HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 12/19/2017 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 169, 2017, AUTHORIAgenda Item 5
Item # 5 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY December 19, 2017
City Council
STAFF
Daylan Figgs, Senior Environmental Planner
John Stokes, Natural Resources Director
Ingrid Decker, Legal
SUBJECT
Second Reading of Ordinance No. 169, 2017, Authorizing the Use of the Non-Development Lease with the
Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act
Grant Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on December 5, 2017, places a Notice of Grant
Agreement on the 3,873 acres of land within Soapstone Prairie Natural Area subject to a Non-Development
Lease with the Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners. The grant will expand upon Bird Conservancy
of the Rocky' s (BCR) research and monitoring work on Soapstone Prairie and Meadow Springs Ranch to
implement conservation strategies and management for 19 high priority grassland birds that breed within the
Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and 28 high priority species at wintering sites in the Chihuahua
Desert of Mexico.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on Second Reading.
ATTACHMENTS
1. First Reading Agenda Item Summary, December 5, 2017 (w/o attachments) (PDF)
2. Ordinance No. 169, 2017 (PDF)
Agenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY December 5, 2017
City Council
STAFF
Daylan Figgs, Senior Environmental Planner
John Stokes, Natural Resources Director
Ingrid Decker, Legal
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 169, 2017, Authorizing the Use of the Non-Development Lease with the
Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act
Grant Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to place a Notice of Grant Agreement on the 3,873 acres of land within Soapstone
Prairie Natural Area subject to a Non-Development Lease with the Colorado State Board of Land
Commissioners. The grant will expand upon Bird Conservancy of the Rocky' s (BCR) research and monitoring
work on Soapstone Prairie and Meadow Springs Ranch to implement conservation strategies and management
for 19 high priority grassland birds that breed within the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and 28
high priority species at wintering sites in the Chihuahua Desert of Mexico.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
The Neotropical Migratory Bird Grant program is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with a
purpose of providing financial resources to conserve neotropical birds throughout the western hemisphere.
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 Caribbean. This category
of bird species includes high priority grassland birds found on Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, Meadow Springs
Ranch, and other properties in the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains (LFMTP) conservation area. The
importance of the LFMTP to 19 high priority grassland birds has been documented through work performed by
BCR and NAD and is reflected in the adopted Soapstone Prairie Natural Area Management Plan. However, the
LFMTP lies only within the breeding range of these species and has no influence on the conservation of these
important species and their habitat within their wintering grounds.
BCR in partnership with the Natural Areas Department (NAD), the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
(UANL), IMC - Vida Silvestre A.C. (IMC) and Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango (UJED) submitted a
2017 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant to continue actions to improve and restore habitat for
priority grassland birds on their wintering and breeding grounds initiated in 2016 and include:
1. Expanding the Sustainable Grassland Network in Chihuahua by including at least 10,000 additional
acres through collaborative management agreements with landowners, develop and implement range
and wildlife habitat improvements, and monitor birds and other indicators to assess baseline conditions.
ATTACHMENT 1
Agenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 2
2. Advancing knowledge of overwinter survival rates, limiting factors, habitat needs and winter movement
patterns for high-priority grassland birds by radio-tracking Baird's and Grasshopper Sparrows. Results
will inform habitat management and conservation strategies by BCR and other conservation
organizations.
3. Continuing the now decade long collaborative monitoring program on Soapstone Prairie and Meadow
Springs Ranch to inform management practices.
Monitoring efforts within the Laramie Foothills funded by past Neotropical Migratory Bird Grants have included
extensive point count surveys and demographic monitoring of grassland bird productivity on Soapstone Prairie
and Meadow Springs Ranch. NAD is using the point count data to identify important bird resources, breeding
sites and habitats that warrant special management attention, guide potential impacts such as energy
development away from sensitive species and habitats, and track population changes over time and in response
to management and other influences.
Monitoring will continue through the use of grant funds to track the effects of management efforts on grassland
bird density and distribution and will be used to help guide decisions concerning the potential for impacts
associated with energy development. This information will inform management decisions and the sustainable
stewardship of Soapstone Prairie.
The NAD match for 2017 grant will come from the Department’s 2015 purchase of the Non-Development Mineral
lease from the Colorado State Land Board of Commissioners (a total of $387,226 to be paid over 5 years) and
from funds spent on habitat management, law enforcement, and education within the Laramie Foothills region
between December 2014 and December 2018 ($152,000 spent in previous budget years and $60,000 of "new"
expenditures budgeted in 2018). The 2017 Neotropical grant represents the seventh successful grant application
and will provide $200,000 in federal funds to use towards this project. BCR will provide an additional $172,000
towards the project.
In order for the Non-Development Mineral lease to be considered as 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 agreement for the grant, to ensure the long-term conservation of the property, and to obtain the consent
of the USFWS prior to transfer or encumbrance of the property. The City has also entered into an agreement
with BCR obligating BCR to comply with the terms of the grant agreement.
