertain future because of threats from wind turbines, lead contamination, electrocutions, and habitat loss.”

Rob Roy Ramey II, Ph.D. 

Climber-biologist

Want to get INVOLVED?

We need dedicated volunteers who can help us monitor the eagles each year. If you are interested email Aaron Friedland at Aaron@boulderclimbers.org.