Field of dreams: Restoring Rocky Mountain National Park’s Kawuneeche Valley

Field of dreams: Restoring Rocky Mountain National Park’s Kawuneeche Valley

While casual visitors might not know it, Kawuneeche Valley on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park was once a winding, damp and biologically diverse wetland populated by an estimated 600 beavers. Today, the 15-mile-long valley looks more like a lush, grassy prairie. However, if explorers take a closer look at the ground beneath them, they’ll see clues from the past all around. Kawuneeche Valley is only a few miles downstream from the he…