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Home My WebLink AboutTHE ELLIE AT OLD TOWN NORTH - PDP240002 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - Supporting DocumentationTH SMITH ENVIRONMENTAL & ENGINEERING Delivering Smart Solutions for Planning, Permitting, & Design June 19, 2024 Ryan Van Horn Van Horn Development 1617 Wazee St Denver, CO 80202 RE: Ellie at Old Town North - Prairie Dog Management Dear Van Horn: In response to your request for a proposal, this letter details the scope of work that Smith Environmental and Engineering (SMITH) will complete to remove prairie dogs from the 0.8-acre property at Suniga Rd and Blondel St in Fort Collins, CO (Figure 1). Three management options are presented: live relocation, live-trapping and donation, and fumigation. TASK 1: PRAIRIE DOG MANAGEMENT PLAN SMITH will prepare a plan that describes the protocols for removing prairie dogs from the 0.8-acre property. This plan will be submitted to the City of Fort Collins as a part of the development review process. SMITH will respond to one round of comments and edits, as necessary. If the preferred management option has not been selected, SMITH's plan can address multiple options, including live relocation, donation, and fumigation options (described below). TASK 2: BURROWING OWL SURVEY All prairie dog colonies, active or inactive, provide potential habitat for the Burrowing Owl. The Burrowing Owl nests in Colorado from mid-March through October each year. If trapping or fumigation activities are proposed during the nesting season, Burrowing Owl surveys must be completed. SMITH will complete owl surveys following CPW's recommended guidelines. TASK 3, OPTION A: LIVE RELOCATION Relocation is only a management option during certain months, because prairie dogs cannot be relocated when the females are pregnant and/or pups are still dependent on their mothers. If prairie dog removal is proposed between July and November, prairie dogs will be accepted for relocation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Subtasks for this method are described below. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Permit A permit is required from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) for relocating prairie dogs. SMTH will work with Van Horn Development and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to obtain a CPW permit. WWW.SMITHDELIVERS.COM 250 Perry Lane Dacono, CO 80514 phone: 720.887.4928 fax: 720.887.4680 Population Estimate The CPW permit application requires a population estimate for prairie dog colonies that are to be relocated. This information also allows for accurate planning and preparation of the release site. SMITH will complete a population estimate. Coterie Identification Within the greater colony, prairie dogs live in family groups called coteries. To reduce mortality caused by the relocation process, prairie dogs need to be moved as a family unit. Males are very territorial, so this will reduce hostility between males. SMITH will identify and map the coteries within the colony so that family units can be moved together. Each coterie will be identified by a number. Burrow Dusting CPW requires that all prairie dog burrows at the capture site be treated with Delta Dust (Deltamerthrine — EPA Reg.#432-77Z) one week prior to trapping. SMITH's licensed applicators will dust the burrows one week prior to trapping activities. Live Trapping SMITH will utilize up to 400 Tomahawk live-traps baited with sweetened rolled oats to capture prairie dogs. The trapping period will include three days of pre-baiting during which prairie dogs are allowed to acclimate to the traps, followed by seven days of live trapping. Traps will be activated and monitored weekdays between 0800 and 1700 hours. Captured prairie dogs will be removed from the trapping field within four hours of capture and housed in their cages in a protected area on site until the daily trapping period is complete. All prairie dogs will be transported to the release site the day of capture or housed up to four nights in a CPW approved facility. If the temperature is below 32° F or above 75°, prairie dogs will be moved to a protected area within 1.5 hours of capture. Each captured prairie dog will be removed from its trap by a trained wildlife technician and treated for fleas with Pyranha Insecticide (Pymethrin - EPA Reg. #21165-1). The sex, coterie and approximate age of each prairie dog will be recorded, and the prairie dog will be returned to its trap. Any non-target animals that are trapped will be released immediately. Live Transport Prairie dogs will be transported to the release site in a covered pickup truck bed or covered trailer. Prairie dogs will remain in their traps during transport. The USFWS will be responsible for the release of the prairie dogs at the chemical depot. SMITH will transfer the prairie dogs to them at the release site or an agreed upon location near Pueblo. Fumigation Live-trapping projects