[0:01] Start time. These meetings are held in a virtual hybrid
[0:05] format via Zoom webinar. I will start the webinar now.
[0:10] Just a friendly reminder to all PosTC members, presenters and
[0:13] public speakers. Please make sure you're within two inches of
[0:17] the microphone when speaking. This helps ensures we maintain an
[0:21] accurate public record. Members of the committee. Are you ready?
[0:25] We are. All right, we're recording. Thank you, Nick. Good
[0:31] evening. And welcome to the November 20 19th year 2025
[0:36] meeting of the Boulder County Parks and open space advisory
[0:39] committee. I'm Terry speaker of Postac, vice chair for this
[0:44] term, and I am filling in. For Janet George for
[0:47] tonight's meeting. We will start off with. A roll call.
[0:55] Christine johnson. Present. And Carol Barley? Present.
[1:05] Derek Turner. Present. Boy. Are you just doing this for
[1:10] memory? Yes. Tony Lewis, president. Trace Baker? Present. Vicky Lawrence?
[1:19] Present. John White. Here and Joan. Letz. Here. Thank you.
[1:28] And the next topic will be approval. Of the October
[1:33] minutes. Do we have any discussion? No discussion. Do we
[1:39] have a motion to approve? I so move second. I
[1:45] second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstain. Tony was
[1:53] not here last week, so he abstained. So the motion
[1:56] is passed, the minutes are approved. Before we get started
[2:00] on the agenda. I'm anticipating that this might be a
[2:05] long meeting tonight, given the number of agenda items. And
[2:09] we may have a number of people registered to make
[2:11] public comments. For those making public comments, please limit your
[2:17] personal time to three minutes and pool time to six.
[2:21] Minutes. And please consider not repeating points made by previous
[2:26] speakers. And also, if you're speaking on an engent topic,
[2:33] please remember to keep your comments relative to that topic.
[2:38] We will have an opportunity towards the end of the
[2:41] meeting to comment on. Items that are not on tonight's
[2:47] agenda. And when somebody is speaking, please be respectful and
[2:52] keep. The meeting moving. By refraining from clapping or cheering
[2:59] or other expressions of support or opposition. And for members
[3:04] of the public speaking. Please start with your name and
[3:09] approximate location of your residence. You don't have to give
[3:12] your exact address. So we'll start with first topic. And
[3:22] we have Melissa Arnold. Presenting the acquisition of the Stillwater
[3:29] Bend conservation easement. Great. Thank you very much. As Trace
[3:35] said Melissa Arnold. I'm a land officer in the real
[3:37] estate division at parks. And open space, and I would
[3:40] like to read the real estate land commitment for this
[3:44] item in the next two that are acquisitions on our
[3:46] agenda. For much longer than parks and open spaces. History
[3:50] of stewarding open space the land in this community has
[3:54] been. An important to American Indian, urban, native, indigenous and
[3:59] other cultural communities that continue to live here. We're making
[4:03] meaningful changes to how we do our work that include
[4:05] them, incorporate their perspectives. And honor their land stewardship. Legacy
[4:11] parks and open space operates within modern legal constructs of
[4:14] land ownership to steward Buller county open space and accomplish
[4:17] these efforts on behalf of our community. So I'm going
[4:21] to be presenting on the Stillwater Bend conservation easement. This
[4:27] property. Is located in the northeast part of the county,
[4:33] west of Longmont, south of Highway 66, and it has
[4:37] been in the hep family for decades. So it's just
[4:42] west of the unincorporated town of Hygiene and not too
[4:45] far from the annex boundary of the city of Longmont.
[4:49] Pellet crossing. Open space is to the southeast gauge. Open
[4:53] space to the south. The Braley Raimi Western mobile properties
[4:57] are to the west and. A dodge. Dollahan family Farms
[5:03] conservation easement is to the north. Here's a closer view
[5:07] of the property, showing those surrounding open space lands that
[5:10] I just mentioned. And then just to help orient everybody,
[5:15] here are some Google Earth images of the property. With
[5:20] respect to where the town of Hygiene and Pella crossing
[5:22] trailhead are located. And then just a closer up of
[5:26] the property itself. Okay. Digging into some of the details
[5:35] here. This is a 140 acre property along Hygiene Road.
[5:40] It is bisected by the BNSF Railway. And. Consists of
[5:47] three parcels. That strip that you see, the flagpole is
[5:51] actually under ownership with the landowner and it's connected to
[5:54] the peace north of the railway. The property includes 1700ft
[5:59] of St. Brain Creek. As you can see from the
[6:02] aerial imagery, it also has many reclaimed gravel ponds. And
[6:06] in the southwest portion of the property, there's one that
[6:08] was filled in by the 2013 flood that has extraordinary
[6:12] ecological values that I'll get. Into more later on in
[6:15] the presentation. Has about ten acres of hay fields, four
[6:19] existing agricultural structures. There are the location of the agricultural
[6:25] structures. Two barns, equipment shed and lean to. The landowner
[6:34] irrigates the land anywhere with anywhere from ten to 40
[6:38] cfs per year, depending on the year from the Chapman
[6:41] and McCaslyn ditch and the ditches indicated in the light
[6:45] dashed blue line that kind of runs under the railway
[6:48] and then down south to. The hygiene road. In the
[6:53] hay field that the landowner irrigates with this water circled
[6:56] in blue and indicated. With the comment bubble, and then
[7:00] there's a dry hay field to the south. Just pointing
[7:04] out where the St. Vain Creek is. And the ecological
[7:12] backwater area. So when this property was impacted by the
[7:16] 2013 flood, They worked with the county to restore sections
[7:21] of the creek. But. This gravel pond that was filled
[7:25] in by the flood was left untouched for wildlife habitat,
[7:29] and it's resulted in an ecologically unique backwater area that's
[7:32] rare along the St. Brand Creek as it provides off
[7:35] channel habitat for native fish, beaver and other aquatic species.
[7:42] Since 2019, the Hap family has partnered with our departmental
[7:46] wildlife staff to introduce and monitor the health of aquatic
[7:49] species in need of conservation. And in 2023. They were
[7:56] the recipient of the 20. Excuse me. Yeah. The 2023.
[7:59] They were the recipient of. The Land Conservation Environmental Stewardship
[8:03] award that Boulder county gives out for allowing the northern
[8:07] red Belly Dais recovery project to release these fish, these
[8:11] rare Colorado fish, back into the environment here on this
[8:14] property. This is a tier. One species of greatest conservation
[8:18] need, and this involved multiple students. Across many backgrounds, and
[8:24] they were engaged in helping to raise the fish and
[8:26] release them into the ponds in 2022. So this area
[8:30] continues to be a really valuable ecological area to gather
[8:34] scientific data and an opportunity to introduce species to once
[8:38] again thrive in the St. Frain Creek. There are some
[8:42] pictures. This is that ecological backwater area. A view of
[8:47] the property from Hygiene Road and you may recognize that
[8:51] tiny little rowboat that's on that island in the middle
[8:54] of the picture? It's sort of an iconic view of
[8:56] this property. And we have. In the upper left we
[9:03] have a section of the creek. And then below is
[9:07] the bigger lake on the property. And then just an
[9:10] example of some of the mature, beautiful trees that are.
[9:13] There's quite a few areas of thick trees, and then
[9:16] also, as you see in this picture, Shrublin grassland. And
[9:20] a lot of this was restored, like I said, after
[9:22] the flood. With Boulder county as part of the Reach
[9:25] Three recovery project. And just a couple of pictures. The
[9:29] Barnes that I pointed out earlier on the map. So
[9:35] Boulder county comprehensive plan designations. These maps are intended to
[9:39] be illustrative rather than specific. In the following designations are
[9:42] indicators of importance, but not confirmation that these features exist
[9:46] on the property. So there is a view protection corridor
[9:51] along Hygiene Road. Riparian habitat connector along the St. Grain
[9:58] Creek. Can I take questions? Yeah, I'm just questioning about
[10:04] the view protection core. Yes. What are those circles? That's
[10:09] just how it comes up on the gis layer. Basically
[10:11] shows you that along the road. That is where the
[10:16] protection is. And if you look at it closely, it
[10:19] gives a rating like a number of. How? It's a
[10:24] rating of the view protection quarter, but basically that's what
[10:27] comes up. On the GIS layer when you pull it
[10:29] up. Sorry. Trey speaker. Post hack members, please remember to
[10:34] identify yourselves when speaking. Okay, great. It has the riparian
[10:38] habitat. Connector along the St. Van Creek critical Wildlife habitat
[10:43] for the St. Brain corridor. Prebble's Meadow jumping Mouse Conservation
[10:48] Area, zone one mouse management area. Riparian area. Archaeological sensitive
[10:56] travel routes. Significant agricultural lands of statewide importance. And I
[11:01] just want to show here the proximity of wetlands in
[11:04] the comprehensive plan. And often these go to the edge
[11:06] of private properties because they're private. And there haven't been
[11:09] ways for us to get on and do any data
[11:12] collection, but. You can bet that there are wetlands on
[11:14] this property. So the deal transaction. The existing configuration is
[11:21] that there are three parcels in four development rights with
[11:24] the property today. So there are three separate addresses, and
[11:28] you can see that that flag pull piece goes with
[11:30] the. North part of that northern parcel labeled zero hygiene
[11:34] Road. We would propose to reconfigure them into four, I
[11:40] think I might have said. Four parcels. There were three.
[11:42] We're looking to reconfigure them into four. And the flag
[11:48] pole would be. Dissolved in with the respective properties that
[11:53] you see. The lower part of the flag pole are
[11:56] dissolving in with the green and the upper. Part of
[11:58] the flagpole property dissolving in with the blue, and I'll
[12:01] tell. You more what those are. We have what would
[12:04] be an 88 acre preserve. Approximately, because we're doing the
[12:09] survey now. So these are all approximate. Approximately seven acre
[12:12] west. Lake house lot. Approximate 13 acre East Lake House
[12:17] law and approximate 32 acre North Lake House lot. So
[12:22] for $1,700,000, these 140 acres would be reconfigured. Into four
[12:27] parcels and protected with two conservation easements and two restrictive
[12:31] covenants, which I'll detail in a minute. And it would
[12:34] remove one development, right? So that 80 acre, that approximate
[12:41] 88 acre preserve would be encumbered with a restrictive conservation
[12:46] easement that would protect the abundant conservation values, including that
[12:50] ecological backwater area. In the same brain creek corridor that
[12:53] I talked about earlier. No residential uses would be allowed.
[13:02] And the Chapman McCaslan water rights would be tied to
[13:04] the property. The West Lake house lot would be encumbered
[13:09] with what we call a house lock conservation. Easement. It
[13:11] would permit one residence and structures. Accessory to the permitted
[13:16] uses on the property. The approximate 13 acre East Lake
[13:22] House lot and the north Lake house lot would both
[13:26] be subject to restrictive covenants that would both permit one
[13:31] residence and structure as accessory to the permitted uses. On
[13:34] the property. So two conservation easements and two restrictive covenants.
[13:39] So a very exciting result of this negotiation is that
[13:41] the landowner in the county will enter into an agreement
[13:45] allowing departmental staff and its partners to continue. Continued access
[13:52] to the ecological backwater area of the preserve for its
[13:55] ecological and educational research and monitoring. So we're very thankful
[13:59] to the landowner for agreeing to that. And staff recommends
[14:03] approval. This property has been on the county's priority list
[14:07] for many years, and the opportunity to finally preserve this
[14:11] land into perpetuity will ensure that there will be limited
[14:14] development. It'll. Protect unique aquatic and wildlife habitat along the
[14:18] St. Vain Creek and add to hundreds of acres of
[14:21] contiguous open space and conserved conservation easement land in the
[14:25] area. And the fact that, as I mentioned, We're allowed.
