HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/01/2008 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 037, 2008, AUTHORI ITEM NUMBER: 10
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: April 1, 2008
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Daylan Figgs
John Stokes
SUBJECT
Second Reading of Ordinance No. 037,2008,Authorizing the Use of the Zimmerman Conservation
Easement as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant Administered by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of this Ordinance on Second Reading.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 18, 2008, authorizes the use of
funds already spent on this conservation easement as a match towards a grant from the U.S.Fish and
Wildlife Service. USFWS will be entitled to monitor and enforce the conservation of the
Zimmerman property pursuant to the match obligation,which will be recorded against the property.
The $250,000 grant will fund Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory's (RMBO) critical research and
monitoring work to form conservation strategies and management for 28 high priority grassland birds
within the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Copy of First Reading Agenda Item Summary- March 18, 2008.
(w/o original attachments)
ATTACHMENT 1
ITEM NUMBER: 18
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: March 18, 2008
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL S FF: Daylan Figgs
John Stokes
SUBJECT JLL
First Reading of Ordinance No. 037, 2008, Authorizing the Use of the Zimmerman Conservation
Easement as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant Administered by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
g
The March Land Conservation and Stewardship Board Meeting was canceled, so the Board did not
have a chance make a formal recommendation on this matter. However,the Board was emailed this
AIS to review and 5 of 8 members replied in support of Council approval.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
AIL -AL
The City will apply the Zimmerman Conservation Easement; more specifically the funds spent on
the conservation easement,as match towards the grant. This will not obligate any additional funds,
but will use this completed investment of funds to obtain a secondary benefit in the form of grant
proceeds.
The Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory will receive$250,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS)to fund conservation work within the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and
in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Using the funds already spent on this conservation easement as match towards this grant will enable
the City to get a secondary benef o Wvee Wwill be entitled to monitor and
enforce the conservation ofthemmu t e match obligation, which will
be recorded against the prope The$2un cky Mountain Bird Observatory's
(RMBO)critical research and to inse ion strategies and management for
28 high priority grassland birds within the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and in the
Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico.
BACKGROUND
Neotropical birds are a group of birds that breed and raise young in the United States and Canada
and migrate to the warmer climates to winter in Mexico, Central America, South America and the
March 18, 2008 -2- Item No. 18
Caribbean. This category of bird species includes high priority grassland birds found on Soapstone
Prairie Natural Area and well as in the Laramie Foothill Mountains to Plains project(LFMTP). The
importance of the LFMTP to 16 high priority grassland birds has been documented through work
performed by RMBO and the hkAMI
r s ected in the recently adopted
Soapstone Prairie Managemen lan. ever F TP ' my within the breeding range of
these species and has no influ eon th onse at n of thes important species and their habitat
within their wintering grounds.
All of the priority grassland species breeding in the LFMTP over-winter in the Chihuahuan Desert
Grasslands in Mexico. Successful conservation of these species is dependent on conservation efforts
within both the breeding and wintering ranges.
The Rocky Mountain Birds Observatory, along with its partners in the grant (The Nature
Conservancy,Fort Collins Natural Areas Program,and Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon)will
address conservation of 28 high priority grassland birds through two geographically distinct projects
that focus on important breeding,migratory,and wintering areas. First,this project will help reveal
primary threats at each site that attribute to the decline of these species. The project will focus on
habitat protection,research and monitoring for 16 high priority species within the Laramie Foothills
in northern Larimer County. Second, the project will include research, monitoring, and outreach
to conserve these same species, plus 12 additional priority species on the wintering grounds in
Northern Mexico.
This project will continue worCun the o pical Mi atory Bird Conservation Act since
2002 to conserve high-prioritcIi ' r d birdApecies of western North America.
