High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) in Loveland, Colorado is currently in the process of creating an educational visitor center (opening in early 2017) with a specific focus on conserving and restoring Colorado’s unique native bio-diversity in the midst of development.
The center will demonstrate, through extensive gardens and exhibits, the benefits to wildlife and water conservation derived from the use of native plants in landscaping, open space, and urban stormwater ponds.
Thompson School District is currently building a school (pre-K through 8) adjacent to HPEC.
The school, which is intended to have a collaborative relationship with HPEC, will have a STEAM curriculum and a heightened focus on science and environmental sustainability.
Native plants (wildflowers), birds, butterflies and other pollinators are intrinsically connected; one cannot survive and form a whole ecosystem without the others. For this reason HPEC is committed to native plant conservation and restoration.
With over 20 million acres of suburban lawns in the U.S. we have greatly diminished the community of native plants and subsequently the birds and butterflies that depend on them.The good news is that many Colorado native plants are beautiful, easy to grow, and can help reverse the loss of wildlife.
At HPEC we grow native plants from seed at our own nursery, many of which are locally collected ecotypes that are particularly valuable for restoration projects. We are proud to be members of the Colorado Native Plant Society, as well as an affiliate organization of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, with a shared mission to support native plant restoration, conservation and use.