What's New

Celebrate Colorado Pollinator Week: June 22–28, 2026

Colorado celebrates Pollinator Week from June 22 to June 28, 2026! Throughout the week—and during the broader Colorado Pollinator Month—various nature hubs across the Denver metro area are hosting family-friendly and community-science events. These efforts help protect our vital local pollinators, including bees, beetles, flies, moths, butterflies, hummingbirds, and bats.

Local Events & Resources

The Big Day of Bugs: Head over to the Denver Botanic Gardens on June 26 to experience this featured event.
Xerces Society Webinars: Tune in to their upcoming pollinator series, featuring the webinar "Who's Living in Your Garden?" on June 25 at 11:00 AM.
Resource Central: Ready to swap your grass for low-water, native landscaping? Resource Central provides free educational webinars, turf-removal grants, and starter plants through its popular Garden in a Box program.

Discover More

To find more detailed strategies on supporting these essential creatures, check out the CSU Creating Pollinator Habitat resource to learn how you can transform your own backyard into a thriving sanctuary.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has a new series on DOTs

The Landscape Architect Section at CDOT has been promoting slope rounding and warping as well as early involvement of Landscape Architects in project delivery for years. Liia Koiv-Haus, Landscape Specialist with Region 4, posted a series of three new articles related to these topics on ASLA's blog, The Field:

The Role of Landscape Architects in Roadway Design Projects - Dec 2024

Slope Rounding in Roadway Design Projects - Feb 2025

Safety Benefits of Slope Warping in Roadside Grading - April 2025

Viewshed Analysis for Visual Impact Assessment

CDOT Region 4's landscape specialist Liia Koiv-Haus wrote an article called Viewshed Analysis for Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) for ASLA's The Field blog as part of a series of articles on the history of visual impact assessments. Tim Tetherow, Environmental Planner and Landscape Architect with Felsurg Holt and Ullevig, wrote a companion article on the history of VIAs titled Visual Resources in the Practice of Landscape Architecture.

Living Snow Fence Research Project

Before taking on her role as a CDOT Region 1 Environmental Specialist, Jenni Kerns was the landscape architecture section's intern. As an intern, Jenni researched snow fences and the potential the use of low growing native shrubs planted along CDOT right-of-ways to serve as wind and snow barriers. These living snow fences can reduce blowing snow across highways to increase safety.

*Click here to view the living snow fence story map*

Landscape Renderings

CDOT Landscape Architecture staff produced Photoshop renderings to visualize improvements to CDOT bridges along I-70 as part of a bridge replacement project from Tennyson St west to County Rd 93. The Landscape Architecture section produces Design Guidelines or "Aesthetic Treatment Plans" for bridges throughout the state, selecting colors and materials to unite a corridor.

Rendering of Ward Rd under I-70 with improvements to multimodal transportation

Rendering of Tennyson St under I-70 with improvements to multimodal transportation