Editing Boulder, Colorado (section)

====Wildlife protection====
Boulder has created an Urban Wildlife Management Plan which sets policies for managing and protecting urban wildlife.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercolorado.gov/wildlife/ |title=Urban Wildlife |publisher=Bouldercolorado.gov |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=October 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026005308/https://bouldercolorado.gov/wildlife |url-status=live }}</ref> The city's Parks and Recreation and Open Space and Mountain Parks departments have volunteers who monitor parks, including wetlands, lakes, etc., to protect ecosystems.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercolorado.gov/parks-rec/parks-volunteer-opportunities |title=Park Volunteer Opportunities |publisher=Bouldercolorado.gov |date=September 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026003354/https://bouldercolorado.gov/parks-rec/parks-volunteer-opportunities |archive-date=October 26, 2013 }}</ref> From time to time, parks and hiking trails are closed to conserve or restore ecosystems.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercolorado.gov/osmp/closures |title=OSMP closures |publisher=Bouldercolorado.gov |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=August 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824033822/https://bouldercolorado.gov/osmp/closures |url-status=live }}</ref>
Traditionally, Boulder has avoided using chemical [[pesticides]] to control the insect population. However, with the threat of [[West Nile virus]], the city began an integrative plan<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060306113749/http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/environmentalaffairs/ipm/documents/FinalWNVMosquitoPlan.pdf]</ref> to control the mosquito population in 2003 that includes chemical pesticides. Residents can opt out of the program by contacting the city and asking that their areas not be sprayed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercolorado.gov/ipm/mosquito-control-program |title=Mosquito Control Program |publisher=Bouldercolorado.gov |date=July 6, 2012 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=October 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025223206/https://bouldercolorado.gov/ipm/mosquito-control-program |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under Boulder law, exterminating [[prairie dogs]] requires a permit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://user.govoutreach.com/boulder/faq.php?cid=23415 |title=Prairie Dogs & Wild Birds Wildlife Protection Ordinance |publisher=City of Boulder |date=January 18, 2005 |access-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-date=June 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630092111/http://user.govoutreach.com/boulder/faq.php?cid=23415 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2005, the city experimented with using goats for weed control in environmentally sensitive areas. Goats naturally consume diffuse [[knapweed]] and [[Canada thistle]], and although the program was not as effective as it was hoped, goats will still be considered in future weed control projects. In 2010, goats were used to keep weeds under control at the Boulder Reservoir.<ref>{{cite news
 |title=Goats keep weeds under control at Boulder Reservoir
 |newspaper=Daily Camera
 |date=July 28, 2010
|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_15625225
 |access-date=September 3, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725194601/http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_15625225
 |archive-date=July 25, 2013
|url-status=live
 
}}</ref>

The city's Open Space and Mountain Parks department manages approximately {{Convert|8,000|acre|km2}} of protected forest land west of the city, in accordance with a 1999 Forest Ecosystem Management Plan. The plan aims to maintain or enhance native plant and animal species, their communities, the ecological processes that sustain them and to reduce the wildfire risk to forest and human communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bouldercolorado.gov/osmp/forest-ecosystem-management-plan |title=Forest Ecosystem Management Plan |publisher=Bouldercolorado.gov |access-date=May 28, 2018 |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130022/https://bouldercolorado.gov/osmp/forest-ecosystem-management-plan |url-status=live }}</ref>