[14:29] Continued access to that area is quite remarkable. So at
[14:33] this time, staff request. That Posak recommend this project to
[14:36] the board of County Commissioners for approval, and I would
[14:39] be happy to take your questions. Question. Let's start to
[14:42] the right with Joan. Yes. Joan loots Posac and thank
[14:47] you for that presentation. The area around the creek is
[14:51] just biologically valuable, and I didn't. Know about the red
[14:55] belly days, but it was pleasant to see ducks paddling
[14:58] around. I'm just. Wondering. Not having read the conservation easements
[15:05] and so on, In the restricted covenants. Some of this,
[15:10] like, for example, the preserve area that would allow up
[15:13] to 5000 square foot structures. Does that mean the existing
[15:21] barn that's there in the southeast corner, or in addition
[15:24] to. The barn. That would be included. Yes. So 5000
[15:27] total. Okay. All right. Because some of these square footages.
[15:33] Are quite large. For. 6835. Hygiene. The west Lake house
[15:40] a lot. It'd be up to 11,000. Square foot structures,
[15:45] and I'm just wondering. If it was desired to. Build
[15:50] in one of those areas. That. Might be in a
[15:56] floodplain, for example, would they have to go through the
[15:59] same administrative procedures that anybody else would have to go
[16:03] through. Yeah, thanks for asking that question so I can
[16:05] have the opportunity to share why this is a great
[16:08] preservation deal? Because, yes, first of all, they will still
[16:11] be subject to all the. Regular community planning and permitting
[16:15] reviews. That would happen through a site plan review process.
[16:17] And as you all know our land use code is
[16:19] very strict on that, so they're subject to all of
[16:22] those restrictions, floodplains and all that. This is an additional
[16:25] layer on top of that. And so our conservation easement
[16:28] program staff, our CE team, would be reviewing any proposals
[16:31] carefully to ensure they're in compliance with the conservation easement
[16:35] there will be with that particular parcel. Being a house
[16:38] lock. Conservation easement will also have other restrictions on protecting
[16:41] the conservation values on the land as to the size
[16:44] that. Is quite a standard that we will allow landowners
[16:48] when they have given up a lot of rights. To
[16:50] conserve their land that we will permit what is a
[16:52] threshold limit of the county's house sizing. So a 6000
[16:57] square foot limitation is not unusual for our transactions. And
[17:03] also for a house lot. And as I say, in
[17:05] comparison to the parcel preserve, which is purely a preserve
[17:08] with no residential uses and then to have some accessory
[17:11] structures is also a normal thing as well. To give
[17:14] them the ability to store equipment and have garages, things
[17:18] like that. So this is a pretty standard square footage
[17:21] restriction. Okay. I don't understand how the barn was allowed
[17:25] to be built fairly recently in a critical habitat zone.
[17:31] Is that just something that you can get a variance
[17:34] for? Well. That all happened through the regulatory department of
[17:38] Community Planning and permitting. And the Hep family. They are
[17:43] impeccable with their stewardship and their care for the land,
[17:46] and they absolutely went through all the right processes and
[17:48] are very thoughtful and careful and. I think I can't
[17:52] speak directly to that process because I work at parks
[17:54] and open space and. Didn't review it because there was
[17:57] no conservation easement on it at the time, but I
[18:00] can say that anything was approved, went through that rigorous
[18:04] process. And you'd have to look at details to see
[18:07] what was discussed. But you can bet that. That was
[18:11] handled as best as it could. And wherever it was
[18:16] put was something that had a lot of thought and
[18:18] care into it and. It is on public record. Okay.
[18:23] And just one additional thing, which is that although the
[18:26] background information we were provided describes the floor, as undisturbed
[18:30] grassland and trouble. And unfortunately, There are mostly ways visible
[18:36] from Hygiene Road. For example, a dense, homogeneous monoculture, smooth
[18:42] broom grass, which probably started along the roadside, but it
[18:45] spreads, and as far as I can see, and of
[18:47] course, it's private land, so I couldn't go on it.
[18:50] But also there are groups of tiesl, non need or
[18:53] black. Locust, crack willow, and a great amount of russian
[18:57] olive trees around the ponds, for example. And russian olives
[19:00] are in the list. Be noctose weed species in Colorado.
[19:05] Because it competes with our native cottonwoods that provide rucine
[19:08] and nesting sites for birds. But they may not be
[19:13] aware of this. These things are insidious. And noxious weeds
[19:18] are great. A threat almost. It's climate change. To the
[19:23] biological diversity. On these parcels, but I'm hoping that the
[19:30] county could do something to encourage the removal. Of the
[19:32] russian olive and encourage the planting of cottonwood trees, for
[19:37] example. Or do the conservation easements not address this? Even
[19:42] if they don't, I'm hoping that the access allowed to
[19:44] the county. In the preserve area would encourage communication because.
[19:50] Restoring natives would make the property more valuable and pleasant
[19:54] to the owners as well. Yeah. Excellent, Joan. Thank you
[19:56] for that. Well, first I'll just say that. In the
[20:00] real estate division. We do acquire these properties as is.
[20:03] We have to take advantage of preserving them when the
[20:06] landowners are ready. So that's what we're able to do.
[20:08] Now. But the fantastic part about putting conservation easements or
[20:11] restricted covenants on these that they then go into the
[20:14] careful stewardship of our CE team, our conservation easement team,
[20:17] who have regular contact with these landown. Landowners as they
[20:20] do their stewardship visits, and we pull in resources of
[20:23] our weed staff, our Wilde staff and we bring the
[20:27] management plans. We have conversations like this, and it's a
[20:30] whole nother way to provide support to the landowner, education,
[20:33] encouragement for them to make exactly what you just said
[20:35] those changes, the conservation event itself won't make steadfast require.
[20:39] Requirements if you need to remove these things by such
[20:42] and date, but they are subject to the state laws,
[20:44] and we do work with them. Like we will other
[20:48] landowners that are interested. But we work with them to
[20:51] manage, help them come. Up with a plan to manage
[20:53] their weeds, and that is a benefit of having our
[20:55] conservation easement. Team work with them over the years. Thank
[20:58] you. Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. John. Vicky. Vicky
[21:04] Lawrence Posak. I just have a quick, actually. Just question,
[21:09] is the backwater area connected via any kind of channel
[21:14] to the same brain river? Or is it all just
[21:15] groundwater that keeps the water in? Yes, great question I've
[21:20] had. To learn a lot about this from our wildlife
[21:21] team, who spend a lot of time out here. Running
[21:24] these projects, and they're familiar with the area. So I
[21:26] went out on site and learned some more. So, yes.
[21:29] That's what makes it unique, is it's called an off
[21:31] channel kind of backwater. Area so that the water does
[21:34] run through into there allows for some really unique habitat
[21:37] for the fish and other species to get off the
[21:40] creek and reproduction purposes. And then it does lead back
[21:44] into the creek. So it's opportunities to have a place
[21:47] to release. For example, these red belly. Days, have them
[21:50] get to a place where they're large enough, confident enough
[21:52] to get out. Into the creek, and then they can
[21:53] exit back out into that. Into that creek. So, yes,
[21:57] it is connected to the St. Rain Creek. Okay, thank
[21:59] you. Tony. I'm still formulating some questions. Okay, Derek. Carol.
[22:09] Carol byerly posec. My question is. How much development. Would
[22:16] be possible absent this deal. So there would have been
[22:22] an additional house, possible, a fourth development. Right. And the
[22:27] houses could have gone. Into various locations on the preserve
[22:31] piece, which is the part that we're most concerned about.
[22:34] To protect with the conservation easement and the conservation values.
[22:38] So we're able to direct those three remaining building rights
[22:42] to other locations. And I also want to take this
[22:44] time to point out that. It's hard to project exactly
[22:47] what's going to happen in the future and the city
[22:49] of Longmin is not very far away, and there's always
[22:52] been in the back. Of our minds. What would happen
[22:54] if there were to be some day a flagpole annexation
[22:57] and. The properties could be divided into way more smaller
[23:00] pieces. And this would be prevented because the documents all
[23:03] will prohibit annexation and division, which would then create more.
[23:07] Houses. But to answer your question, right now, four houses
[23:10] would be possible without these protections. Placed in various locations
[23:14] with these protections. Three houses in very specific locations. But
[23:19] if it went on the market. And. Longmont had access
[23:24] to it. It could be worse. A lot of things
[23:27] would have to change because it's not annexed right now,
[23:29] but. That would be possible. Okay. Yeah. That would be
[23:34] possible. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Christine. Christine Johnson
[23:40] Posack. I'm wondering if beavers are a factor in the
[23:44] backwater. As well. Yes. In fact, they're active beavers. Back
[23:48] there. There's a dam. In the lodge and this is
[23:51] excellent habitat for them. This kind of habitat is so
[23:55] unique on the St. Brain corridor, and so we're really
[23:58] excited about that. And is there any plan to manage
[24:00] them away as they have been at some other properties?
[24:06] This is a conservation easement, so the county, as you
[24:08] know, won't own it. It's still going to be owned
[24:10] by the Hep family and have these restrictions stored by
[24:13] our department, and that is not something that is possible
[24:17] under the conservation easement. The AdA Acre Preserve Conservation amusement
[24:21] will be very strict with protecting its conservation values. So,
[24:25] yeah, the beaver will be encouraged to stay. I had
[24:29] a question about water rights. I know that. With prairie
[24:37] run. The water rights figured into some of the water
[24:40] there, and I'm wondering. How? I assume. Somebody. The beaver
[24:48] owns the water that's in the back water. How and
[24:53] why is that being allowed to happen? And is it
[24:55] secure for the future? Why is what being allowed to
[24:58] happen. Is the backwater an impoundment of water? And is
[25:02] their concern about that? There's no concern about any of
[25:08] the water on this property that I'm aware. Of it
[25:11] is all fed. Because these were gravel mines. They're all
[25:14] groundwater fed. And then some of this is fed from
[25:16] the creek as well, because as we showed, that broke
[25:19] into. That area with the flood. And then the beavers
[25:24] have impounded it. And so it is. I know of
[25:28] no concerns about that in terms of water rights. Right.
[25:32] And then I had a question whether there's going to
[25:34] be. Any other plan changes to the other lakes. No.
[25:41] Nothing is planned at this point. Everything is pretty much
[25:44] to remain as is. Of course, there are acts of
[25:47] nature that change things. But there's just. The landowner will
[25:51] continue to use and manage the land as they have.
[25:54] And I want to register. That. We're going from zero
[26:00] houses to possibly three. I understand. That there is some
[26:05] sacrifice in order. To. Save the preserve area, and the
[26:12] worst could happen. But it makes me feel a little
[26:16] sad. Yes. And I hear you. Thank you for sharing
[26:20] that. And I will say that there are zero houses,
[26:23] but there could be four. And to get the landowner
[26:26] to the table. We had to allow for them to
[26:29] retain some of their development rights. So they could get
[26:33] some of their economic value back on the land. I
[26:36] get that. It's very adult math. Thank you. Perfect. Tony,
[26:41] have you formulated a question, or. Derek. Derek Turner, pozak
[26:45] and thanks. Good questions. Christine, I appreciate the explanation. Because.
[26:52] My first question is, is the subdivisions and the partial
[26:56] boundaries, have that been, has that been vetted by county
[26:59] planning. Do they have to go through a full blown
[27:01] subdivision process? For what? For taking three parcels and making
[27:07] four. That is something that the county can do through
[27:11] this process. Through a division of land. That is. So
[27:15] if you're a landowner, you do have to go through
[27:17] the subdivision process. But when you work with our department
[27:20] to do an open space deal. We can use the
[27:22] division of land process that the county has. Okay, good
[27:25] question. And I guess with that in mind, especially. $1.7
[27:29] million to get a subdivision. And. These houses not guaranteed,
[27:35] right? They have to go through the process. But that
[27:38] seems like a really great deal for the landowner and
[27:40] a lot of money. I would love to hear a
[27:42] little more about. Why? There's no public access. There will
[27:47] never be public access. Right, because it's private. Land. And
[27:51] I hear about the preserve and the education and the
[27:54] study. I would love to hear a little bit more
[27:57] about why this is a really good use of $1.7
[28:00] million. This is actually an excellent deal for the county.
