The Bluff Lake Nature Center Caretaker: Park Hill’s Chris Story
Chris Story became Bluff Lake Nature Center’s site manager in 2007. A Colorado native, he grew up in Capitol Hill and went to East High School. When he returned home after graduate school from Olympia, Wash., he settled on Clermont Street in Northeast Park Hill and started working at the Denver Botanic Gardens as horticulturist. During his tenure at the DBG, Chris began making weekly trips to Bluff Lake to assist volunteer invasive species managers who were trained by DBG to create a plan for Bluff Lake’s Russian Olive and tamarisk problem. When Bluff Lake’s site manager position became available, Chris made the natural segue.
“Bluff Lake is a real amenity for Park Hill that a lot of people don’t know about,” he said.
The 123-acre wildlife refuge and education center that is now the Bluff Lake Nature Center once provided a buffer between the runways and the community during the Stapleton Airport-era. As a result, the land was fenced off and virtually untouched for decades, leaving deer, fox, coyotes, birds and other animals to thrive in the habitat. After the airport closed, the Sierra Club sued the city for fish kills and other contamination stemming from inadequate retention ponds for the chemical deicers used on the runways. That settlement led to the preservation of the Bluff Lake area and $3 million toward enhancing habitat, restoring Sand Creek and constructing a 1.5 mile interpretative trail with shelters.
Today, Bluff Lake is run by four full-time staffers, but relies on volunteers to assist with the 5,000 students that visit the site each year. As Denver’s largest landowning nonprofit, Bluff Lake also relies on donations, membership and grants to maintain the site. It’s open every day year-round to the public, from sunup to sundown, at no cost.
Chris recommends a bike ride from Park Hill to Bluff Lake, down either 29th Street or MLK Boulevard – the entrance is just a quarter-mile east of Havana on MLK. A medley of organized activities is available throughout the summer. Family-friendly Fireside Chats take place every other Thursday evening and culminate in marshmallow roasts. The Bluff Lake Birders group meets the first Saturday of every month, spotting over 130 different species of birds. And for those who want to pitch in, a Weed Warrior group, led by Chris, meets every Wednesday at 9 a.m. Of course, self-guided tours jogging and wildlife viewing are always available along the interpretative trail, just no dogs, bikes or horses allowed in the refuge.
Chris loves his job because he loves being outside. “I’m a nature person and it makes me happy to preserve this habitat and also to make it available for kids who don’t get a lot of exposure to wildlife and nature,” said Chris.
Because the refuge is over 100 feet below road level, according “you don’t see traffic or development and you really feel like you are out in nature,” said Chris. “It’s got all the qualities of an oasis.”
For more information, visit blufflakenaturecenter.org.