The City of Fort Collins was recently designated a Bird City for actions that support avian species and their habitats. Environment for the Americas and the American Bird Conservancy gave the award to Mayor Jeni Arndt on October 18, 2022. The City of Fort Collins and its partners are the third official Bird City in Colorado and the first to achieve High Flyer status. This designation signifies the city’s commitment to conservation across multiple categories and to further action to help birds and their habitats.
Eagle in Flight
“City Council has a priority for helping bird species recover,” said Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt. “This designation is a great honor that shows the city’s commitment to avian life and all the actions that contribute to bird conservation as residents enjoy the natural beauty of the flora and fauna of our community.”
The Bird City award is designed to foster innovation and connections that lead to advances for birds in natural areas, parks, gardens, main streets, and backyards and make these places better for birds and people. Environment for the Americas plans to use Fort Collins as an ideal Bird City model for stakeholder participation, community engagement, and impactful conservation of birds and their habitats. Several best management practices were recognized including:
• The active Night Sky Initiative for outdoor lighting best practices, which helps to reduce the different types of light pollution
• The impressive long-standing commitment of the Fort Collins Audubon Society to conduct the Christmas Bird Count, done consecutively for the past 75 years
• The City of Fort Collins City Code section 4-93, which mandates that all pet animals except birds be under restraint.
The project team was made up of City of Fort Collins staff including representatives from the Natural Areas Department, Parks Department, the Gardens on Spring Creek, and Utilities.
Community partners from the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Audubon Rockies, and Fort Collins Audubon all contributed to the application.