[28:07] One development right in this area is worth an. Extraordinary
[28:12] amount of money. And the ability to restrict these parcels
[28:15] from ever being further divided, annexed. To be able to
[28:18] restrict the square footage on them to what they are,
[28:21] to be able to conserve the conservation values and prevent
[28:23] disturbance of, especially that whole area that's under the preserve,
[28:27] which is really the gem. Of the conservation on these
[28:30] properties. Is. All I can say is that our staff
[28:35] feels like we negotiated a fantastic deal for this. And
[28:39] we have been working with the hep family for years
[28:42] to try to come to a deal. And everybody feels
[28:45] very positive about this outcome. And often when landowners have
[28:50] this much property. They do want to retain some development
[28:53] rights, and if we were to have purchase more, this
[28:56] would have been two, three, four times more, depending on
[29:00] each of those houses, because of the value of not
[29:02] just that development. Right. Because of its location along the
[29:05] edge of a private body of water. Far off any
[29:08] loud roadways. All these things that make for that development
[29:12] right to be so pristine. And I definitely understand what
[29:16] you're saying about knowing houses going in, wanting to understand
[29:20] how that is a good deal. But all I can
[29:21] tell you, it's a good price. I just felt a
[29:25] tab. I passed over the mic. I just like to
[29:30] add to that Janice Wism, real estate division manager. Thanks,
[29:33] Melissa. That was a really good explanation. Could you go
[29:35] back to the slide that shows the current configuration of
[29:39] the parcels. Thank you. This one here. Okay? And remind
[29:45] everybody how large the green outlined one is. 88 acres.
[29:51] It's going to be 88 acres. But what is it
[29:53] now? It is right now. 93 or something is 93.
[29:57] Okay, so there are three legal parcels there now. The
[30:01] green one can legally split into two under the state's
[30:04] one per 35 law. All they have to do is
[30:07] record a deed to do that. So there's no land.
[30:09] Use process. To get that division done, which is why
[30:12] they have four development rights with the property. They also
[30:15] can then go into site plan review for all four
[30:19] of those and go through the process. To get approval
[30:22] to build their homes. So what I'm hearing is, You're
[30:27] talking about going from zero to three houses. Or adding
[30:31] and creating a subdivision. We're doing the opposite. We are
[30:33] going from four to three, and we're reconfiguring it so
[30:38] that we can preserve the part. That's really important. In
[30:41] that scenario right there. So we are definitely getting rid
[30:44] of the one development, right, which is worth at least
[30:47] the 1.7 that Melissa is talking about, and I would
[30:49] encourage you to think about it that way. Adult math.
[30:54] There you go. Thank you, joan. This is Joan Lax
[31:00] Posaic. And in the future, it would be good for
[31:03] us to have access to the language of the conservation
[31:07] easements in any restrictive covenants because. Just so we know.
[31:15] What they say, it could be anything. Without us being
[31:19] able to read it. So thank you for that question,
[31:21] Joan Janice Wisman, again. That is not what we're going
[31:25] to provide to you. I'm sorry. We are. Giving you
[31:27] the details in these memos and giving you the presentation
[31:30] of the outlines of what's in those documents. But they
[31:33] are long documents. They're legal documents. It's part of our
[31:35] job to do that, and we are giving you the
[31:39] important parts of that, but. It is not your job
[31:41] to read through them and parse through that. We are
[31:44] telling you, and we just need you to acknowledge and
[31:47] understand that we are giving you the details of the
[31:51] value that's coming out off of these properties through this
[31:54] purchase of a conservation easement. But we don't even have
[31:58] the board of county commissioners review these documents because that's,
[32:01] our job, and we work with the county attorneys to
[32:03] do that in. Those documents changed constantly. Between when we
[32:07] first start talking with the landowner and get them under
[32:10] a letter of intent. All the way through closing. So
[32:13] we welcome your questions, but that's a detail that we're
[32:16] not going to give you those documents in your packets.
[32:20] Okay, but. Will those be filed in the comment? They
[32:23] ultimately get filed, yes. We have to get through the
[32:27] closing where we pay for the interest. And immediately after
[32:30] the closing, they're filed in their public record. And then
[32:33] we have a website. That we add them to. So
[32:36] you have to give us a few days to get
[32:38] it added. But then you can go click on the
[32:40] property and then you can see the documents there. Okay?
[32:43] Because it would be good to just at least get
[32:45] the highlights. I'm sorry. We're not going to do that.
[32:48] We're in the middle of negotiating the details with these
[32:50] landowners, and we're working on all of the due diligence
[32:53] and all of the language. Constantly through the deal. And
[32:57] what we're doing now is we're telling you this. Is
[32:59] the strategy. This is the outline of the deal. These
[33:02] are the deal terms. They aren't going to change unless.
[33:07] We actually get Commissioner approval to change them, but we're
[33:09] going to go present to the commissioners the same deal.
[33:12] We'll get the approval. We'll try to close it. That
[33:14] way. If there's some snafu in what that is, then
[33:18] we will go back. To the commissioners to get approval
[33:20] of the change. But this is our 50 year history
[33:24] of doing it this way. And it's just not something
[33:27] that we're able to give you because it's, part of
[33:29] this confidential negotiation that's happening. We're telling you the public
[33:33] part. That we can tell you now, and you're just
[33:35] going to have to wait until after. Closing and things
[33:37] have been recorded. And I'm sorry to be firm about
[33:41] that, but that's the answer. This is Melissa Arnold. Again.
[33:45] I will offer that I love legal documents and conservation
[33:48] easements as does our CE team. I'm not kidding. So
[33:54] if you would like to ever make a meeting to
[33:56] go over them together. They're fascinating, they're complex, and I'd
[33:59] be really happy to walk through. Them and just kind
[34:02] of talk about. What they mean and help maybe explain
[34:07] some of that, okay, because I am an attorney. So
[34:11] I have interest in it. Yeah, maybe, like, after the
[34:13] deal or something, we could even look. At these, so
[34:15] just let me know. It's so hard to know what
[34:17] we're. These are the important parts that we feel you
[34:20] need to make the deal, so thank you. John. Wright
[34:25] posek. Conservation easement preclude using the hate fields. That have
[34:35] to be natural. Or is it? They continue to use
[34:37] it with. Yeah. So the areas that were circled on
[34:39] the map, showing. Which. Ones. Sorry. I thought I had
[34:43] that there. The earlier pictures showing you where the hay
[34:47] fields are, they are going to be allowed to continue.
[34:49] To hay those because agriculture is an open space value.
[34:53] So those would not be precluded. Great question. Okay. Anybody
[34:56] else? Poseac. I think I'm ready. Okay. Tony, Melissa, thank
[35:01] you. Appreciate the information. One question and then just one
[35:05] reflection. What about the construction of roads in these parcels?
[35:11] No new roads. How does somebody build a house? Without
[35:14] a road. Driveways. Oh, I see. No, they're going to
[35:20] be allowed for those house lots. They will be. Able
[35:23] to have driveways for the construction of the houses. They
[35:28] will not be able to be I was thinking of
[35:29] the preserve. Apologize. No new roads on the preserve. Yeah,
[35:32] that's what I figured. Okay, I think what I'm hearing,
[35:35] and Janice brought it to a fine point. Is you're
[35:39] asking us to vote and not you. Sure Pon is
[35:43] asking this committee? To vote. On the recommendation of a
[35:48] parcel purchase. At the same time without us really understanding,
[35:54] because we're not in the weeds. So to speak of
[35:56] how much this is worth. And we have some sense
[36:02] of it. Right. And we know you have negotiated with
[36:06] sellers in good faith. So we take the good faith
[36:10] as well to the staff of what you've negotiated. But
[36:13] we don't know the details of the conservation easement and
[36:15] we're not. Going to know the details of the conservation.
[36:20] And so I think I find myself. I won't speak
[36:23] for the others in a somewhat awkward position of saying,
[36:28] Do I move this to approval of the county commissioners?
[36:32] When it's hard for me to judge. Is this the
[36:36] right amount for sale or not? On a conservation easement
[36:40] versus a fee title? And yes, we have to take
[36:45] staff recommendations and word. And. It's kind of like, yeah,
[36:50] don't worry. We're telling you everything you need to know.
[36:54] Yes, that is a bad statement from the government. Let
[36:57] me just say. Because I've seen that play out in
[37:01] lots of other governmental agencies. And by the way, they
[37:04] didn't tell us everything we needed to know. So I'm
[37:08] saying that's the tension, and I just want to call
[37:11] that tension. Out. I'm not asking you to change anything.
[37:14] I'm not asking you for more information. I just want
[37:17] to acknowledge. There's a tent in there. When a group
[37:21] is to provide a recommendation to move something. Forward and
[37:24] is not completely privy to all the information they need,
[37:28] and I understand that's the way it is. May I?
[37:32] Janet is going to. Answer. Okay? I mean, Janice is
[37:40] going to answer. Yes, thank you. Janice Wisman. Again, I
[37:45] just thought that I would provide a little bit more.
[37:48] About the value piece of this. I do feel like
[37:54] a lot of people think what we do. Is simple.
[38:02] And that I often hear people even say this. I
[38:06] bought a house. How hard can it be? Right. We.
[38:13] Are professionals with lots of experience in doing this, and
[38:17] I know that it's hard to accept that. But just
[38:20] like you would accept the word of a biologist standing
[38:23] before you saying, What they know. Please think about that
[38:27] for us. And so then, to help you understand the
[38:30] valuation here in the background and we've gone through this
[38:34] and happy to do this again at another retreat where
[38:36] we can have an executive session about our process where
[38:39] you can ask us all kinds of questions. About what
[38:41] goes into. This in detail. We look at sales comps
[38:47] just like realtors do. We value third party transactions. And
[38:55] figure out whether or not. What we are being asked
[38:58] by the landowner to pay is reasonable. We negotiate very
[39:02] hard to get. The price. That's the best price for
[39:05] the county. So we do have a documentation that's in
[39:08] our files about what we've gone through to do this.
[39:12] And. It's been very detailed. We look at all of
[39:17] these properties in a couple of different ways, and so
[39:19] just to try to help you understand the background here.
[39:23] If you have a development, right? You can have a
[39:27] home on a two acre, let's say small two acre
[39:30] parcel, right? So that development, right? Could be. Worth on
[39:36] this parcel. The same that somebody else has sold a
[39:40] two acre lot for that's vacant in the area. So
[39:43] we look at it that way. We also look at.
[39:47] How much? Could you get if you sold a parcel
[39:50] at a 35 acre size? Because the 90 acre parcel
[39:54] can be 235 and you add all the acreage together,
[39:57] you could come up with enough to make 435s here,
[40:01] so. We look at sales comps for that. We look
[40:04] at the comps. For what's happening in the county. If
[40:10] we were to hire an appraiser to do this, a
[40:13] lot of times they would go look at what's going
[40:15] on in Larrymer county. Some of them will bring in.
[40:17] All kinds of stuff, and they'll call it the neighborhood.
[40:21] They've got their own expertise as well, right? That we
[40:23] all have to appreciate and value. But we look at
[40:26] what's going on in Boulder county because we know that
[40:28] these values here are different than what's in Weld county
[40:31] or Laramar county, et cetera. So. We're constantly looking at
[40:36] values every day about each area of the county when
[40:39] we're working on a deal. And because it takes a
[40:43] long time to negotiate, even throughout that negotiation, we relook
[40:47] at it and relook at it and relook at it.
[40:49] A lot of times it's because a landowner continues to
[40:51] ask us for more money. And they think that the
[40:55] passage of time will automatically mean it's worth more, which
[40:58] is not necessarily the case. But we are confident that.
