Running Creek (1972-1978)

The Running Creek Field Station (RCFS) was operational under the directorship of WII’s founder, Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, throughout the 1970s. RCFS was located in Elbert County, between Colorado Springs and Denver, and sat on 640 acres of short-grass prairie that was part of the Front Range of Colorado.  640 acres is equivalent to one square mile, which is also referred to as a “section.”  This was deliberately chosen for its common use in land calibration and was a standing referent for the diverse studies at the RCFS.

For a personal account and overview of the institutional theory and programming of the RCFS, download a presentation deck created by WII board member Frank Miller.

RCFS Images

Public day. “Seminar on the prairie”.
Volunteers putting canvas on the structure for the shelters. Photo by Kevin Bone.
One of three Running Creek shelters on site, all connected by boardwalks. One shelter functioned as a kitchen and food preparation area, another was called “the lab”, where studies took place. At night people slept in them.
Seminar with John McCale at Running Creek workshop.
Volunteers building the shelters. Photo by Kevin Bone.
Biologist conducting a class on ecology of the grasslands.
Group of workshop participants in conversation on the rocks, Running Creek.
Running Creek workshop student at the trailhead of the Field Station.
Workshop participant standing next to architect Paolo Soleri’s “bells”.
John McCale holding a seminar on the shelter deck.
Elizabeth Wright Ingraham, Frank Miller and others in the shelters.
Rick Parker, staff member (foreground right) with Tim Tregarthan, economist (top right).
Student on a boardwalk connecting shelters, with weather station in background. NCAR grant supplied Running Creek with a weather station which staff and students monitored.
Victor Hornbein, architect (in black) speaking at an “Architect on the Prairie” event.
The late John Willett, Running Creek staff member (on right).
Field Station prairie.
Storm on the prairie at 7,000ft elevation.
Storm on the prairie at 7,000ft elevation.
Storm on the prairie at 7,000ft elevation.
Storm on the prairie at 7,000ft elevation.
Storm on the prairie at 7,000ft elevation.
Yucca plant.
Kevin Bone, currently Director of Wright-Ingraham Institute’s Field Stations program.
A “go-back” field. The first year of succession after a field was taken out of wheat cultivation, sunflowers always proliferated as the dominant species.
Elizabeth Wright Ingraham (on right).
Students studying creek ecology.
John Cobb, visiting scholar (on right), on a public day.
Setting the first frames for the shelters.
Frank Miller drilling anchors for the tower for the wind generator to provide electricity to power the weather station and the electric tractor.
Frank Miller drilling anchors for the tower for the wind generator to provide electricity to power the weather station and the electric tractor.
John Torborg, architect and staff member.
Students walking to creek to study the creek ecosystem.
Cat Biro (left) with the late John Willett (right).
Lunch on the prairie.
Prairie hawk.
Prairie vegetation finding roots in the cracks of the rocks.
John Beildelmen, Colorado-based ornithologist (in red coat) with students, conducting bird census at sunrise.
The three shelters with the weather station in background.
Grasslands.
Workshop class on the decks with Paolo Soleri’s wind chimes in the background.
Jane Loth, student.
Analyzing data collected during the day, under the shelter lit by Coleman lanterns at night.
Dry farmed wheat field.
Map of Running Creek Field Station. White design area indicates the technics lab, which was determined by the shape of the bedrock so as to not disturb the prairie.
Trailhead entering the Field Station.
Releasing a weather balloon.
Student group at the Field Station.
Electric tractor, hauling porta-potty waste and recycling out of the Field Station. Waste was weighed before it was taken out in an input/output experiment.
The calm after the storm at sunset.
Studying in the shelters.
Dave Deppen, one of the first staff members.
Putting helium in the weather balloon. Elizabeth Wright Ingraham’s daughter, Christine, on left.
First Institute Staff, Summer 1972 (L to R: Angelo Pacifici, Rick Parker, Malcolm Ware, Dave Deppen)
First Institute Staff, Summer 1972 (L to R: Angelo Pacifici, Rick Parker, Malcolm Ware, Dave Deppen)

Publications

Energy Project, 1976
Food, Fuel, and Shelter, 1976
Lead Time for Assessing Land Use, 1976
Query Into the Quarter Century, 1975