HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024 - Natural Resources Advisory Board - Work Plan
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City of Fort Collins
Natural Resources Advisory Board
2024 Work Plan
The Natural Resources Advisory Board serves as an advisor to the Fort Collins City Council
regarding sustainability policy and programs to achieve the goals and visionary "Big Moves" for
Our Climate Future. This board advises on many aspects of community resilience and
sustainability with a focus on water quality and availability for fish, wildlife and people,
greenhouse gas mitigation, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable behavior change, and
supporting the City's commitment to environmental justice.
With an understanding that environmental processes (e.g., photosynthesis, the water cycle,
etc.) are the building blocks of life and that human behaviors are leading to an expanding
human footprint and accelerating climate change effects on our natural and social
environments, the NRAB works to ensure the sustainability of the Fort Collins community.
Utilizing the perspective that the natural environment provides life sustaining services, which is
not exclusive to human life, the NRAB prioritizes sustaining ecosystem health and function, as
well as building social resilience, to maximize positive systems -level impacts in our approaches
and recommendations. The NRAB is particularly interested in and supportive of programs and
initiatives that recognize:
● the interconnectedness of social and ecological systems and taking bold action to
prioritize environmental health,
● the importance of identifying community vulnerabilities and implementing approaches to
increase the capacity to adapt to change,
● and that inequity acts as a driver of climate change.
To address these priorities, the NRAB will also collaborate with other boards by actively
engaging in joint board initiatives to encourage the goals of high functioning government and
high impact civic engagement as they pertain to the natural resource man agement challenges
and opportunities faced by the community.
Regarding those challenges and opportunities, NRAB has identified the following areas of
specific interest in 2024, with an overall view of integrating the principles of sustainability in each
target area:
● Our Climate Future
● Waste Reduction and Recycling
● Water Resources
● Transportation Planning, including the implementation of the Active Modes Plan
● Circular Economy
● 15-Minute City Concept Priority
● Nature in the City
● Local Agriculture
● Oil and Gas
● Night Sky Protection and Outdoor Lighting Requirements
● Equity and Environmental Justice
● Rights of Nature for Cache la Poudre River
● Resilient Urban Forest