[41:03] We are really using our own expertise and also really
[41:06] going. Into a very detailed analysis and evaluation of what
[41:13] something is worth. And I don't know if you remember,
[41:17] but we've been bringing some deals to. You where a
[41:20] building, right in Boulder county. And not necessarily exactly in
[41:23] this area, but in Boulder. County is worth about $2
[41:26] million. On a two acre parcel. You might get the
[41:29] same on a 35 acre parcel. Sometimes the market's really
[41:32] funny. During the downturn, economic downturn in the 2008 time
[41:37] frame, we had houses. That were 35 acre parcels that
[41:41] had houses on them going for less than a 35
[41:45] acre vacant parcel, which is really odd. But we look
[41:49] at that and then this area west of Longmont. Tends
[41:51] to be a more desirable area of the county, just
[41:54] like it does when you get closer. To Lafayette, Louisville
[41:56] and boulder. So this is very close in to the
[42:00] long Mount area. And we've got. Lots of sales comps
[42:06] that lead us to believe this is a very good
[42:08] price for just the one development right. If we were
[42:11] doing nothing but lifting a development right on the 90
[42:14] acre parcel and nothing else, it would be a screaming
[42:17] deal. So I know Melissa's tried to explain that to
[42:21] you, and it is impossible for us. To walk you
[42:24] through all of this. I think part of what you're
[42:26] wanting to do. I hear this often. People kind of
[42:29] want to do our job and get into the details
[42:32] and I know that you don't want to hear us
[42:34] to say we're doing it. And we're giving you the
[42:37] expertise that we have, but. I just want to let
[42:41] you know that we are also in a position where
[42:45] there's a certain amount of information we can share in
[42:47] a public setting and still a retain the confidentiality of
[42:50] this deal and B retain the ability to negotiate on
[42:54] other deals that we're trying to work on and. We
[42:58] can't give you slides of all of our evaluation and
[43:01] our analysis with all of the data in it and
[43:04] still retain the ability to do a good job negotiating
[43:07] for open space. Deals for the county. So that's the
[43:10] fine line we're walking on our end. Appreciate that, Janice.
[43:13] Thanks. No. Okay, Christine. I just want to note that.
[43:22] We had an extraordinary. Executive session meeting with Janice and
[43:28] Teres. Let me tell you, members of the public, it
[43:31] was wonderful to be there. And. The professionalism.
[43:41] Of the real estate division. Was proven in that meeting.
[43:47] And tony and derek. Okay, good. Thank you. Any other.
[43:58] Okay, john and then vicky. John white bosec. At what
[44:02] point? Near the end of this you said that. Some
[44:06] of these were conservation easements, and some of them were
[44:10] something else, preservation. What was so two restrictive covenants and.
[44:17] That is the far east side. The orange. Test the
[44:22] human. That was nick. The orange parcel and the sort
[44:27] of salmon colored one. Those are restrictive covenants. I'll explain
[44:31] a little more of those in a minute, and. Then
[44:33] the green and the blue are conservation easements. Does Nick
[44:38] know? You can't hear him? We use restrictive covenants as
[44:42] a lighter touch. In areas where we're looking to restrict
[44:45] things that are more regulatory, things like. The size of
[44:52] houses, the uses, no annexation, no division, and there's less
[44:55] of a conservation value restriction on those it allows us
[44:59] to free up. The funds that we pay toward the
[45:02] properties that have the conservation easements, too, which restrict a
[45:05] lot more and basically remove more rights that are worth
[45:08] more value. Thank you. Yeah. You're welcome. Good question. Vicky.
[45:14] Never mind. Okay. Any other questions? Comments from Posac. Okay,
[45:23] do we have anybody in the hearing room here? Who
[45:28] wants to. Comment on this conservation easement. I don't see
[45:33] anybody. Nick, do we have anybody online? Yeah. For those
[45:40] on the zoom call, if you would like to make
[45:42] comments of this agenda item. Please raise your hand and
[45:44] I will allow you to speak. I don't see any
[45:47] hands raised. Okay. Thank you so posac. Do we have
[45:55] a motion regarding? Approval of this conservation easement. Carol byerly
[46:05] Posak ISO move. Do we have a second? John White
[46:11] second, is there further discussion among fosak. Okay, we'll take
[46:16] it to a vote. All those in favor. Aye. Aye.
[46:23] All those opposed? So the motion carries unanimously. Thank you.
[46:28] Thank you, Melissa. Thank you very much. So our next
[46:32] agenda item is the Forsyth Rock conservation easement acquisition. With
[46:39] Aaron Clark presenting.
[46:54] Hopefully it pops up here at some point. There we
[47:01] go. All right. Miracles of technology. All right. That was
[47:06] extraordinarily nice. Now I have to follow that, so we'll.
[47:09] See how well we do. So. My name is Aaron
[47:12] Clark. I'm a land officer with parks and open space
[47:14] and. I am here initially. To discuss the acquisition of
[47:18] a conservation easement on what we're calling the Forsyth Rock.
[47:22] Property. Forsythrock is right about there, east of Netherland on
[47:28] County Road 68 near Magnolia, just a little bit west
[47:31] of gross reservoir. It is along County Road 68, as
[47:36] I believe I might have mentioned. Adjacent to the existing
[47:40] short ridge conservation easement and in close proximity to a
[47:43] very large Chunk of lands owned and managed by the
[47:46] United States Forest Service. And County Road 68 is part
[47:51] of a view protection corridor. It won't surprise you to
[47:55] find out that the site's most prominent feature is indeed,
[47:57] forsythrock, which rises steeply to 8324ft, and it's visible from
[48:04] many points in the county on this day. I did
[48:06] not get the chance to climb it, but I will
[48:08] go back. The owner wants me to climb it, and
[48:12] I'm going to. Property is 36 acres. Owner is the
[48:16] John Shortrages Junior Trust. Property is forrested with a few
[48:21] open meadows, and as you can see on the aerial,
[48:24] several large rockout croppings, including for a size rock itself.
[48:29] This conservation easement restricts development completely. No new structures will
[48:33] be permitted. Agreed price for that. Is $400,000. We just
[48:40] read this slide about comprehensive plans, ignitions. I'm not going
[48:42] to go ahead. And talk about comp plan areas near
[48:46] this map or near this property. Here we have the
[48:50] blue on top is archaeologically sensitive areas recommended for preservation.
[48:55] And on the south, there is the I hope I
[48:57] pronounce this right. The Winnagar Ridge. Landscape natural landmark designated
[49:03] for its visual and scenic prominence. You can see the
[49:06] thing is surrounded by environmental conservation areas. I believe there
[49:09] are four of them. And the light green are significant
[49:14] natural communities. Presence of critical plant associations and a relatively
[49:18] undisturbed area. Lastly. We have? Following an ephemeral creek that
[49:24] heads down towards. South Boulder Creek. This is wetlands and
[49:28] repairing areas. In the neighborhood of the property. I like
[49:34] pictures. So here's just a couple of open meadows in
[49:38] the area. Thought I'd give you something besides just the
[49:40] rock. It was a gorgeous day. Had a low time.
[49:43] Walking around in these meadows. I think on the right.
[49:47] That's an upright blue beard. Tongue. That's what I. Naturalist
[49:51] said. And lastly, a note on the funding source we
[49:55] are proposing to use and its purpose. Forsythrock is approximately
[50:00] a mile and a half from Garish reservoir. We propose
[50:03] to acquire the easement with funds from the 2021 and
[50:06] gross reservoir settlement between Denver Water and Boulder county that
[50:10] settlement allotted $5.1 million to Boulder county for acquisitions of
[50:14] open space. Acquisitions of fee properties, conservation easements and trail
[50:19] corridors. The board's direction has been to seek potential acquisitions
[50:22] that meet community priorities of habitat protection. Undeveloped passive recreation
[50:27] are both. And response from the public also strongly desired
[50:33] acquisitions close to the gross growers of our community. This
[50:37] is the closest one I've been able to do so
[50:38] far as we've discussed. They are immediately around. The reservoir
[50:43] is already very heavily developed. It's hard to find things.
[50:46] Right in that neighborhood. So we've had to look a
[50:48] little further afield. And this one. 's certainly. In our
[50:54] view, fits the bill. And that's what we have on
[50:57] this one. As I always say, park supports this project.
[51:00] And I hope you do, too. And I'll take any
[51:02] questions at this time. Trace baker. Postac. Let's start on
[51:05] the left, this time with Christine, Carol, Derek, Tony. Nice
[51:13] job, Aaron. Appreciate it. Seems so simple, doesn't it? I
[51:17] was thinking. Why you're? Going to love this one. This
[51:19] is great. Just one other question. Is this the first
[51:22] purchase? Using the gross reservoir funds. No, this is the
[51:26] third one. Third one. Okay. How far are the. Other
[51:28] properties. Are they in this area? They're a little bit
[51:31] farther west. Last pose act meeting. I brought the Paintbrush
[51:35] easement acquisition, which. Is on. Cole Creek Canyon drive a
[51:41] little farther west, closer to Ned. And then earlier in
[51:44] the year, the county acquired the bear Bearry property, which.
[51:49] Just kind of straddles Boulder in Gilpin County. Adjacent to
[51:53] the paintbrush easement and the elk tracks open space. We
[51:57] did that earlier in the year, and that was the
[51:59] first acquisition with the gross dollars. Cool. Thank you. Vicky
[52:05] john. Well, I think this is a great acquisition, and
[52:11] I'd also recommend. The short little one and a half
[52:16] mile one way. For a canyon trail down to gross
[52:20] reservoir. It's really nice, and there's nobody on it. Will
[52:26] be gone. Yeah. We
[52:36] can come back to you. Christine. Christine Johnson Posak. I
[52:43] hesitate to ask this. It seems like the rock is
[52:48] special because of how it looks, and then. That site
[52:51] is surrounded by high value areas. My simple question. The
[53:00] point. In this acquisition. Is to limit development. Yes. Other
[53:08] than just the rock. Yeah. Correct. The point is to
[53:11] limit development on this property, yes. The rock is. We
[53:15] call them the conservation values. Of course, the things we're
[53:17] looking to protect that. Make this worth our while. Make
[53:20] this worth us keeping development off this property, but yes.
[53:23] The idea is to prevent development. Vicky. Vicky lawrence posac.
[53:32] You presented this very quickly. So a little challenging for
[53:36] me to keep up in some ways. Is this property?
[53:40] Does the owner live adjacent to this property? Why? Do
[53:43] they want to own it? They obviously don't want to
[53:46] sell the property to the county. They just want to
[53:49] give up the conservation easement. I don't know why I
[53:53] asked owners why they purchased a certain piece of property,
[53:55] but. This is close by to the landowners residents. And
[53:59] when I came up on the market, He thought it
[54:04] needed protection. Then he was able to acquire it quite
[54:06] quickly. But. He wants to maintain it privately and not
[54:12] turn it over to the county altogether. That's correct. Further
[54:15] questions from Postac. Is there anybody. In the meeting hall
[54:25] who wants to? Comment on this acquisition of a conservation
[54:30] easement. Nick, do we have anybody online? I'm not seeing
[54:36] any hands raised for zoom participants. Thank you. So, Postac,
[54:42] do we have. A motion. Concerning recommendations to the county
[54:48] commissioners. Sure, Tony Lewis Posak I recommend the approval of
[54:53] the project forwarded to the community commissioners as described above
[54:57] and described by staff. Do we have a second. Joan
[55:02] Lott's aye second. Posac any further discussion. Okay, then we'll
[55:07] have it for a vote. All those in favor? Aye.
[55:14] Opposed. Okay. The motion carries unanimously. So we will move
[55:20] on. To. The parish. Three and four. Then these are
[55:27] acquisitions, not conservation easement. And again, Aaron Clark. All right.
[55:33] Wait a second for my slides to pop up. Here.
[55:37] You can do it. There we go. All right. This
[55:40] is a long one, so I'll try to take a
[55:42] little more time. All right, so here we are. Just
[55:48] discuss an acquisition of fee interest and a conservation easement.
[55:54] On the parish three and four properties. The property is
[55:58] on both sides of the Laramar Boulder county line, northeast
[56:02] of Lions and southwest of Berthed. The address, roughly, is
[56:06] 15 720 Parish Road. There really aren't any major public
[56:10] growth intersections anywhere nearby. The closest one would be Parish
[56:14] road and Larama County Road two. Here. Is kind of
[56:19] a vicinity map of the area. The lands in question
[56:23] are owned by the parish. Family conservation partnership. This deal
[56:26] has been a very long time coming. We're working with
[56:28] the family for coming up on a year and a
[56:31] half now to get this done. When they first reached
[56:34] out. Regarding a deal. The acquisition will take place in
[56:39] two parts. Parish three, the orange on the south. Is
[56:44] approximately 60 acres and three parcels in Boulder county. As
[56:49] you can see. It's adjacent to Rabbit Mountain there on
[56:51] the south. Boulder county proposes to acquire fee title to
[56:55] this property. Parish four, which is the pink to the
[57:00] north? The darker pink there in the middle is within.
