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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 8/10/2021 - Memorandum From Zoe Shark Re: Leadership Planning Team (Lpt) Notes From July 26, 2021 Follow-Up - Trails Planning 1745 Hoffman Mill Road PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 ZOË SHARK / INTERIM DIRECTOR NATURAL AREAS DEPARTMENT 970-221-6311 /P zshark@fcgov.com /E MEMORANDUM Date: July 30, 2021 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Kelly DiMartino, Deputy City Manager Seve Ghose, Community Services Director From: Zoë Shark, Interim Natural Areas Director Subject: Leadership Planning Team Notes July 26 Follow-up In the July 26 LPT summary there was a note from Mayor Pro Tem Gorgol requesting information, “how various recreation projects were studied. Was it through the lens of Human Dimensions in Natural Resources? Or was it more through a lens from the recreation side of planning?” The purpose of this memo is to respond to that request. The Natural Areas Department is guided by the City Council adopted Natural Areas Master Plan, 2014 which sets the vision, “Through the work of the Natural Areas Department, a diverse system of conserved and restored lands will connect community members to nature. These conserved lands will protect nature and contribute to the health and wellbeing of the community.” The Natural Areas Department mission is to conserve and enhance lands with natural resource, agricultural and scenic values, while providing meaningful education and appropriate recreation opportunities. The Natural Areas Department is funded by two dedicated sales taxes, one at the County level (Help Preserve Open Space) and one in Fort Collins, Open Space Yes!. While the County sales tax has no spending restrictions, the City’s natural areas sales tax ballot language requires that at least 80% of the funds be spent on land acquisition and restoration, while no more than 20% of the revenues can be spent on operations (includes recreation planning), trails, and maintenance. The Natural Areas Department’s Budgeting for Outcomes offers support the Environmental Health outcome area and the Safe Community outcome area (Natural Areas Rangers).            City of Fort Collins In alignment with the Master Plan, the Natural Areas Department mission, and the funding structure, ecological conservation is the lens that all decisions are filtered through, while providing meaningful education and appropriate recreation opportunities. Since 2019, the Natural Areas Department has used the Visitor Use Impact and Decision (IDF) framework to make decisions about trails and other visitor use proposals. The IDF is a series of 21 questions that analyze four categories of considerations for new visitor use opportunities: x ecological impacts x cultural resource impacts x social considerations x natural areas (administrative) considerations If the impacts assessed within the ecological table are “High” then, in keeping with the mission, Council- adopted policy, and the funding structure of natural areas, the proposal does not move further. The IDF contains a comprehensive project summary that lays out all the issues for the reader - how it came about, information about the site, stakeholder interest etc. The IDF also documents best management practices associated with each question. The Maxwell Trail Project was included in the Foothills Natural Areas Management Plan process in 2018 and 2019, which included visitor intercept surveys, outreach to non-visitors, a workshop with 33 people from 21 conservation and recreation organizations, a Hike With A Planner public activity, online feedback, and two open houses (including one specifically for cyclists). There was engagement in the process from 2,464 people that was used within the IDF to analyze recreation proposals. Learn more at https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/foothills-plan Staff also studied the possibility of a new trail at Maxwell Natural Area, and an IDF was completed, https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/files/maxwell-trail-idf-table.pdf A blank IDF that explains each part of the form is at https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/files/visitor-use-impact-and-decision-framework- blank.pdf Thank you for your interest in natural areas and their stewardship. As always, staff is available for further conversation, natural areas tours, or other engagement activities at Council’s request.