DeBeque Milkvetch is one of Colorado's most endangered native wildflowers. Known only from the Roan Plateau area and near the town of DeBeque, the DeBeque milkvetch is thought to survive across a total range of only about 300 square miles and in only eight populations. It is commonly located on barren outcrops and along drainages, but the plants are sometimes found on steep side-slopes as well.  It shares some of its range with the DeBeque phacelia, another imperiled native wildflower and a Candidate for Endangered Species Act protection that has been languishing unprotected for more than twenty five years.

DeBeque milkvetch was discovered and described in 1984 by a Brigham Young University botanist. The native wildflower, a member of the pea family, is at risk of extinction due to noxious weeds, roads, recreation, livestock, and climate change. Of particular concern is the explosion of oil and gas drilling in the Roan Plateau area and the valleys around DeBeque. The base of the Roan Plateau is already heavily developed with drill rigs, roads, and other drilling infrastructure. Industry insiders forecast 10,000 new wells in Garfield County in the coming decades, more than are found in Saudi Arabia and Iran combined. The plant's rarity dramatically increases its risk of extinction as well.

Center for Native Ecosystems, with the Colorado Native Plant Society, petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the DeBeque milkvetch under the Endangered Species Act in 2004.  Through a subsequent court settlement signed in August 2006, the Fish and Widlife Service is now required to make a finding regarding the petition by February of 2007.

A DeBeque milkvetch plant growing at Pyramid Rock, outside of the town of DeBeque, Colorado.  Photo (c) Center for Native Ecosystems.