[57:03] Larmer county. That's about 80 acres. Adjacent again to Rabbit
[57:08] Mountain on the south and on the west is Larama
[57:11] County's Redtail ridge open space on the east as Alarma
[57:14] County's arrowhead redtail open space. Acquisition of parish four will
[57:20] be a cooperative effort between Boulder and Larrymer counties. The
[57:24] first such time we've had a chance to do that,
[57:27] so we're pretty excited about that. Larama county will acquire
[57:30] fee title to the land and Boulder county will hold
[57:33] a conservation easement. We'll go back to parish three and
[57:37] I'm going to bounce back and forth. Here as I
[57:39] discuss each deal. So again, parish three entirely within Boulder
[57:44] County. Proposed to grab fee title to this property. As
[57:49] you can see on the property, it has been used
[57:52] as a campground, as an event center. Also for agricultural
[57:55] purposes, for hanging and grazing. The Little Thompson river on
[58:00] the south flows through the property. Acquisition of this property
[58:04] also comes with water rights, six units of Colorado, Big
[58:08] Thompson water and a 50% undivided interest in one share
[58:12] of the supply irrigation niche the county already owned. The
[58:15] other 50%. Like Melissa. I'm fond of throwing the Google
[58:20] earth out there so you can get a little bit
[58:22] better idea of the topography of parish three. You can
[58:25] see it kind of sits in the valley of a
[58:27] little Thompson. Between Rabbit mountain there on the left. And
[58:34] redtail ridge there on the right. So here's a closer
[58:39] look. Back to parish four. Just a note. I flipped
[58:42] this map. On its side so that north is facing
[58:45] to the right. Just the nature of the property that's
[58:47] a little bit easier to get a little closer in
[58:49] so we can all see where we're looking at. This
[58:53] is 80 acres in one parcel. Adjacent to Rabbit Mountain
[58:58] on the south, Redtail Ridge, the large pink area on
[59:01] the west. An Arrowhead redtail on the east. The water
[59:06] course. You see, there is the St. Frane supply canal.
[59:11] Again. The proposition is that Larry Murray title to this
[59:14] and Boulder county will hold a conservation easement. Interest. There
[59:17] is an existing conservation easement on the property held by
[59:21] Colorado open lands that easement is from the year 2000,
[59:26] and it does permit the construction of two residences. So
[59:29] the idea is that open? Lands, will transfer that easement
[59:32] interest to Boulder county, and we will then amend and
[59:34] restate that easement to eliminate the two building rights and
[59:39] to update it to be more in line. With modern,
[59:42] modern day Boulder county easement language. And again, the topography
[59:47] is important of this one. So I just thought I
[59:49] would put the Google earth. Slide back on there. This
[59:52] is facing north, so you can see how the supply
[59:55] canal cuts. Through it. And redtail ridge is that prominent
[59:59] feature there on the left hand side. All right, now
[1:00:02] let's get into the dollars. The parish three acquisition. Provision
[1:00:09] for the land is $2,062,000. $20,000 for the 50% undivided
[1:00:16] interest in one share of the supply. Irrigating ditch and
[1:00:19] $53,000 per unit for six units. Of colorado, big thompson.
[1:00:26] Total is $2,420,000 from open space sales tax funds for
[1:00:31] parish three. Parish four. Boulder county proposes to chip in
[1:00:37] $400,000 from the Conservation Trust fund. Larmer county will contribute
[1:00:42] $250,000. Total price is $650,000. Laramore hold the fee. Boulder
[1:00:49] county will hold a conservation easement. Total cost of Boulder
[1:00:52] county for both projects is $2,820,000. One additional facet. If
[1:01:01] you pardon me, in my mouth is dying. That's much
[1:01:04] better. There is an existing agricultural lease. You see that
[1:01:11] yellow hash there, to the south of parish three? That
[1:01:16] is a part of Rabbit Mountain. The parish one and
[1:01:18] parish two properties. Anagle east was placed on those properties
[1:01:23] pretty much at the time the county acquired them. 25
[1:01:27] years. Due to expire in 2028. As part of this
[1:01:31] transaction, this county has negotiated terminating that agricultural lease now.
[1:01:37] So Boulder county will resume management of those lands. Comprehensive
[1:01:44] plan. Detonations coming up. Bucker your seatbelts. So again, just
[1:01:50] bearing in mind this is the Boulder county comprehensive plant,
[1:01:52] where I won't have these data for the piece that's
[1:01:55] in Larama county. So this is all going to be
[1:01:57] mostly going to be parish three. Environmental Conservation area for
[1:02:03] Rabbit Mountain. These are large landscape areas that we look
[1:02:08] for for conservation and the red hash is the rabbit
[1:02:12] mountain natural area. Here we have the next slide. That
[1:02:16] kind of orangey hash our archaeologically sensitive areas. And the
[1:02:23] yellow and green that follows the course of the little
[1:02:25] Thompson is provosto jumping mouse. Habitat zones one and five.
[1:02:31] For the mouse management area and for an area of
[1:02:34] non continuous habitat, this is kind of away. From a
[1:02:37] lot of the stuff that's down the same brain. It
[1:02:39] doesn't really connect up, but it is again. It's an
[1:02:41] area. Zone one mouse management area. So here we have.
[1:02:47] Critical wildlife habitats is the red hash and the green.
[1:02:53] Is CNHP high biodiversity area b, one for rabbit mountain
[1:02:58] that is outstanding biodiversity significance know that in the comp
[1:03:02] plan as irreplaceable on a global scale. You can see
[1:03:06] that area since that state data that does go up
[1:03:08] into Larama County a little bit. Here we have. This
[1:03:12] one's a bit of a mess, so this one is
[1:03:14] showing you. Significant natural communities. This is also showing you
[1:03:19] repairing areas, wetlands and rare plant areas. So this is
[1:03:23] just showing you the broad diversity of natural resources, both
[1:03:28] on and close to parish three and parish. Four. Parish
[1:03:33] four. The folks at Larama county were very helpful in
[1:03:36] providing me some languages to why. According to their plan.
[1:03:40] This is important to them, and I'll just kind of
[1:03:43] read some. Of this off. Native foothills grass and show
[1:03:46] plans and the drainage is and in some of the
[1:03:49] perennial springs up there. There are pairing areas, Little Thompson
[1:03:53] river and Rabbit Mountain, CHP Conservation, high biodiversity areas. I
[1:04:00] think for me, the really important part of this one
[1:04:01] is the connectivity. This is right in the middle. This
[1:04:03] fills in this gap. That's the really important part. This
[1:04:07] hooks everything in the area up and fills in the
[1:04:10] gap in the conservative landscape. So that will help protect
[1:04:13] the view shed. From far away, this ridge is pretty
[1:04:18] visible. So this is protecting kind of the lower slopes
[1:04:20] of that ridge and the property itself is geologically quite
[1:04:23] complex. So again, Worth being preserved. And here, just as
[1:04:28] a quick picture of that parish for property. And if
[1:04:31] you look way up on the right, you can kind
[1:04:33] of see parish three, kind of that area with. Some
[1:04:36] of the buildings kind of under rabbit mountain. And here
[1:04:40] are just some shots of parish three. I thought it
[1:04:42] was neat. How dramatic. Rabbit mountain. Just rises right behind
[1:04:46] it. You can see the hay field. As I mentioned,
[1:04:49] there's a. Campground on the property. Some of those old
[1:04:52] structures are right there on the bottom left. Finally getting
[1:04:56] to staff recommendation. Staff recommends approval. This is a tremendous
[1:05:01] opportunity for connection high prior to natural and scenic resources,
[1:05:06] the focus area for boulder and Larimer counties and is
[1:05:09] the first chance for these two partners to do to
[1:05:11] work on the joint acquisition. It's tremendous. I don't think
[1:05:17] I have to say that. Park supports this project, and
[1:05:19] we hope you do too. Thank you. Trace Baker, Posack.
[1:05:24] So do we have any questions or comments from Postac?
[1:05:29] John, your hand. Was up first. Two questions about parish.
[1:05:33] Four, if Larrymer county is buying it, why are we
[1:05:38] doing a conservation easement on top of it. Excellent question.
[1:05:45] No, it's worthwhile. Because we are chipping in funds to
[1:05:51] help. Right. And if they're going to hold the fee.
[1:05:55] Border county needs to come with an interest to show.
[1:05:58] Hey, we paid up some money. For this. We pointed
[1:06:00] up some money for this, so we're not just going
[1:06:02] to throw in $400,000 and say, okay, learner, enjoy your
[1:06:06] fee. We're going to walk with a property interest in
[1:06:08] that land. And that's what that easement represents. So not
[1:06:11] only does that easement modernize it. Eliminate the two very
[1:06:15] expensive. Building rights, but that also represents. Boulder County's interest
[1:06:20] and Boulder County's investment in that property. Okay, you said
[1:06:25] this comes out of a conservation. Trust. What's that? So
[1:06:31] basically, that comes out of lottery dollars. There's a formula
[1:06:35] by which. They're divvied out to local governments, but it's
[1:06:39] a separate area. That comes out of the lottery funds.
[1:06:41] So that's why we're allowed to do you're allowed to
[1:06:43] do that in Larama county? That's correct. Okay. What's going
[1:06:49] to happen to the buildings on Paris three if we're
[1:06:52] buying the property. That is something that we'll have to
[1:06:56] look at after. We make an acquisition, there's going to
[1:06:58] be a planning process. We'll have to go through. There
[1:07:01] are some things that may just need to be removed
[1:07:05] and some things that may provide an opportunity. We'll have
[1:07:09] our planning staff, our building staff and facility staff. Will
[1:07:13] definitely want to have a closer look at that and
[1:07:15] discuss what could be used and how are you planning
[1:07:19] on? Opening right now when you go near that road.
[1:07:24] There are giant signs that say, no trespassing. Stay away
[1:07:26] from Rabbit Mountain. Are there? Plans? Or is it too
[1:07:30] early to ask to get into rabbit mountain from the
[1:07:32] backside? I would say at this point? That's too early
[1:07:36] to say. We're going to have to have a significant
[1:07:39] planning process to mark that out, and there is still
[1:07:42] substantial private land in the area. So anything would need
[1:07:45] to be very carefully done. Thank you, joan. Just a
[1:07:50] comment that I hope that there never is a connection
[1:07:53] between. The Lamar county open space. Across the Little Thompson
[1:07:59] to Rabbit Mountain, because my understanding is that rabid Mountain
[1:08:02] is one of the best parcels we have. As far
[1:08:07] as diversity of Flora and so on, and so I
[1:08:10] hate for it to become part of. A big regional
[1:08:14] park and get overrun. But that would be quite something
[1:08:16] to cross the little Thompson. Thank you, Vicky. Yeah. Vicky
[1:08:25] Lawrence Posak. I had a couple of questions, Aaron. Thank
[1:08:27] you. Why are we helping Larrymer county? Do they not
[1:08:30] have enough money to purchase? This is it. Just our
[1:08:33] goal to get rid of those building sites that Lehmer
[1:08:36] county was not going. To get rid of. That's really
[1:08:41] maybe our investment in. Parish four represents. Those building sites.
[1:08:49] If they were developed, traffic would be coming through Balda
[1:08:52] county property to access those. I see. So you're trying
[1:08:55] to close the access to potential building sites there, right?
[1:08:59] Do you mind going back to the slide that showed?
[1:09:02] The amount you're paying for parish three. I was trying
[1:09:06] to do some math there quickly, and I wasn't quite
[1:09:09] making that work. Out. You're paying $2 million for the
[1:09:12] land, $20,000 for this first. Share, but then another 53,000
[1:09:17] per unit for six, which I come out to 300,000.
[1:09:21] On top of that. I guess that all worked out.
[1:09:24] Sorry. It went by fast enough. I couldn't get all
[1:09:26] the math together. Okay. Thank you. I had to do
[1:09:28] it nine times to make sure I wasn't making a
[1:09:30] mistake. And when you said that, I thought, oh, no.
[1:09:32] I've done something wrong. Thank you, Joan, again. But. It
[1:09:40] is really a wonderful site, especially parish three. And you
[1:09:44] can get to one point. On Rabbit Mountain and look
[1:09:48] down. And the little Thompson. From the trail. And it's
[1:09:55] just so great to see the sand and. How it's
[1:09:59] pretty much unfettered. There. Thank you. Tony. Tony. Lewis Postac.