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
The grant will provide $200,000 of federal dollars for use towards this project and will require a notice of grant
agreement be placed on the tracts included in the non-development lease 2015 be used as match towards this
grant. Using the funds already spent on conservation efforts as match towards the Neotropical grant provides a
great secondary benefit for the City.
BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
At its April 12, 2017 meeting, the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board recommended that City Council
approve an ordinance authorizing the use of fund previously committed to purchase a Non-Development lease
on State minerals underlying Soapstone Prairie Natural Area as match for a 2017 Neotropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Act Grant administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to place a Notice of Grant
Agreement on the Non-Development lease.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Land Conservation and Stewardship Board minutes, April 12, 2017 (PDF)
2. Evans Parcels and State Land Board Holdings (PDF)
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ORDINANCE NO. 169, 2017
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE NON-DEVELOPMENT LEASE WITH THE
COLORADO STATE BOARD OF LAND COMMISSIONERS AS MATCH FOR
A NEOTROPICAL MIGRATORY BIRD CONSERVATION ACT GRANT
ADMINISTERED BY THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
WHEREAS, in March 2008, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 037, 2008,
authorizing the use of the City’s Zimmerman Conservation Easement as a matching contribution
for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant administered by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (“FWS”); and
WHEREAS, in April 2009, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 032, 2009, authorizing
the use of a 440-acre portion of Bernard Ranch as a matching contribution for a Neotropical
Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant administered by the FWS; and
WHEREAS, in May 2010, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 053, 2010, authorizing
the use of a different 660-acre portion of Bernard Ranch as a matching contribution for a
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant administered by the FWS; and
WHEREAS, in June 2013, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 079, 2013, authorizing
the use of the Noonan Tract and the Bowes Homestead Tract as a matching contribution for
Neotropical Bird Conservation Act Grant administered by the FWS; and
WHEREAS, the City has worked cooperatively with the Rocky Mountain Bird
Observatory (“RMBO”) to carry out the terms of the previous grant projects involving the study
of neotropical birds, a category of bird species that includes high priority grassland birds found on
Soapstone Prairie Natural Area; and
WHEREAS, in 2015 the City entered into a Mineral Non-Development Lease (“Lease”)
with the State Board of Land Commissioners to protect the surface of approximately 3,873 acres
of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area from development of mineral rights owned by the State; and
WHEREAS, a copy of the Lease is attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit “A”;
and
WHEREAS, Soapstone Prairie has been identified as an appropriate area to be conserved
as habitat for neotropical birds in the region; and
WHEREAS, RMBO, together with other grant partners, is continuing to study neotropical
birds and has applied for an additional grant of $200,000 in 2017 grant funds from FWS; and
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WHEREAS, RMBO hopes to use this new grant to continue its neotropical bird study as
part of the Laramie Foothills Mountain to Plains Project, which includes Soapstone and 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 acquire the Lease, along with funds
spent by the City on habitat management, law enforcement and education in the Laramie Foothills
region, may be used to match the grant funds awarded by FWS to RMBO; and
WHEREAS, to commit the Lease as the matching contribution for the FWS grant, FWS
will require that the City record a Notice of Grant Requirements in the real property records of the
Larimer County Clerk and Recorder for the property; 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 Lease and to obtain the consent of the FWS prior to conveying or encumbering
the Lease; and
WHEREAS, as the Lease is an interest in real property, the City’s consent to these
restrictions constitutes an encumbrance on the City’s real property; and
WHEREAS, the City will also 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 high priority grassland birds that are found at Soapstone; and
WHEREAS, at its regular meeting on April 12, 2017, the Land Conservation and
Stewardship Board unanimously recommended that the City Council approve an ordinance
authorizing the use of the funds used to acquire the Lease as a match for the 2017 Neotropical
Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant and the placement of a Notice of Grant Agreement on the
mineral leasehold interest; and
WHEREAS, under Section 23-111 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, the City 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 the City Council first finds, by ordinance, that such 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 City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
Section 2. That the City Council hereby finds that use of the Lease as a match towards
a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant to the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, including
execution and recording of a Notice of Grant Requirements as described herein, is in the best
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interests of the City.
Section 3. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute a Notice of Grant
Requirements consistent with the terms of this Ordinance, along with such other terms and
conditions as the City Manager, in consultation with the City Attorney, determines are necessary
or appropriate to protect the best interests of the City, including, but not limited to, any necessary
changes to the legal description of the property rights to be encumbered, as long as such changes
do not materially increase the size or change the character of such property rights.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 5th day of
December, A.D. 2017, and to be presented for final passage on the 19th day of December, A.D.
2017.
__________________________________
Mayor Pro Tem
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 19th day of December, A.D. 2017.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
EXHIBIT A