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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Conservation And Stewardship Board - Minutes - 08/09/2006MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS LAND CONSERVATION & STEWARDSHIP BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A August 9, 2006 For Reference: Bill Bertschy - 491-7377 Mayor Doug Hutchinson, Council Liaison - 416-2154 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present: Michelle Brown, Gregory Eckert, Michelle Grooms, Vicky McLane, Greg Snyder, Linda Stanley, Karyl Ting Council Liaison Mayor, Doug Hutchinson Board Members Absent Bill Bertschy, Paul Hudnut Staff Present Natural Resources Dept: Rick Bachand, Geri Kidawski, John Stokes, Mark Sears Guests: Wally Cameron Agenda Review There were no additions to the agenda. Public Comments No comments Mayor Hutchinson: I have received very good feed back on the Natural Area Programs, people like what we have here. I believe that's one of the reasons why Money Magazine rated Fort Collins as "best place to live in the nation". I am pleased with what John and his staff is doing in terms of balancing the appropriate areas. Stokes: At the next Board meeting we plan on sharing data about Soapstone Natural Area. Review and Approval of Minutes Michele Grooms motioned to approve the July 12, 2006 minutes with corrections. Change the word strong to straw. Gregory Eckert second. The minutes were unanimously approved with changes. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board August 9, 2006 Page 2 of 5 Vangbo/Hersh Land Sales — Wally Cameron, Mark Sears Sears: The City of Fort Collins, for its Natural Areas Program, purchased the Hersh property several years ago with intentions of selling it all along. We would like to keep 34 acres, adding it to the land management of Cathy Fromme Prairie Natural Area, and sell the remainder three 2.7-acre lots. Such sale will recapture almost 50 percent of the cost of these acquisitions. The Vangbo property is a similar situation in that it consists of the sale of three thirty- five acre parcels in the Timnath Community Separator area. Each parcel will be subject to a Conservation Easement for the benefit of the City. Cameron: These three residential sites were purchased by the City for the Natural Areas Program, assuming that it would be possible to re -cluster and re -configure the lots for residential purposes in order to preserve a monolithic acreage of about 34.3 acres which would be added to the Cathy Fro'mme Prairie Natural Area. The Larimer County Commissioners office approved us in June 2006 for this subdivision. The City followed a two-step Larimer County Land Use process to meet -this "goal. When we sell these lots for our best estimate of minimum value, we will get somewhere between $550 and $608 thousand dollars back. We call this value recapture. The Vangbo property consists of the sale of three thirty-five acre parcels in the Timnath Community Separator, purchased in 2005 for $13,500 per acre. When we sell the property subject to conservation easements, which will allow limited development on a specific building envelope, we get about 58 percent of our purchase back. Cameron referenced the amended Hersh minor residential development map and theVangbo aerial view map, included in the Board packet for their review. Stokes pointed out easement properties, and the Vangbo and the Hersh properties on large maps brought into the meeting for the Board to review. Cameron pointed out lots on the Timnath Community Separator map. There was a brief discussion by the Board regarding the proposed sale of the Hersh and Vangbo properties. Linda Stanley made the following motion: Move that the Board recommends to Council that they approve the land sale of Hersh and Vangbo properties. The motion was second by Michelle Grooms. It was unanimously approved. Land Conservation & Stewardship Board August 9, 2006 Page 4 of 5 very difficult for us because we do not like killing animals indiscriminately. We do not have any relocation sites that we deem appropriate at this time. • Stanley: In regards to drafting comprehensive Urban Wildlife Management Guidelines, part of which will update prairie dog policies, have we been following those policies? • Bachand: Yes • Stanley: Is there a policy that states that you can do prairie dog management on only fifty acres per year? • Stokes: In a very specific situation there is a fifty acre cap, but in general there is not. You can read about it on-line under Fumigation section FU -1. • Snyder: John if you do write a soapbox, I think it would be good to include the population graph information from the presentation. It would be the starkest contrast that would make it easy for anybody to understand why the Prairie Dog Management has to be addressed now. • Stokes: At the very least I could articulate that. • Brown: It's important to mention the difficulty of relocation, and how it doesn't work well for the prairie dogs. I feel it's also important to mention management cost. • Grooms: How do you manage prairie dog birth control? • Bachand: The birth control methods will not be effective in every animal every time. First you need to get the densities