Kevin Cook: Wildlife Window Nature Series

Colography: The Nitty-Gritty Colorado

Properly defined, “geography” means “the documentation of Earth.” Extending this concept gives us “Colography,” the “documentation of Colorado.” Our state sprawls across three great geologic regions blending characters from each. So how many mountain ranges do we have? How many parks do we have, and what is a “park,” anyway? Where are these landscape features and how did they get there? How many cactuses and orchids, owls and hummingbirds — how much life — garnish the landscapes with distinctive lifescapes? “Colography: The Nitty-Gritty Colorado” examines physical and biotic details of the state we call home, all done with a mind for experiencing it.

July: The Collectors
Various people came to Colorado to collect plants and birds, insects and mammals, a quest that took them everywhere deep into this new state. Documenting their travels and their collections did more to define the character of Colorado than any other undertaking of the day.