By Shannon Lukens.

 

Bugs are back in Butcherknife Creek. Science students at Steamboat Springs High School have been exploring, studying, and researching Butcherknife Creek after a restoration project that improved the health of the creek which runs behind Steamboat Springs Middle School.

 

Bennett Colvin is a Science Teacher at SSHS where he teaches Environmental Science, Botany, Zoology, and Biology.

“Butcherknife Creek here at the middle school is our outdoor classroom. Where most schools will be teaching Environmental Science indoors, we get to teach it outdoors.”

He says the students are looking at a before-and-after effect of a restoration project. On Wednesday, students were looking for macro invertebrates, and they found plenty.

“Macro invertebrates will determine our water quality. Certain insects are going to be present when water is good and the stream is in good health. And they will be missing when the stream needs work.”

Grace Olexa and Violet O’Connell are both seniors.

Grace: “The creek has made a lot of progress we know in the last year or so. It’s fun to come out here for a class and look at it and see how things are changing, and the habitat and all of the animals. Changing for the better.”

Violet: “We can really see how well it’s doing and the progress with that project. We come and we sample so we can take it back to the classroom and see all of the progress.”

The Butcherknife Creek Project was supported by Yampa Valley Stream Improvement Charitable Trust which contributed $90 thousand to the restoration project. Other groups helping include Trout Unlimited and the Steamboat Springs School District. Colvin says they’ve been working on the restoration project for over four years.

 

Butcherknife Creek Restoration Documentary

Jan. 8, 2024 — Work on Butcherknife Creek begins this summer