HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 12/19/2017 - SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 170, 2017, AUTHORIAgenda Item 6
Item # 6 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. 170, 2017, Authorizing the Use of the Evans Tract 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 240-acre Evans Tract purchased in 2015 as part of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. 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. 170, 2017 (PDF)
Agenda Item 12
Item # 12 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. 170, 2017, Authorizing the Use of the Evans Tract 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 240-acre Evans Tract purchased in
2015 as part of Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. 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
2016 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant to implement actions to improve and restore habitat for
priority grassland birds on their wintering and breeding grounds.
The project goals are to continue efforts to:
1. Assist NAD sustain the full suite of grassland bird species found in the LFMTP conservation area through
monitoring and research aimed at informing management in real time.
2. Create a network of managed grasslands across the full migratory range of grassland birds that can
maintain populations in the face of ongoing habitat loss and climate change. Specifically in northern
Mexico, the goal is to create a Sustainable Grasslands Network (SGN) of properties in collaboration with
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Agenda Item 12
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IMC, and other conservation partners in the region of at least 500,000 acres.
3. Improve knowledge of when, where and why grassland bird populations are limited across a full annual
cycle and migratory range to guide on-the-ground management practices and investment of
conservation dollars to where they can have the greatest impact on species population growth.
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 oil and gas
development away from sensitive species and habitats, and track population changes over time and in response
to management and other influences. In addition, NAD is using the reproductive and demographic data to
determine baseline reproductive rates and assess effects of recreation and grazing management.
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 2016 grant will come from the Department’s purchase of the 240 acre Evans Tract
($330,000). The 2016 Neotropical grant represent the sixth successful grant application and will provide
$200,000 in federal funds to use towards this project. Colorado Parks and Wildlife provided an additional
$270,000 of in-kind match to the grant for work conducted by CPW staff on grassland bird monitoring, research
and analysis in the LFMTP region.
In order for this land purchase 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 the Evans tract
purchased in 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 unanimously recommended that
City Council approve an Ordinance authorizing the use of funds previously expended to purchase the 240-acre
Evans Tract at Soapstone Prairie as match for the 2016 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant and
to place a Notice of Grant Agreement on the Evans Tract.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Grassland birds are identified as a conservation target within the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area Management
Plan (2007).
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. 170, 2017
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE EVANS TRACT 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, a recent 240-acre addition to Soapstone Prairie known as the Evans Tract,
purchased in 2015 and shown on Exhibit “A”, attached and incorporated herein by this reference,
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 2016 grant funds from FWS; and
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 purchase the Evans Tract may be
used to match the grant funds awarded by FWS to RMBO; and
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WHEREAS, to commit the Evans Tract 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 Evans Tract and to obtain the consent of the FWS prior to conveying or
encumbering the Property; and
WHEREAS, the City’s consent to these restrictions on its property 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 purchase the Evans Tract as a match for the 2016
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant and the placement of a Notice of Grant
Agreement on the Evans Tract; 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 Evans Tract 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 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
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changes to the legal description of the property to be encumbered, as long as such changes do not
materially increase the size or change the character of the property.
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
Legal Description
THE NE 1/4 AND TliE N 1/2. OF TliE SE 1/4 OF SECTION 23, TOWNSHIP 11 NORTH, RANGE
69 WEST OF THE 6TH P.M., COUN1Y OF LARIMER, STATE OF COLORADO
EXCEPT RIGHT OF WAY FOR COUNTY ROADS AS EST"ABUSHED AND/OR USED