[1:10:04] Could you just run through that all one more time?
[1:10:07] Absolutely. Let me go get another cup of coffee and
[1:10:10] get to it. 's a complex deal. It's interesting. I'm
[1:10:15] glad to see us partnering with Larrymer County. I think
[1:10:17] that's great. I think. The only concern I have. And
[1:10:23] I guess here's the question that Janice will not lose.
[1:10:26] Her mind over but can nod or shake her head.
[1:10:32] I always worry when we buy property with buildings. And
[1:10:36] it's always like at a later date. We'll figure out
[1:10:38] what to do. With those. It kind of reminds me
[1:10:40] of some of the mining claims where, at a later
[1:10:42] date, it's about $7 million to rehab at property. So
[1:10:46] I'm just curious. If in the planning process. Do you
[1:10:50] look at that at all? Do you look at? Wow.
[1:10:53] We're going to maybe demo those buildings, and that's. Going
[1:10:55] to come out of this budget versus the acquisition budget.
[1:10:59] We think we might have some money. For that next
[1:11:01] year or it's going to be a couple of years
[1:11:03] off. Is that part of the understanding of putting this
[1:11:07] deal together? I knew I'd get Janice. Adversity for this
[1:11:10] one. And I'm not asking for the details. No, I
[1:11:13] know. Trying to understand. So, Janice Wisman again. Real estate
[1:11:17] division manager. So our staff invite other staff members to
[1:11:23] participate in the conversation as we're negotiating. And. We have
[1:11:29] people who have expertise with all of those things. We've
[1:11:32] got our buildings and historic preservation group. We've got our
[1:11:36] rental house group, all kinds of other expertise that you
[1:11:39] see here before. You more often. And they all weigh
[1:11:43] in about whether or not they think there are concerns
[1:11:46] or potential uses. For improvements on properties. This one has
[1:11:53] quite a bit of structures on it compared to other
[1:11:55] ones. And they are not something we've evaluated yet. I
[1:12:02] don't know if Erin's had the chance to get that
[1:12:04] part of our due diligence includes home inspections and structure
[1:12:07] inspections and things like that. So we're gathering all of
[1:12:10] that information. And because we're gathering it at the same
[1:12:13] time, we're. Trying to get the deal done and we're
[1:12:15] trying to get the deal done in the time frame
[1:12:16] for the seller that they need. We don't have the
[1:12:21] opportunity to have the staff evaluation conversation. In time to
[1:12:26] make decisions before we come before you, or even before
[1:12:29] we go to the board. And. Sometimes. We don't even
[1:12:33] try to do that before we get to the acquisition
[1:12:35] because there are hundreds of steps that we have to
[1:12:37] do to get to the acquisition and just to put
[1:12:41] so that everyone understands what Erin means by a planning
[1:12:43] process. He does not mean a management plan process. For
[1:12:47] this property or for some bigger complex. He means a
[1:12:50] staff evaluation, which. Is what you're asking about. Does that
[1:12:55] answer your question, Tony? It does. I think the only
[1:12:57] worry and I don't. Think it's a worry with this
[1:12:59] property is if you had some environmental concern. About some
[1:13:03] kind of contamination? Yes. So that's why we do a
[1:13:06] phase one environmental hazards. Assessment, and we pay professionalists to
[1:13:09] do that for us. Okay. Prior to actually. Before we
[1:13:13] acquire. Yes. That's one thing that would potentially cause us
[1:13:17] to back out of a deal. If there's a significant
[1:13:18] issue there, that's great to hear. Thanks. It maybe didn't
[1:13:22] do that in the past, but. It's definitely. We've learned.
[1:13:25] Yes, thank you. That's helpful. I'll. Add just one thing
[1:13:29] about this property in particular. Janice joined me on a
[1:13:32] site visit out there to meet the family and tore
[1:13:35] the grounds and we were looking at some of the
[1:13:37] older structures, and one of the property owners opened this
[1:13:40] door. Into this pump house, and it was dark and
[1:13:44] foreboding, and I went, yes, looks great. And Janice dove
[1:13:48] right in. It was one of my favorite Janice whistleblower
[1:13:50] moments. No fear. At all. Just right down the stairs.
[1:13:54] All right. That's great. That's why you're the boss. Thanks,
[1:13:58] Aaron. Further questions comments from Poseack. Christine Christine Johnson Posack
[1:14:06] First, a comment. Every time I go to Rabbit Mountain,
[1:14:10] I look to the north, and I worry. And I
[1:14:12] worry about development. So I'm glad you have your eyes
[1:14:15] on it. My question is. What intentions do you have
[1:14:21] with the water rights? The water rights will remain on
[1:14:24] the property and. Be used as part of the ag
[1:14:27] operation. Derek. Derek Turner. Follow up to that. Is that
[1:14:33] a requirement? Of the purchase or is that. I know
[1:14:39] that's typically. Part of, especially the share of the ditch
[1:14:43] company. But CBT units are the most flexible water right?
[1:14:48] You could move them around at this point, but the
[1:14:50] ag operation on site needs them to. Take them off
[1:14:53] the property would really damage the open space values we're
[1:14:56] trying to protect. I don't foresee us doing that. And
[1:15:02] then, yeah, comment. I think this is a great opportunity.
[1:15:09] I suspect the county is not going to run a
[1:15:10] campground, but I would encourage you to consider it. There's
[1:15:13] not a lot of opportunities. Especially close to the front
[1:15:18] range, like close to the communities where this opportunity is
[1:15:21] around. There are still available sites on hip camp here,
[1:15:24] and I know I've heard of music. Festivals, and this
[1:15:26] is a really popular place for people who've come there.
[1:15:30] And so part of me thinks that if it closes
[1:15:33] and it's never open to the public and nobody has
[1:15:35] that. That's a loss. And I know that's not up
[1:15:38] for discussion today, but I also don't know. When it
[1:15:41] will be up for discussion, when the public gets a
[1:15:44] chance to weigh in. So I would love some creative
[1:15:47] thoughts about what can we do? I know that. It's
[1:15:53] hard to access. Right? You have to go into delhi
[1:15:54] county to get back. Yeah. It's hard to get, rangers
[1:15:56] and all. I know you could think of all the
[1:15:59] problems. With something like that, but from trying to find
[1:16:04] places to hike and experience that area, it's. Really hard,
[1:16:08] and so. To have public property that I would encourage
[1:16:12] you to consider it because. The positives can outweigh, I
[1:16:16] think, the drawbacks. Thank you. Vicky. Vicky Large with Posac.
[1:16:22] Again, two things, actually. I promote a campground there. But
[1:16:28] my other question was. So you said you're going to
[1:16:30] leave the water rights with. The property. But you also
[1:16:32] said that. You're taking the lease back on the hay
[1:16:35] field. Does that mean you're planning on leasing it to
[1:16:39] somebody else? I don't think Boulder county is in the
[1:16:41] business of running hay, so the lease area is to
[1:16:44] the south and further uphill. It's not irrigated. That's range
[1:16:48] land. There's no water on that property. The CBT units
[1:16:52] are on the hay field. Here, let me pull a
[1:16:55] map down. Do we have a map. I know I
[1:16:57] made a map. Okay, so you see the hay fields
[1:16:59] here on. This property. That's where the water is being
[1:17:03] used. So the lease area. Sorry, I didn't see where
[1:17:06] this. Area is that hashed area to the south and
[1:17:10] east, and especially on that southwestern corner, a lot higher
[1:17:14] up. So that's not being irrigated. I'm still confused. Right,
[1:17:22] but I don't understand where they're using the water, because
[1:17:24] I thought you. Said you were closing those leases out.
[1:17:28] That was ending with the purchase of this property. That's
[1:17:33] correct, but. This agleef that I'm discussing. This is a
[1:17:36] grading lease. So the area, the hash area. They're running
[1:17:41] cattle on it. They're not irrigating it, okay? Further questions
[1:17:46] from Posac. Do we have anybody in the hearing room
[1:17:53] who wants to comment on the parish three and four?
[1:17:56] Acquisition? Yes, please. Come up. State your name in your
[1:18:01] approximate residence. You have three minutes. No problem. Suzanne Webble
[1:18:10] and I live in unincorporated builder county near Table Mountain.
[1:18:16] And I think I probably have a unique perspective on
[1:18:19] this area because. I personally have ridden my horse over
[1:18:24] the whole valet that goes up there. Past the campground.
[1:18:30] And the dance hall. Did you all know there was
[1:18:31] a dance hall in that building? And I wrote there
[1:18:35] with the parish family, so I feel like I had
[1:18:37] a nice private tour. Which was great, and I've had
[1:18:41] it as a soft spot in my heart ever since.
[1:18:46] It is fair to say that when I did this
[1:18:48] was probably 20 years ago, and the parish is number
[1:18:52] one told me that they wanted to see a public
[1:18:56] trail connection from this area to Blue Mountain, which is
[1:18:59] in larmer County. And I would hope that you all
[1:19:04] will incorporate that. Into future plan for the property. It
[1:19:10] is also true that the Paris told me that they
[1:19:13] wanted to see a lot of development. Over on that
[1:19:15] east hogback. And I agree that when I come across
[1:19:19] the top of Rabbit Mountain and I look at that,
[1:19:21] hogback. I don't want to see development there either, but
[1:19:25] I don't think it's either or. I think there's a
[1:19:28] lot of room to have some public access to let
[1:19:31] people get down to the creek. Let's have a campground,
[1:19:34] let's at least talk about it instead of just. Closing
[1:19:38] everything to the public. So I would urge you to
[1:19:42] consider keeping. A significant amount of it open for public
[1:19:45] access. And areas that are environmentally sensitive, it's fine. They
[1:19:51] can be closed space, but the defaults should not be
[1:19:54] closed space. Thanks. Thank you. Any other comments from the
[1:20:00] public in the hearing room? Nick, do we have anybody
[1:20:05] online? I don't see any hands raised. Thank you. So,
[1:20:12] Postac, do we have a motion regarding this acquisition? Recommendation
[1:20:19] to the county commissioners. Derek Turner Posek I move that
[1:20:23] we recommend that county commissioners approved the acquisition as outlined
[1:20:27] by staff. Do we have a second? John White. Second?
[1:20:32] Postac further discussion. Then I'll bring it to a vote.
[1:20:37] All those in favor of the motion? As stated, say
[1:20:43] aye. Opposed. Okay. The acquisition is unanimously approved by Post
[1:20:50] act, so please pass that on to commissioners. Thanks very
[1:20:53] much, and thank you very much. Erin and Melissa. Thank
[1:20:58] you. And I have an important announcement from our division
[1:21:00] that I'd like to share with everybody. And that is
[1:21:03] that our fearless leader, Janice Wisman, will be retiring on
[1:21:07] December 4. And Tina Burkhart will be our new division
[1:21:12] manager. So I just wanted to make sure that was
[1:21:15] recognized since this is Janice's last posec. Meeting. The last
[1:21:18] one. For the last 20 years of her career here.
[1:21:24] Thank you. Well, thank you, Janice. Okay, trace Baker, postc.
[1:21:30] So we are going to move on. From the topics
[1:21:36] of recommendations to a couple of information only topics. And
[1:21:43] the first one. Is. Big game management at Rocky Flats
[1:21:49] National Wildlife Area presented by. David Lucas of the US
[1:21:54] fish and wild lice.
[1:22:14] Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you, David.
[1:22:18] All right. Well, of course. Thank you to the postac.
[1:22:23] Thank you to Terese and all the wonderful staff in
[1:22:25] Boulder County. You're going to see myself. I'm the refuge
[1:22:30] manager. Project leader for us fish. And wildlife and the
[1:22:32] national wildlife refugees on the Colorado Front Range. I also
[1:22:36] have David Portillo with me in the back who will
[1:22:38] be helping us with outreach. And public information related to
[1:22:43] what we're talking about tonight in Colorado, parks and wildlife
[1:22:46] is also here. If you have any particular questions for
[1:22:50] them. So tonight we're talking about rocky Flats National Wildlife
[1:22:53] Refuge in big game management. Rocky flats national wildlife refuge.
