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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResponse To Constituent Letter - Mail Packet - 7/21/2020 - Letter From Mayor Wade Troxell To Land Conservation And Stewardship Board Re: Local Agriculture And Food Production And The Natural Areas DepartmentMayor City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.416.2154 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com July 14, 2020 Land Conservation & Stewardship Board c/o Zoe Shark PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 Dear Board Members: On behalf of City Council, thank you for providing City Council and me with the July 13, 2020 memorandum regarding “Local agriculture and food production on Natural Areas Property” wherein the Board urged that the objectives for sustainable agriculture and food production be managed by departments other than the Natural Areas Department, as involvement in agricultural aspects may be a distraction from the core conservation mission of the Natural Areas Department. Thank you for outlining the Board’s four recommendations including those regarding the Flores del Sol project and future proposals for agriculture which should be vetted earlier by the Board. The Council is scheduled to review this item at the July 28 Work Session and we encourage you to view the proceedings of that night on FCTV, Zoom or via live streaming on fcgov.com. Thank you for your feedback on this important topic. Best Regards, Wade Troxell Mayor /sek Cc: City Council Members Darin Atteberry, City Manager Natural Areas Department 1745 Hoffman Mill Road PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.416-2815 970.416-2211 - fax fcgov.com/naturalareas naturalareas@fcgov.com Memorandum To - City Council From - Land Conservation and Stewardship Board (LCSB) Date July 13, 2020 Subject - Local agriculture and food production on Natural Areas Property _________________________________________________________________________________ The Land Conservation and Stewardship Board recommends that City objectives for sustainable agriculture and food production be managed by departments other than the Natural Areas Department, and that resources and responsibilities for local food production be held deliberately separate from the Natural Areas Department and its City and County dedicated funding sources. Four specific recommendations are provided on the next page. The Fort Collins Natural Areas program selectively protects lands, by purchase or conservation easement, when that land has specific conservation attributes. Investments are made to preserve ecological resources, maintain viewsheds, and provide community separators. Agriculture can and does occur on Natural Area conserved land, but agriculture is not a primary conservation value; rather, it occurs for subsidiary reasons. This Board finds that acquiring or managing lands for agricultural purposes is a distraction from the core conservation mission of the Natural Areas Department, except when agriculture is in direct support of specific conservation attributes. It also conflicts with the language of ballot measures that provide funding for Natural Areas. Incidental agriculture Lands with ecological, viewshed, and community separator qualities frequently have agricultural histories. When the Natural Areas program protects these lands, continuation of agriculture is sometimes a condition of the sale or conservation easement. Agriculture is then an incidental activity following conservation, and not a primary motivator of protection or management. In some cases, agriculture is an effective means to maintain land condition at low cost, even though the ultimate conservation goal is restoration of the land to its natural condition; this is a proven stewardship strategy at Coyote Ridge. There is no need to change management of incidental agriculture. Local food production The City’s goal of sustainable local food production is commendable. In a few places, Natural Areas may be appropriate places for pursuit of that goal. That does not mean that the Natural Areas Department should take on the role of planning the agriculture, establishing criteria, soliciting operators, managing contracts, monitoring agricultural operations, or any of the other myriad functions that will be required by a sustainable local food production program. Rather, the Natural Areas Department and this Board should advise about the appropriateness of proposed agricultural activities on protected lands. In 2019, the Natural Areas Department and the City issued a request for proposals (RFP) for local food production on Flores del Sol Natural Area, which is agricultural land near the Carpenter-Timberline intersection in south Fort Collins. Proposals have been received and evaluated, and a potential agricultural lease with Poudre Valley Community Farms is under consideration, for a ten-year term with optional five-year extensions. Recommendations 1. Continue the Flores del Sol project. The LCSB respects the advanced stage of the Flores del Sol procurement and believes it is in the best interest of the City to continue with the project until funds are available for restoration of this Natural Area. The balance among staff contract management costs, income produced by the lease, and avoided direct stewardship costs is unknown. Over time, the Flores del Sol experiment may help determine this balance. 2. Use the Flores del Sol experience as an opportunity to shift local food production responsibilities to a Department other than Natural Areas. 3. If so desired, develop a City strategy for lands dedicated to local food production, separate from Natural Areas and Natural Areas dedicated funding sources. 4. Future proposals for agriculture on Natural Areas should be vetted by this Board at early stages of consideration.