Wildflowers already!

Today's warm afternoon sun beckoned me to head up the Tower Trail, with a particular destination in mind. About this time every year, a few Claytonia rosea (spring beauty) plants decide that spring is too far away to wait, so they decide to bloom right in the middle of winter. I checked a week ago, and found some C. rosea leaves, nothing more. The last few days of very warm weather had me thinking the time may have arrived, and sure enough, there were 2 little flowers, smiling like it's the middle of May. We certainly need lots more winter (snow) so the spring offers a wide variety of flowery blooms, but seeing these little plants in bloom serve as a reminder that the planet is steadily marching towards the spring equinox and beyond.

Come on, snow!!!

Some parts of Colorado sound like they are getting some decent snow, but, sad to say, Pueblo Mountain Park and vicinity have seen a pretty dry winter so far. The reports say that tomorrow, January's last day, will be a warm, dry day, which means that January's snow total will be 19.8". Add that to December's 17.6", November's and October's combined (and measly) 5.5", and Winter 2009 through January is only 42.9" of snow. For comparison, through January of last winter (which ultimately ended up at 130" for the entire winter, a bit above the park's average winter snowfall of 115"), we had received 63" of snow. Of course, this can all be turned around by a big snow or two, or a snowy March (often our snowiest), so it's way too early to say just what Winter 2009 will go into the record books as. But, we'd like to snowshoe and x-country ski a lot more this winter, and have less worries about water and fire this summer, so, come on snow! (Pictured is the park's official NOAA precipitation measuring station, showing a quickly diminishing snow cover.)

Biomass boilers arrive at MPEC!

MPEC is one step closer to heating the Horseshoe Lodge not by burning a fossil fuel, but by burning biomass, in the form of wood collected through forest-thinning fire mitigation efforts in Pueblo Mountain Park. Ponderosa pine forests were significantly less dense in pre-settlement days, kept that way through frequent low-intensity fires, usually started by lightning. Decades of fire suppression have resulted in unnaturally dense conditions more prone to catastrophic wildfire. Carefully thinning the park's forests will result in a healthier ponderosa pine forest ecosystem, less chance of a destructive wildfire, and fuel to heat the Horseshoe Lodge. Here are photos of the delivery of our 2 GARN 2000 boilers. We hope to have these in operation soon. Many thanks to the Governor's Energy Office, the SEP grant program, the Stepp Foundation, the Frank Lamb Foundation, and all the individual donors for supporting this worthy "green" project. Keep visiting MPEC's blog for more updates on this and other MPEC projects and programs.

Come on in, the snow is fine!!!

The first weekend of 2009 brought 9 inches of powdery white, making for a lovely landscape and some wonderful snowshoeing and x-country skiing. Here are some photos of Sunday January 4 in the winter wonderland of Pueblo Mountain Park.

MPEC's Biomass Boiler Project!

A break in the weather allowed for the pouring of the foundation of our Biomass Boiler Building on this Christmas Eve. We project that before winter is over, we will be heating Horseshoe Lodge utilizing our new Biomass Heating System. We already have a hot water system installed in the Lodge, currently buring propane as fuel. The biomass system will utilize 2 GARN 2000 boilers that burn wood (which will initially come from fire mitigation and other forest cleanup efforts in the park) to heat the water that heats the lodge (as well as domestic hot water needs). We calculate that this will save us nearly 70% of the cost of burning propane for our heat. And, it is much more environmentally friendly, burning a renewal fuel instead of a fossil fuel. According to the forestry and energy scientists, "utilization of woody biomass for bioenergy can help mitigate greenhouse gases, contribute to the development of healthier forests, bolster rural economies, and reduce our nation’s dependency on foreign oil." A win-win for all of us!

Winter at MPEC!

MPEC held its first Winter Festivity Day on Saturday, Dec 21, a very cold Winter Solstice Day. Santa, some fun games, and s'mores around the fire were a part of this next to last MPEC program of 2008 (we had a Solstice Drum Circle later that same afternoon). What a year it has been for MPEC - we started and completed Phase 1 of the Horseshoe Lodge Project while facilitating a record 322 program sessions for 7971 participants. Happy Holidays from all of us at MPEC!

Out in the Snow!!!

With the recent snows, MPEC's Earth Studies students have been experiencing our outdoor classroom decorated in its winter garb. This month we've been working on using a compass, so students got to find their way around with snowshoes strapped to their feet (a first for essentially every one of them). Winter has finally arrived, and one thing MPEC does with it is teach that it is perfectly OK to be outside when it is cold or snowy (a real eye-opener for many more of our students than you'd think). We teach them that as long as they are properly prepared with the right gear (we're using lots of our donated hats and gloves lately), being outside in winter can be wonderful! Here are a few photos tken over the past few days here at MPEC!