Group calls on Coloradoans to “Bee the Change” through planting wildflowers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - It's National Pollinator Awareness Week - and to celebrate, one Colorado group is asking kids and families across the state to plant wildflowers with the aim to protect our declining bee population.

Great Outdoors Colorado is giving away 100,000 "Wilderflower" seed packets to create more habitat for the state's pollinators at partner locations around the state including libraries, museums and recreational centers.

The packets include wildflower seeds native to the region, which need no pesticides or special soil to survive. The advocacy group also used wildflowers that require less water to help with water conservation efforts.

Great Outdoors Colorado is a state-funded board created in 1992 that invests a portion of the Colorado Lottery into helping to preserve the state's parks, trails, wildlife, water and open spaces.

The effort is part of Generation Wild, a campaign that works to connect kids and families to the nature around them.

According to Generation Wild, 20% of Colorado's bumblebees are currently at risk of extinction. A report done last year found that bumblebees are declining in Colorado’s Southern Rocky Mountains region at a rate of 72%.

You can find a full map of locations to pick up free seeds here.