“I never had anything to do with lakes, I do not know why they picked me… I am honored and sort of bemused.” That was Martha “Ricky” Weiser’s reaction upon learning that Boulder County had decided to rename Pelican Marsh, the westernmost pond at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, after her.
The pond dedication was held in February 2002. Maybe Ricky Weiser had nothing to do with the lakes, but she surely had a lot to do with the shaping of Boulder County and the City of Boulder open space programs for nearly 50 years.
Since her arrival in Boulder in 1956, Weiser became a tireless advocate for land-use planning, environmental preservation and open space protection. According to Will Toor, Boulder’s mayor in 2002, “Of all the people I know who regularly attend council meetings, she’s the one who brings the most to the process.” Weiser helped write the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan, the Non-Urban Development Policy and the Open Space Charter. She was also instrumental in the creation of the state’s Natural Areas Program, in which the state works with landowners to preserve land with unique natural features. One of the first parcels of land to receive NAP designation was 105 acres of Weiser’s land.
Weiser was so well-versed in public speaking that people often asked her to speak on their behalf. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties asked her to run for office. She always declined, saying “I’d rather be the burr under the saddle than the horse.” Weiser was much more than an environmental activist. She was a true renaissance woman. She held a degree from Yale Drama School, and before moving to Boulder had worked in the theater in New York City for several years. Once in Boulder, she spent 25 years with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and in 1974 became the first woman to direct a play for the festival. She was also an honored member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international non-profit group which studies the Middle Ages by recreating crafts and activities of that period. Under the title of “Baroness Kryel of Windhover Cliff” she taught stage combat and often said she could fight off anything as long as she had a sword in her hand.
Weiser died at the age of 77 in 2002, just a few weeks after the Walden Ponds’ dedication. So passed a truly remarkable woman who, in the words of Ron Stewart, then County Commissioner, “like a wetland, has had a transformational effect on Boulder County by raising the level of civil discourse, improving the government process and saving our environmental treasures.”
Winter Months Bird Checklist
Download the Birds of Walden Ponds Checklist.
Seen Year-Round
- American Coot
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- American Wigeon
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black-billed Magpie
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Canada Goose
- Downy Woodpecker
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Horned Owl
- Green-winged Teal
- House Finch
- Killdeer
- Mallard
- Northern Flicker
- Red-trailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ring-billed Gull
- Song Sparrow
- Western Meadowlark
Winter Visitors
- American Tree Sparrow
- Bufflehead
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Merganser
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Gadwall
- Herring Gull
- Hooded Merganser
- White-crowned Sparrow