Aurora’s Plains Conservation Center Connects People to the Land Through Award Winning Program

Established in 1949, the Plains Conservation Center (PCC), 21901 E. Hampden Ave., opened to the public as an educational resource to teach farmers sustainable growing methods to help prevent another Dust Bowl, which plagued the nation in the 1930s. Today, the center is managed by the city of Aurora's Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department and has an educational partnership with the Denver Botanic Gardens. The foundation of PCC's educational roots continues in partial thanks to Aurora Naturalist, Fendi Despres, who has made it her mission to educate the public on the importance of ecological sustainability.

"When I started at Plains Conservation Center, I learned about this ecosystem," Despres said. "I realized that it is not in the healthiest state since it's been through a whole lot of disturbance; it was a bomb testing site, had European settlers on it and was used to grow various crops, so I realized that we should be doing something about it."

The Prairie Restoration Project was established in 2022 with the goal of restoring relationships between people and nature, as well as supporting healthy, thriving ecosystems through land stewardship rooted in respect and reciprocity. The program also includes an ongoing scientific component. Volunteers collect data for analysis as native biodiversity continues to be introduced to the land at PCC. The program was just recently nominated and selected to receive a Blue Grama Award for Outstanding Achievement in Ecological Restoration or Recreation Management at the 2024 Colorado Open Space Alliance conference in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Volunteers for the program are always welcome, and no prior experience is necessary. Workdays currently take place on Thursday mornings, but special volunteer days can be scheduled for groups upon request. Along with land stewardship tasks, volunteers may also participate in special enrichment activities to connect with the land they are supporting.

Along with managing the Prairie Restoration Project, Despres also coordinates the annual Agriculture Festival, taking place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14. Guests will be invited to explore the PCC site while they learn about where their food comes from, how to support healthy environments, sustainable eating and history. Attendees will be able to enjoy wagon rides, 1880s homestead and tipi camp tours, farm animal interactions, educational seminars, food vendors and more. "People need to be inspired for their hearts to change; that's how they're really going to care about the environment," Despres said. "The diversity of educational resources that we have here makes it a place where you can learn about all kinds of subjects, including Indigenous history, settler history, agricultural history, army history and prairie ecology, making it one of the only places in the Front Range that has all of those resources."

Learn more about the Plains Conservation Center and the programs offered there, like the Prairie Restoration Project and Agriculture Festival, at AuroraGov.org/PlainsCenter.