Specifically, the strategies employed in this project include: (1) years 3 and 4 of a regional
wintering grassland bird research and monitoring program in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico to
provide information for conservation strategies and management of at least 28 high priority
grassland bird species in this globally important region for North American grassland birds; (2)
outreach and education in this same region to train grassland bird biologists, and provide
management tools for livestock producers,range managers,and conservationists to enhance habitats
for grassland birds; (3)protection of 1150 acres of shortgrass prairie in a large conservation area in
northern Colorado that supports at least 16 high priority grassland bird species; and (4) research
and monitoring in this same region to provide information for habitat protection and management
of Mountain Plovers, Burrowing Owls, Long-billed Curlews, and other priority prairie birds.
In order for the conservation easement to be considered as the match for the USFWS grant,the City
will be required to record a"Notice of Grant Requirements"that will require the City to be bound
by the terms of the grant agre et jol
th ong term conservation of the
property,and to obtain the con t of Rn
s ncumbrance of the conservation
easement. The City will also e r into M obligating RMBO to comply with
the terms of the grant agreemen C.
ATTACHMENTS
I. Location map.
ORDINANCE NO. 037, 2008
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE ZIMMERMAN CONSERVATION
EASEMENT AS MATCH FOR A NEOTROPICAL
MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION ACT GRANT ADMINISTERED
BY THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
WHEREAS,the City purchased a conservation easement on the Zimmerman Property to the
south of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area("Soapstone")in January,2008,at the cost of$900,000;and
WHEREAS, the Zimmerman Property consists of 1,140 acres and is more particularly
described as:
The E %2 of the NE '/<of Section 11, Township 1 l North, Range 69 West of the 6'h
P.M., County of Larimer, State of Colorado, Less that parcel as conveyed by Deed
recorded September 28, 2007 at Reception No. 2007074240, and
All Section 12, Township I North, Range 69 West of the 6' P.M., County of
Larimer, State of Colorado, and
The W '/2 and the W %:of the E '/Z of Section 7,Township 11 North, Range 68 West
of the 6" P.M., County of Larimer, State of Colorado; and
WHEREAS, the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory ("RMBO"), together with other grant
partners, is conducting a study of neotropical birds, a category of bird species that includes high
priority grassland birds found on Soapstone; and
WHEREAS, RMBO has applied for a grant of$25,000 from the United State Fish and
Wildlife Service("FWS"), which RMBO hopes to use to continue its neotropical bird study as part
of the Laramie Foothills Mountain to Plains Project, which includes Soapstone, and in other
geographical areas that the birds inhabit; and
WHEREAS,the FWS grant terms will require RMBO to match the grant funds awarded;and
WHEREAS, the funds already expended by the City to purchase the conservation easement
on the Zimmerman Property may be used to match the grant funds awarded by FWS to RMBO;and
WHEREAS,in order to commit the conservation easement as the matching contribution for
the FWS grant, FWS will require that the City record a Notice of Grant Requirements applicable to
the conservation easement in the real property records of the Larimer County Clerk and Recorder;
and
WHEREAS, the Notice of Grant Requirements requires the City to be bound by the terms
of the grant agreement between FWS and RMBO, including the obligation to ensure the long term
conservation of the Zimmerman Property and to obtain the consent of the FWS prior to conveying
or encumbering the conservation easement interest on the Zimmerman Property; and
WHEREAS, the City will enter into an agreement with RMBO requiring RMBO to comply
with the terms of the grant agreement between FWS and RMBO; and
WHEREAS,the data acquired from the study will allow City staff to more effectively form
conservation strategies and manage 28 high priority grassland birds that migrate to Soapstone; and
WHEREAS, under Section 23-1 l 1 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, the Council is
authorized to sell or otherwise dispose of any and all interests in real property owned in the name
of the City, provided that Council first finds by ordinance that the sale or disposition is in the best
interests of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the Council hereby finds that executing and recording the Notice of Grant
Requirements as described herein is in the best interests of the City of Fort Collins.
Section 2. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute a Notice of Grant
Requirements consistent with the terms of this Ordinance.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 18th day of
March, A.D. 2008, and to be presented for final passage on the ay of April, A.D. 2 8.
May r
ATTEST:
4UL')� . . a'�
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 1st day of April, A.D. 2008.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk