This is Birdnow.

Just outside Denver is a special bald eagle roost.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is roughly the size of Manhattan.

To the west, we can see the Rocky Mountains and to the east, Denver International Airport.

Here the army produce some of its dirtiest weapons, like napalm and saran gas.

Today the Arsenal is still a super fun site, but it's also home to over 300 types of wildlife,

including hundreds of species of birds.

David Lucas, a project manager for the Arsenal, takes us to the original roost that changed

the course of this polluted landscape.

It's a windy day on the prairie, and we can see a string of cottonwoods above an understory

of prairie grasses.

In the 80s, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a former US Army facility, was getting closed down

and they were trying to figure out its future.

And lo and behold, a handful of eagles started utilizing these trees right over here.

And at that time, remember, they were endangered.

So it was a pretty amazing site to see a handful of eagles that started using this.

Those couple of eagles are probably the reason that this place became a national wildlife

refuge.

Fast forward to now, and the eagles are flourishing.

Two pairs live here year round, and during the winter, up to 90 more migrates south to

fish in the refuge's lakes.

Discover more at birdnote.org.

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