[1:22:59] A little over 5000 acres. In northern Jefferson county with
[1:23:03] a little bit in Boulder County. But represents a small
[1:23:08] fraction of 100,000 acres of protected, contiguous land. Pretty remarkable.
[1:23:14] What exists there. Multigenerational, decades worth of work protection by
[1:23:19] both sides of county lines. Various organizations, including Boulder county.
[1:23:24] So large landscape that we are talking about. Home to
[1:23:28] numerous big game species, black bear, mountain lion, moose, mule
[1:23:32] deer, and rocky mountain elk. We're mainly talking about elk
[1:23:36] this evening. Appropriate management of these populations of deer and
[1:23:40] elk was fully considered, and the refuge's comprehensive conservation plans.
[1:23:44] You guys were talking a lot about your master planning
[1:23:47] for your open spaces. This would be the similar equivalent.
[1:23:52] But it includes an environmental impact statement and public process
[1:23:55] as well. At the time. So guided with that in
[1:23:59] mind in that hunt management plan and all of the
[1:24:02] I'm sorry. That comprehensive plan and all the work that
[1:24:05] went in there, we will be developing. A specific step
[1:24:10] down plan, as we call it. A hunt management plan
[1:24:14] that provides specific details on the goals, objectives, safety, et
[1:24:19] cetera, related to hunting in this area. Our goals. Us
[1:24:24] fish and Wildlife Service conservation efficient wildlife and their habitats.
[1:24:32] Our number one goal. Is. The health and the sustainability
[1:24:37] of the elk populations in this area. However, they are
[1:24:40] overpopulated and we'll see some additional slides on that. So
[1:24:43] we need to reduce the population of elk when he
[1:24:46] do improve their herd health, better body condition, lower diseases,
[1:24:50] improving habitat quality, reducing over browsing. And we'll talk a
[1:24:54] little bit more about that, because rocky. Flats in particular.
[1:24:58] Has globally rare grasslands and habitats, reducing erosion, controlling invasives.
[1:25:03] We heard a lot about that, too. In your last
[1:25:05] presentations and improving that native plant biodiversity. However, protecting human
[1:25:11] health and safety is also huge, reducing vehicle collisions and
[1:25:15] reducing future infrastructure damage to neighbors. And hunting is a
[1:25:22] wildlife dependent recreational use on our lands, so we manage
[1:25:25] 800 million acres nationwide. 585 units, one in every state
[1:25:30] and territory. Our policies and our legislation identifies six priority
[1:25:36] public uses that we allow. Those included hunting, fishing, wildlife
[1:25:40] observation, wildlife photography, interpretation, et cetera. So hunting. Is a
[1:25:48] pretty well known commodity on our lands, so population growth
[1:25:52] is what I will start with. We've been working for
[1:25:54] many years with Colorado parks and wildlife. Colorado parks and
[1:25:57] wildlife is a great partner to you all and to
[1:25:59] us. They have been studying this area. This is called
[1:26:03] e 38. This is a large area that's. Kind of
[1:26:07] I 70 Cabrini shrine, golden up all the way into
[1:26:11] North Boulder into some of the properties that you guys
[1:26:14] manage, Red Hill and rabbit in those worlds, so a
[1:26:18] large area. With a lot of elk, but on. This
[1:26:22] area. We're talking specifically about rocky flats. We completed. A
[1:26:27] habitat condition and a carrying capacity analysis and determined that
[1:26:31] about 200 to 250 animals should reside on the property
[1:26:34] that this elk heard currently utilizes. So we installed satellite
[1:26:39] collars on these elk. About five, six years ago and
[1:26:42] kind of mapped where they are going. They generally stay
[1:26:45] on rocky Flats east of Highway 93. They do go.
[1:26:50] Into Boulder county onto the Boulder open space on the
[1:26:52] north side of Highway 128. That's their main area that
[1:26:56] they spend time. Occasionally they will go across the street
[1:26:59] into Westminster or broomfield. So we're sitting in a good
[1:27:04] range in 20, 19, 20, 20, 20, 21. Then something.
[1:27:08] Horrible happens in December of 2021, we get a big
[1:27:11] fire and it burns down lots of houses. It was
[1:27:14] horrible. Marshall fire was horrible. And those Elkurd that were
[1:27:17] up there decided to move permanently to the south. Further
[1:27:22] increasing our ilk population. So the population continues to increase.
[1:27:28] Starting in 2023. We did some sampling, a small number
[1:27:31] of animals cold. And then last year, we called 80
[1:27:33] animals, and we will continue to do that. Moving forward,
[1:27:37] but as you will see, would like to shift some
[1:27:39] of that workload. And process to and increase our toolbox
[1:27:44] and give us more options by allowing some hunting opportunities.
[1:27:49] But this number, even in 2024, is a little off.
[1:27:53] We had 405 animals we saw on the property. So
[1:27:55] we do all of. These locations on the same day
[1:27:59] in February to try to make sure we get all
[1:28:01] the animals so that's on your properties, our properties, all
[1:28:04] of these. At that day, about 150 animals were down
[1:28:09] at the Ralston reservoir to the south. In Arvada because
[1:28:14] it was about a month, three weeks after we had
[1:28:17] been calling, so. We're probably sitting at about 700 animals
[1:28:21] in this area right now. Herd health. Again, our number
[1:28:25] one goal is healthy wildlife populations. Disease is a major
[1:28:29] concern of populated herds. Chronic wasting diseases. Our biggest concern
[1:28:34] in this area on the Front range, we know it's
[1:28:36] in deer. We know it's in elk. Prevalence in elk
[1:28:39] is lower when we sampled in 2023, we had zero
[1:28:43] animals. It's not a huge sample of 15 in that
[1:28:45] year. But when we sampled 80 last year, we had
[1:28:47] about 5%. Still about where we should be, but chronic
[1:28:52] wasting disease is spread. By urine and feces. And when
[1:28:57] the animals are on top of the same piece of
[1:28:59] ground. And on top of the same animals all the
[1:29:01] time, we see that spread. Habitat. Again, rocky flat has
[1:29:07] some very unique, amazing habitat. Over 800 plants documented on
[1:29:12] this property. And again, globally rare is Eric. The last
[1:29:17] twelve acres of tall epline shrublin on the planet. On
[1:29:19] this property. So overgrazing and over browsing does create the
[1:29:24] opportunity for degradation of these communities. Thought let's talk invasive.
[1:29:29] We're battling invasive, just like everybody else. Harry, Willow, herb
[1:29:32] is. Our newest friend. Dots on the south was where
[1:29:37] we started, where he first identified this list, a species.
[1:29:42] And we know it's being spread by our elk between
[1:29:45] these wetlands. Safety. This is real. We always hear about
[1:29:55] vehicle strikes and people think about driving across Pennsylvania and
[1:29:57] hitting a white tail. This is a different game. These
[1:30:02] are extremely large animals that have the potential to cause
[1:30:04] fatal collisions with drivers and occupants. But also, secondary accidents
[1:30:08] are a big deal. You hit your brakes, you swerve
[1:30:12] across the road, you hit your brakes, other people wreck.
[1:30:14] Behind you. These are real. State Highway 128 and State
[1:30:20] Highway 93. We get pretty good data. We actually get
[1:30:23] GPS data. Indiana street. On the eastern side of this
[1:30:27] property is a county road, so we only get a
[1:30:30] stretch of data all the way from superior down into
[1:30:33] Arvada, and we know how many. Strikes occur in that
[1:30:36] area. We did a transportation study. In relation to trying
[1:30:40] to get a grant in the last couple of years
[1:30:41] for crossing under 128. It was done by Montana State
[1:30:45] and this Western Transportation Institute, and they give you some
[1:30:48] of those. Numbers. They're 46 d. Ornell crashes, but they're
[1:30:52] highly underreported. This photo is just kind of funny. In
[1:30:57] a sad way. Obviously there was an animal that got
[1:30:59] killed, but I hadn't to make the call to. This
[1:31:01] individual and said, we found your car. But it was
[1:31:04] already stolen and it's destroyed. So it was a bad
[1:31:08] day for the owner of this vehicle, but it kind
[1:31:10] of shows what can happen when a BMW hits an
[1:31:14] elk at a high rate of speed. So this is
[1:31:17] a real issue. Vehicle strikes are increasing. They correlate very
[1:31:22] tightly to increased numbers of animals. Nearby elconting I have
[1:31:27] what I call traditional hunting. So this would be our
[1:31:29] Colorado and parks and wildlife, folks issuing licenses and people
[1:31:32] hunting on private lands or forest service lands. There's just
[1:31:38] really limited opportunities in this area. Access is extremely limited.
[1:31:43] So you're not going to see great results in terms
[1:31:46] of reducing populations. We have special hunts as the way
[1:31:50] we call them in Boulder county. You guys have Rabbit
[1:31:52] Mountain in Red Hill? They've been good and successful. In
[1:31:55] Jefferson county, they have the centennial cone. So by special
[1:31:58] hunts, we're saying Colorado parks and wildlife is issuing tags
[1:32:01] and working with us, but we're implementing some additional regulations
[1:32:05] or restrictions on top of that to help with our
[1:32:08] goals or some other localized public safety things. So our
[1:32:13] next steps. Again, large organization, 580 units. What we do
[1:32:19] to make this easier is nationally, we make proposals to
[1:32:23] make changes to our hunting and fishing regulations once a
[1:32:26] year. It's timed based on hunting seasons, so we start
[1:32:31] early in January. In order to provide public comment, issue
[1:32:35] promulgation to where those things can be effectively executed. By
[1:32:39] the fall. If approved, Elcon could be authorized starting in
[1:32:43] fall of 26 with the public hunts with CPW's. Big
[1:32:47] game brochure beginning in the fall of 27. Guided by
[1:32:51] that ccp. We will do a very specific. And we're
[1:32:55] working on a hunt management plan currently, Jefferson. County, Boulder
[1:32:58] County. Department of Energy Colorado Parks and Wildlife inrel our
[1:33:03] Windtower friends, they're all part of this planning team helping
[1:33:06] us come up with a hunt management plan. So a
[1:33:09] draft would be issued with that during the rulemaking process.
[1:33:13] Some of those. Unique refuge specific regulations. There would be
[1:33:17] no high powered rifles center fire rifles due to proximity
[1:33:21] of neighbors, honey, would only be allowed in certain areas.
[1:33:26] Safety buffers, residential development, nearby roads. Hunting would only occur
[1:33:31] during traditional seasons, so September to November. Colorado parks and
[1:33:36] Wildlife would utilize its current processes to issue licenses and
[1:33:39] tags. All hunting would comply with Colorado state law for
[1:33:44] hunting and then those additional refuge specific regulations. And then,
[1:33:50] like all of our plans, some of your all rabbit
[1:33:52] mountain or Red Hill monitoring, adapting. As we go. And
[1:33:57] that is my final slide. Well, thank you, David. Do
[1:34:04] we have questions, comments from Posac? So let's just. Go
[1:34:08] down the road here. Road here. Starting with Joan. Joan.
[1:34:12] Let's go back and I. Support your plan. And the
[1:34:15] one time I was on that property, we came across
[1:34:18] a herd of. Elk, and instead of, like, running away,
[1:34:22] From us. They approached us, which I thought. Was kind
[1:34:25] of unnatural behavior. So again, maybe too many of them.
[1:34:32] John White. Poseack. You have a thing about high powered
[1:34:35] rifles. Won't be authorized. Seems to me that earlier this
[1:34:40] year there's a presentation about ilk management. At red hill
[1:34:45] or red mountain. Where? You guys had restricted. You use
[1:34:53] lower powered rifles or crossbows or something? And the problem
[1:34:59] is that people would wound the hill instead of kill
[1:35:01] them. You don't want people firing. Into houses. But we
[1:35:10] also don't want wounded elk. John Trace Baker from Postac.
[1:35:16] If I may interrupt. The regulations. On red hill. And
[1:35:24] Rabbit Mountain. Where? County? They were not. Federal. Well, still
[1:35:30] would be, yes. It's the same issue, but just clarifying.
[1:35:33] Who promulgated the regulations? Sorry, no. It's a great question.
