BLUFF LAKE NATURE CENTER
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Mission Statement
Bluff Lake Nature Center educates individuals to be engaged, resilient, and curious; conserves a natural area in the city; furthers equity in outdoor access; and nurtures the health and well-being of communities and ecosystems.
About This Cause
Bluff Lake Nature Center is a nonprofit agency that owns and manages a unique urban wildlife refuge and outdoor classroom in Denver. The refuge is home to an abundance of animals and native plants which thrive in a variety of habitats. Bluff Lake is Denver’s largest open space managed as native habitat, and Denver’s only nonprofit nature center. We rely solely on community support. Our holistic approach to conservation and education combines programs and outreach with a focus on making nature experiences accessible and welcoming to communities that are met with barriers to the outdoors. Tens of thousands of visitors come to Bluff Lake each year to enjoy a few moments of solace and connection to nature or to take part in one of our scheduled programs or events. After the former Stapleton Airport closed in 1994, the land left behind was damaged and in desperate need of restoration. Bluff Lake Natural Area was then established and protected under the terms of a settlement agreement between the City and County of Denver and the Sierra Club, which cited excessive pollution from the airport. As part of the settlement, Denver agreed to preserve the Bluff Lake area and invest over $3 million to enhance wildlife habitat, restore the banks of Sand Creek, build an interpretive trail system, and construct open-air shelters. Bluff Lake Nature Center took ownership of the property in 2008, raising over $3 million for restructuring the lake. The extensive work that has been done in the last 27 years has brought back wildlife to the area and provided a habitat to be protected in perpetuity, as well as a unique outdoor classroom dedicated to the youth of our community. Much of our organization’s early years were spent performing site stewardship projects including planting native species of trees and grasses, reinforcing our 100+ year old dam to ensure that our lake would hold water year-round, and creating trails and overlook areas where families could come enjoy the outdoors. The success of our early efforts is evident by the 350+ animal species that call BLNC home, and the thriving habitats (wetland, riparian, and prairie) that continue to grow every year. While conservation remains a top priority for our organization, we realize that the lasting power and influence BLNC has lies in our educational programs and our location. There are thousands of families that live within a few miles of BLNC, including the neighborhoods of Montbello, Northwest Aurora, Park Hill, Commerce City and Central Park. Making nature accessible is a driving factor for us, which is why we offer free entrance to the site 365 days a year from dawn to dusk, free prek-High School field trips and bus reimbursements for low-income schools, and a vast majority of our programs and events are free. We know that formative experiences like the ones kids have at BLNC are incredibly valuable to their educational success and future careers. We hope to empower students to take action in their own neighborhoods to create, care for, and enjoy natural spaces. Having nature easily accessible provides countless benefits to a neighborhood including general health and well-being of the people, stress reduction, improved neighborhood safety, and great free public spaces for social connection. Bluff Lake Nature Center is surrounded by varied, diverse communities. The site is on the edge of Central Park, the redeveloped neighborhood at the former site of the decommissioned Stapleton International Airport, which closed in 1994. With a focus on pedestrian-friendly design and green spaces, Central Park has exploded into one of the largest, wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, and yet low-income neighborhoods in Aurora and Commerce City are directly adjacent to our site. As development around Bluff Lake has increased intensely, so has visitation and our programming. This was especially true in 2020, when the pandemic forced many families to look closer to home for their outdoor experiences, and Bluff Lake saw an increase of 46.7% in site visitors. Over the years, Bluff Lake has realized that while conservation is still a vital part of our mission, education is where our power lies. Our educational team has grown, with the addition of a full-time Education Manager and a powerful education team that adapts and grows our programs to suit the changing needs of the diverse community we serve, including field trips and free family programs.