FROM WAR EFFORT TO WILDLIFE: Exploring the History of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Beneath today’s grasslands and wildlife habitat lies a hidden history of homesteads, wartime production, contamination, and recovery.

Every year, visitors explore the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, often unaware of the remarkable history hidden beneath the prairie. The roads, buildings, rail lines, and military facilities that once shaped this landscape have largely disappeared—but their stories remain.

From War Effort to Wildlife brings that hidden past back to life through 23 historic locations once found within the U.S. Army’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Using rare historical photographs, readers can see what each site once looked like, learn how it functioned, understand its historical significance, and compare it with the same location on today’s Refuge landscape.

Beginning with homesteaders in the late 1800s, the book follows the land through World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It also traces the fourteen-year environmental cleanup that helped transform a contaminated chemical weapons facility into a 15,000-acre National Wildlife Refuge.

Approximately 11,000 disturbed acres were restored to native grasslands and wildlife habitat. American bison, once gone from the area, were reintroduced, along with endangered black-footed ferrets. Today, the Refuge stands as a striking example of how a landscape shaped by agriculture, war, industry, and contamination can be renewed.

Inside you’ll discover: The stories behind 23 historic sites on today’s Refuge Rare historical photographs paired with present-day locations The Arsenal’s role during World War II, the Cold War, Korea, and Vietnam The environmental cleanup that reshaped the landscape How native grasslands were restored and wildlife returned The transformation from military installation to National Wildlife Refuge
Perfect for readers interested in Colorado history, military history, wildlife conservation, environmental restoration, public lands, and National Wildlife Refuges, From War Effort to Wildlife offers a fascinating journey through one of America’s most remarkable landscape transformations—from homestead to arsenal to wildlife refuge.