Bird Conservancy of the Rockies wins Group Achievement Award

The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies has won The Wildlife Society’s 2025 Group Achievement Award for their work protecting birds and their habitats through science, education and stewardship.

The Group Achievement Award recognizes an organization whose outstanding achievements benefit both wildlife and TWS.

“Bird Conservancy of the Rockies is thrilled to be recognized,” said Brant Ryder, the organization’s chief conservation science director. “This award is a testament to our commitment and ability to work closely with the wildlife conservation community.”

Based 20 minutes outside of Denver, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (BCR) operates from Colorado to the Great Plains, Mexico and beyond. Their work centers on a multidisciplinary, integrative approach to wildlife conservation involving a focus on both the ecological and human dimensions of conservation challenges.

In recent years, BCR’s scientific accomplishments have included learning more about the flight patterns of black swifts (Cypseloides niger), understanding nonbreeding grassland birds in the Chihuahuan desert, and using bird surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions. These projects work toward filling key knowledge gaps, improving conservation return on investment, and ultimately, helping recover declining bird populations.

BCR’s stewardship team collaborated with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service to map opportunities for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) restoration following forest fires.

On the education side, they trained high school students in bird banding skills.

“It is the combination of these three programmatic areas that are the vital legs of the conservation stool,” Ryder said.

For much of its work, BCR relies on its partnerships. “We also want to recognize that this work does not take place in a vacuum, and there are countless other organizations that contribute,” Ryder said. “I hope that being recognized with the group achievement award opens up more collaborative opportunities to work with new partners and in new ways that we haven’t previously.”