to the way you want them, and then be strategic with doing only perhaps 70% of the population and then monitor the growth and contraction in those areas. • Snyder: What is the gestation of prairie dogs? • Bachand: They mate in the middle of fall and give birth in April Ranger Program Overview Presentation Bachand: The Ranger program was created in 1997. The Ranger's authorization is commissioned by the Chief of Police as "special police officers" to enforce Natural Areas regulations, and City of Fort Collins misdemeanors. The program started with two Rangers and has grown by one new Ranger per year from 2003-2005. The budget for 2006 is $357,833. Bachand presented an overview to the Board mentioning: - Budgeting for outcomes - Ranger Mission Statement - Ranger background and skills - Ranger duties - Standardizing trail signing - Safety and logistics for controlled bums - Working with Natural Areas crew - Most common visitors services and most common violations - Rangers in 2006 Land Conservation & Stewardship Board August 9, 2006 Page 3 of 5 Prairie Dog Update Bachand: At the March 2006 Land Conservation and Stewardship Board meeting I did a brief overview of the Prairie Dog Management Program. What I would like to do today is give you an update of what has been going on since then. Bachand showed the Board a presentation of prairie dog management updates discussing: - Why prairie dog management is an issue - What they are doing in regards to management, inventory and monitoring (2003- present) research and networking - Pineridge update — August 2006 - Colony change detection at Cathy Fromme and Colina Mariposa, Coyote Ridge and Hazaleus, Fossil Creek and Arapaho Bend, and in the Foothills - Population estimates 2004-2006 - Vegetation diversity vs. population density - The economics of prairie dog management - Where do we go from here? • Stokes: In regards to reproductive controls we have Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is a research arm of USDA, and they are going to be doing a study on our properties, of birth control for prairie dogs. It's part of a process to see if we can get an approved birth control method. They are investigating two kinds of birth control, one that will be injected and one that will be thrown out in rolled oats as bait. However, these forms of birth control, if approved, are 3-5 years away. • Bachand: This may not be the silver bullet, but it will add another tool and it is a non- lethal way of controlling prairie dogs. • Snyder: What is the life span of a prairie dog? • Bachand: 3-5 years. Inject able contraceptives are good for 3 years, and can be used on male and female prairie dogs. • Stokes: As far as educating the public on prairie dogs, we have posted flyers at Kiosks in our Natural Areas that have prairie dog towns. The flyer talks about prairie dogs, prairie dog ecology, the eco system, etc. Another thing we have done over the years is our Master Naturalist program, and over 50 percent of that program is dedicated to talking about prairie eco systems. • Linda: What about utility inserts. I think with the Master Naturalist Program you are contacting a select audience. • Stokes: I may write a soapbox in the near future, which will give me an opportunity to reach more people. • Stanley: There has to be a better way of controlling the prairie dog population than fumigation. • Stokes: There are other methods for instance we can trap prairie dogs and euthanize them and donate them to the raptor center, or trap and donate them to the black -footed ferret center. Trapping and relocating prairie dogs is very complicated, and may or may not be humane because it is very stressful on the prairie dog and many die as a result. There is no easy answer in terms of being humane to these animals, and this is Land Conservation & Stewardship Board August 9, 2006 Page 5 of 5 Grooms: What is the revenue that is generated from tickets and how does that offset the Rangers salaries? Bachand: The revenue is approximately one hundred thousand dollars, which goes to the general fund. Other Business • Stokes: Next month's agenda will include the results from the tagline meeting, and also we are starting the Soapstone management process so we will bring in that data to share. • McLane: Soapstone has been put on a preliminary list of World Heritage sites that will be nominated by the National Parks Service to UNESCO. UNESCO said that a site can not be nominated with out the owners support. I think it would be beneficial to all of us to hear the process, the pros and cons. • Stokes: I will call Ryan Finchum at CSU, and ask him to speak about world heritage sites at our next meeting. • Stanley: We need to have someone from the County come to one of the meetings and talk about their plan. Announcements Sears: There is a scheduled volunteer event on Sunday, September 23, 2006. It'll be a hike/picnic at Bobcat Ridge, lunch will be provided, and there will be guided tours of the area. The Grand opening of Bobcat is scheduled for Sunday, September 30, 2006. We have events scheduled every Saturday and Sunday for the month of October. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Submitted by Geri Kidawski Administrative Secretary