Location: Park County
Size: 6200 acres
Designated: 2013
Landowner: USFS
The proposed East Lost Park Natural Area hosts two excellent populations of the rare plant, Porter feathergrass (
Ptilagrostis porteri G2/S2), which is endemic to the South Park region of Colorado. Along with this highly rare and imperiled plant, at least three other rare plant species are found in East Lost Park: Slender cottongrass (G5/S2), livid sedge (G5/S1), and slender-flower sedge (G5/S1). The concentration of multiple rare grasses and sedges is in part due to the fact that East Lost Park supports an extensive high quality fen. This wetland is an uncommon feature throughout South Park and around Colorado that includes floating mats of peat. The wetland also supports a disjunct population of the star reindeer lichen (
Cladina stellaris), ranked as critically imperiled (S1) in Colorado.