Keeper of the Forest. The Mulch Lady. The Bluebird Lady.Ruth Ann Steele has been known by many titles throughout her 93 years. Her love of Black Forest and its abundance of wildlife is one thread that ties those titles together.Steele grew up on a farm in southeast Nebraska; corn was the key crop. “All you have to do is throw the kernels out on the ground and it will sprout,” she said.She chose teaching as a career and immersed herself in that job even before getting a teaching degree.”Nebraska didn’t have any rules or regulations then about how old you could be or how many degrees you might have or whether you had any or not, so I took advantage of that and taught right out of high school,” she said. She did go on, however, to graduate from Peru State Teachers College in Nebraska; she and James, a fellow teacher, married shortly after graduation.Their careers ó she taught music, he taught literature ó brought them to Colorado. James Steele taught in Denver, mostly at Metropolitan State University. Ruth Ann taught in Cherry Creek schools for about 25 years; and, she said, “My heart is still partly there.”They moved to Black Forest in 1979, finding paradise on 300-plus acres. James died about 15 years ago.Twenty-five years ago, Steele, a member of the Colorado Forestry Association, started the Black Forest Slash and Mulch Program (bfslash.org). Under the wildfire mitigation and recycling program, homeowners are encouraged to clean up the natural debris, or slash, from their property and bring it to a site to be ground up into mulch in “a frenzy of chipping.” People can then take the mulch to enrich their soil and their gardens. The program typically starts in May and runs through part of September.Steele managed the program for more than 20 years, earning her that title of The Mulch Lady. Wooded lands, she said, “Need to be cared for and thinned. … I just thought it would be good to have a place to bring all of that stuff.”Then, there are the bluebirds. Steele many years ago built and maintained a lengthy bluebird “trail” with scores of nesting boxes.”The bluebirds followed me around, that’s the absolute truth,” she said. “I had no idea they were so desperate for a place to make their home.”The bluebirds of Black Forest have a good life, she said. “The only thing they have to worry about out here is basically water and the hawks.” She recalled throwing seed out one day when a sparrow hawk suddenly swept down and got a bluebird. “It was dead before it knew what hit it,” she said. “I had a front-row seat, which is not something I relish.”In addition to birds, there are plenty of other animals to observe on her land, including a flock of wild turkeys and “lots of antelope, lots of deer,î Steele said. ìIn fact, I have one deer that I call Sir Reginald. He’s very majestic; he’s an eight-pointer. He walks around like he owns the world, which I think he does. … Every once in a while, the girls follow him.”Steele also has a few of her own animals óìa little horse and a little donkey. They just live here in paradise. They have a lovely, warm dry place to sleep and lots of food whenever they want it.”Steele frets about parts of Black Forest becoming “urbanized.””I’ve seen a lot of people move in who have a hard time adjusting to what you have to do to live in the Black Forest. Ö You don’t go into a place and all of a sudden change it; it just doesn’t work. You have to recognize the animals, the wildlife that roams around. The weather, it changes what you do.”These days, she said, she leads “a dull life,” but there are always chores to do and the animals to watch. She no longer drives, so friends transport her when needed.Among those friends is Barb Dixon; they forged a connection through music.”A big part of her life and history with Black Forest has been her wonderful, wonderful music,” Dixon said of Steele, who has a piano in her living room. “She was our organist at the Black Forest Community Church for many, many years. … All you have to do is say a song and she’s got it with both hands all over the piano and any key you want.”
