Evergreen Lake is a magnet for both outdoor recreation seekers and wildlife. Sometimes, these two interests do not intersect well, such as when golfers share fairways with bull elk or fishers unwittingly stand between elk cows and their calves.

Recognizing the need to address these challenges, three organizations formed a volunteer team called “Wildlife Watch” with the goal of offering education and guidance for lake visitors.

Wild Aware works with the Evergreen Audubon Society and Denver Parks and Recreation to recruit and train volunteers for the program.

Evergreen Audubon’s Nature Center staff has assembled a variety of teaching materials inside a wagon which the volunteers roll to various locations along the lake path. Displaying the cart laden with antlers, pelts, and skulls has given Wildlife Watch volunteers the means to entice curiosity and start conversations. Over a period of four weekends in September and October 2020, more than 400 lake visitors stopped at the cart to learn about the abundant wildlife in Colorado and the Evergreen vicinity, drawing both adults and children.

Many lake visitors have little knowledge of wildlife species and habits, and the Wildlife Watch volunteers enjoy sharing their own personal experiences as well as wildlife facts.

The 2021 program kickstarted Memorial Day Weekend, right before elk calving season.

Besides the crowd-pleasing elk, visitors can enjoy sightings of osprey, bald eagles, great blue herons, and other species.