do not capture 100% of the population; there are always a proportion of individuals that are not catchable. Because of this, SMITH will fumigate all burrows within the project area using pressurized exhaust to exterminate any remaining prairie dogs after the trapping period. The PERC utilizes compressed exhaust collected from a small internal combustion engine. Upon collection, the exhaust is cooled and compressed for distribution into burrows. SMITH will utilize this machine with four hoses to fill burrows with engine exhaust, which contains a high level of carbon monoxide gas. Once a burrow is filled with the gas, it is plugged with soil whereby all animals in the burrow should succumb to the gas. After the initial treatment, SMITH will perform two follow-up inspections and re-treat all open burrows found during that time. Pressurized exhaust can only be used on burrows located 100 feet or more from any habitable structure due to Colorado Department SMITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENGINEERING of Agriculture regulations. All burrows requiring treatment within 100 feet of a structure will be treated with CO cartridges, which are not regulated against such use. The fumigation consists of one initial treatment and two follow-up treatments. However, prairie dogs can survive all three treatments or migrate onto the site from nearby properties. If needed, SMITH can provide additional fumigations for an additional fee. Completion Report After fumigation, a Completion Report will be prepared and submitted to Van Horn Development. TASK 3, OPTION B: DONATION If prairie dog management activities are scheduled to occur between December and May, live trapping for donation to a raptor rehabilitation center is the only feasible option. Even then, trapping is discouraged in April and May due to the potential for separating pups and mothers. The following subtasks describe this approach. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Notification CPW requires a permit only when prairie dogs are transported alive. For non-permitted projects, CPW requests communication prior to the start of trapping and submission of documentation of the number of prairie dogs removed and donated from project sites following project completion. SMITH will contact the DWM for the area and submit a CPW Dead Prairie Dog Transportation Report upon project completion. Live Trapping Trapping procedures are generally the same as those described in Option A. Prairie dogs will not be removed from their traps before being euthanized and will not be treated with insecticide. Euthanasia SMITH utilizes compressed carbon dioxide (COz) gas to euthanize prairie dogs. Captured prairie dogs will remain in their cages which will be placed four at a time into gas chambers. Following the American Veterinary Medical Association procedures for euthanasia using COz, SMITH will slowly subject the captured prairie dogs to the gas, which will put them to sleep and kill them within about 20 minutes. SMITH will also perform cervical dislocation on each animal after gassing to ensure death. Donation SMITH will store all euthanized prairie dogs in freezers at the SMITH facility for up to one month. This ensures that any disease vectors, specifically fleas, are dead. SMITH will donate dead prairie dogs to the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program in Fort Collins where they will be used as food for rehabilitating raptors. SMITH has been donating prairie dogs to this facility for over five years. Fumigation Fumigation procedures after the trapping period are the same as those described in Option A. Completion Report After fumigation, a Completion Report will be prepared and submitted to Van Horn Development. TASK 3, OPTION C: FUMIGATION SMITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENGINEERING Fumigation with pressurized exhaust (PERC) can be conducted essentially year-round, though daytime temperatures must be above freezing for proper functioning of the machine. Because the prairie dogs are completely lost from the ecosystem under this management option, Fort Collins may require a substantial in-lieu fee. Fumigation Fumigation procedures are the same as those described in Option A. One initial treatment and two follow-up treatments are included in this fee, though additional treatments can be provided for an additional fee. The need for retreatments increased when trapping does not occur as the likelihood of surviving individuals is increased. Completion Report After fumigation, a Completion Report will be prepared and submitted to Van Horn Development. SMITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENGINEERING Figure 1: Project Area . � �... .,;. . . Legend � �F - � � �. '' `` ` p . �• � �`.� �, � Project Area �' " { � • '�?' �k, � ' . — � . � , ! � r^�- � ' � �; ry �!' _ . _ � - ` ` , . . ' r•' _ '� h ' ��i � p �'. . _ � , � � � � � • j��'�-�". 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