[1:35:39] What we've been seeking to do over the last. I've
[1:35:42] been around too long. But what we've been really trying
[1:35:45] to do over the last 1015 years is to get
[1:35:48] a heck of a lot more consistent with our state
[1:35:50] partners so that we have consistent regulations. That people understand
[1:35:54] the hunters. That the game wardens on both sides, federal,
[1:35:59] state, county, everybody understands. So to your question, it's a
[1:36:02] great question. We would authorize shotguns, we would authorize archery,
[1:36:08] we would authorize muzzle loaders. We would just. Drop. The
[1:36:14] very long range, high powered rifles. So to your question
[1:36:18] about injured animals, that is a concern. A highly skilled
[1:36:22] person with any of those tools. It would not be
[1:36:29] a problem. A non skilled person with any of those
[1:36:31] tools, it's a problem. But we are aware of that.
[1:36:35] And an injured animal and retrieval is a big aspect
[1:36:38] of what we do if we get notified of that,
[1:36:41] we quickly go deal with that and we deal with
[1:36:42] that a lot throughout the year. Not throughout the year,
[1:36:46] hopefully, but throughout hunting season. But as Joan mentioned, at
[1:36:51] the moment, the animals I do not think will present.
[1:36:56] Long distance shots for these individuals. Unfortunately, they are kind
[1:37:00] of accustomed to not being pressured. During archery season, they
[1:37:06] could be called in relatively close. Muzzle loader shots at
[1:37:11] 150 yards. That's a fair shot that most of those
[1:37:16] folks should be able to take. But it is a
[1:37:19] concern for us. If we get those calls, then we
[1:37:23] have to go help and euthanize the animal, but. We
[1:37:26] certainly don't want to see an animal suffer. Thank you,
[1:37:30] Vicky. Vicky Lawrence PoSeack thanks, David, for your presentation about
[1:37:34] this. I know I've certainly seen elk in that area
[1:37:37] a lot. I have two comments, though. Is there any
[1:37:41] thought or consideration? You mentioned it briefly but didn't. Really
[1:37:45] talk about it. In getting animal passages on 128, or
[1:37:48] especially 93, is probably the worst in Indiana. Yeah, it's
[1:37:52] kind of interesting when I've come to these meetings. You're
[1:37:56] now my fourth. And that's been kind of the hot
[1:37:58] button question. Obviously, there's. A financial component to that. There
[1:38:03] are actually two crossings proposed on Highway 93, one at
[1:38:07] woman Creek which would be about a mile and a
[1:38:09] half north of Cole Creek canyon. And there's also one
[1:38:13] on where Cole Creek goes down near 128 proposed, but
[1:38:17] it has to be when 93 gets its road construction
[1:38:21] and. Its expansion. There are wildlife crossings and fences and
[1:38:27] mitigations proposed along Indiana street, but it's proposed with the
[1:38:32] Jefferson Parkway, so it's kind of a chicken egg. Unfortunately,
[1:38:36] we did with the bill, Ira. We put in for
[1:38:39] a grant for the highway underp. Underpass. Boulder county actually
[1:38:45] supported us. We worked together. We were just unsuccessful. We
[1:38:50] were beaten out by I 70 and some of those
[1:38:52] kind of projects that are bigger. And. It's hard. It's
[1:38:58] clearly a need throughout the state in many places. Okay,
[1:39:00] so, of course. I'm a great proponent of wildlife overpasses
[1:39:06] and underpasses. I think overpasses are better. They've been proven
[1:39:09] to be a little better. So my next question was.
[1:39:14] Is there a concern, since there aren't a safe crossings
[1:39:18] for the wildlife across these highways? That. Then you start
[1:39:21] allowing hunters in there, and the animals run from the
[1:39:24] hunters and blindly run. Out into the road where they
[1:39:28] might have given it some consideration were they not being
[1:39:31] pressured by gunfire or whatever. How do you think about
[1:39:36] that? Do you think about where you allow them to
[1:39:37] hunt so they're far enough away from roads that the
[1:39:40] elk won't be pushed into the roads. It's a fabulous
[1:39:43] question that we think about all the time, even when
[1:39:45] we're culling. Where are they going to go? And what
[1:39:49] is our plan if they decide to go somewhere? So.
[1:39:51] I think it'll be a big discussion point in this
[1:39:53] step down hunt management plan on how we deal with
[1:39:56] that. The problem is we're at now at 700 and
[1:40:00] we need to get to 200. I think if we
[1:40:03] get to 200, then maybe we don't see the pressuring
[1:40:06] and the bouncing and the pushing off of the various
[1:40:09] roads and the neighborhoods and all of these issues. I
[1:40:16] think they've unfortunately compound, right. So I can say that
[1:40:20] we will talk about that as a part of our
[1:40:23] hunt management plan. I mean, I don't know if we
[1:40:25] put up some flashing signs during those periods. We are
[1:40:30] talking about some rest days built in here and there,
[1:40:33] some we might hunt some days. Rest some days. I
[1:40:35] think you do that on some of your properties. And
[1:40:38] that would make management a little easier, but, yeah, it's
[1:40:40] a concern. That. If suddenly 700 animals go barreling across
[1:40:46] Highway 93 at the wrong time, that could be a
[1:40:49] challenge. So, Vicky Lawrence, still with Posac. One further question,
[1:40:54] then. God, I hate it when my brain. We'll come
[1:41:01] back to it. Okay. Thank you, Tony. Thanks, David. Great
[1:41:06] presentation. Thank you, Derek. Carol. Thank you, Carol. Byerly
[1:41:15] Posak, when you're in the calling process, do you select
[1:41:19] certain individuals, do you go for dough's or bulls? Or
[1:41:25] is there? So, thankfully, we have some really smart biologists
[1:41:27] that are helping us with some models. To help us.
[1:41:31] But yes, this last year and a half that we've
[1:41:33] been doing this. We have been highly targeting the females.
[1:41:38] To avoid the recruitment, obviously, but now we have 350.
[1:41:43] Males. So there will have to be some males that
[1:41:46] are reduced as well. Further question. Do you go for
[1:41:50] older individuals? Or is that possible? It is possible. On
[1:41:58] the mail side where we can tell the difference. On
[1:42:00] the female side, it's almost impossible to tell the difference
[1:42:03] between. A young versus an older one at a distance,
[1:42:07] so, yeah. But in general, an elk is going to
[1:42:11] hit reproductive status in its second year. So anything over.
[1:42:16] Two can have babies. Okay. Thank you. Christine christine johnson
[1:42:22] posak. Maybe I'll rephrasing some of what you're saying. In
[1:42:29] a positive way. Is hazing part of the plan? And
[1:42:33] so you're planning for the hazing? Where might they go?
[1:42:39] That's where this is a fun conversation, that we're all
[1:42:41] working together as neighbors. And partners and everybody, because. We
[1:42:45] have to deal with the elk population across the game
[1:42:48] management unit because they're going to move from one person's
[1:42:50] location to another person's location and back. So that's why
[1:42:54] it has to be collaborative and we have to work
[1:42:56] together. At the moment without pressure. They found these spots
[1:43:01] that we call refuge at various locations. And they're happy
[1:43:06] there. But yes, there'll be some hazing to move them
[1:43:10] around. As well as the haze, the pressure that comes
[1:43:15] from the individual hunters. Is that an answer? Yeah. Okay.
[1:43:22] Vicky. Thank you. Vicky Lawrence Poseac. I have concerns about.
[1:43:29] I know that. There were moves, I think, by you
[1:43:35] guys to start clearing out some of the mountain lines
[1:43:38] in. The northwestern part of a state that there was
[1:43:40] going to be mountain line hunts. Maybe I have that
[1:43:41] wrong? But irrelevant to that. I assume mountain lions are
[1:43:47] the main predator since we don't have wolves here on
[1:43:50] the elk. Are you guys culling mountain lions in this
[1:43:55] area? Why are there not enough mountain lions there? To
[1:44:01] compensate. The Rocky Flats refuge has two females that are
[1:44:05] occupied. That is probably as many that will reside on
[1:44:09] that property just because they don't like to be that
[1:44:11] close together. Yeah, and they are fat, dumb and happy.
[1:44:15] And they have lots of kittens every year, though, right?
[1:44:18] Coyotes make a reasonable predator impact on them as well,
[1:44:23] particularly on the calves. And there's a very strong coyote
[1:44:27] population as well. But it's just out of balance. Unless
[1:44:32] they're moving around and unless they're having access, you're not
[1:44:35] going. To have a mountain lion or five mountain lions
[1:44:37] come down from plain view in there and hunt. Like
[1:44:41] some of the more pack animals might like a wolf.
[1:44:46] With mom's there with her kitten. With her kittens and.
[1:44:51] She's going to protect that area. So the kittens move
[1:44:54] off, then after they don't. Stick around because there's not
[1:44:57] enough physical space. Correct. There's plenty of prey, not in
[1:45:00] a physical space. Thank you. And thank you for caring
[1:45:05] about the Harry Willow herb. It's just getting started. Another
[1:45:10] one of those things. I'm getting too old. I've been
[1:45:11] fighting weeds my entire life in various forms, fashions. And
[1:45:15] I know you guys are going to have a great
[1:45:16] presentation about it after me. But we are making a
[1:45:22] dent on certain weeds as a group, and then some
[1:45:25] of them. It's just like, I don't know, tease them.
[1:45:27] I don't know. Some of these are really hard, and
[1:45:31] particularly when they're getting spread on the fur of animals
[1:45:33] that are wandering across properties in hundreds of miles and
[1:45:36] dropping them into your wetlands. It's. Really hard. Thank you.
[1:45:41] Mar from Posec. This is Trace Baker from Postac, and
[1:45:45] I have quite a few questions and comments here. One
[1:45:50] is that for the hunts at Rabbit Mountain? Red Hill,
[1:45:55] Boulder county requires hunters to take. A training course. Will
[1:46:02] your organization be training hunters? So we are planning an
[1:46:07] orientation process to talk about neighbors, rules. All those various
[1:46:12] things. At this moment, we're not planning on a proficiency
[1:46:15] test. It could be something we could discuss if it's
[1:46:19] important to people, but we are not. Requiring a proficiency
[1:46:22] again, back to staffing and scheduling and all the steps
[1:46:25] that it takes to get through that, but we are
[1:46:27] requiring an orientation, which, obviously, we can record, share. Okay?
[1:46:32] Yeah. Because neighbors and those of us who drive 93
[1:46:36] fairly frequently might. Appreciate that. Another question. What will happen
[1:46:42] with the meat? That the hunter skill, they will take
[1:46:46] it. Home as a part of Colorado parks and wildlife.
[1:46:51] We have to take four quarters and the back straps
[1:46:53] according to rule. Okay, thank you. And our chair, postac
[1:46:59] chair here. Janet. George was unable to be here tonight,
[1:47:03] but. She did send a couple of questions that I'll
[1:47:07] ask on her behalf. First of all, she says it's
[1:47:11] good to see that. You're going to be. Actively managing
[1:47:14] elk numbers. She was asking if non lended ammunition will
[1:47:20] be required for firearms, both shotguns and muzzle. Loaders so
[1:47:26] that. Is a big aspect of the rulemaking process at
[1:47:31] the moment. Colorado parks and Wildlife and US locally at
[1:47:34] the National Wildlife Refuge at this level. Support lead free.
[1:47:39] And that's based on, particularly on the bald and golden
[1:47:42] eagle populations in this location. And the fact that there
[1:47:46] would be a high concentration of carcasses based on what
[1:47:49] we're talking about here. If we were taking 50 animals
[1:47:52] and leaving 50 carcasses with lead, it would be a
[1:47:54] different scenario. Than if lead was used up on the
[1:47:58] mountain, on the forest. Right. Okay, but you say support,
[1:48:03] but you do not yet know if you'll require. That'll
[1:48:07] be a part of the rulemaking process that happens in
[1:48:09] January and February. Okay. Thank you. And Janet also asks.
[1:48:16] At one time, there seemed to be a connection between
[1:48:18] rocky Flats elk management and table Mountain elk. Issues, which
[1:48:24] was also table mount as a federal, federal property, of
[1:48:27] course. Janet believes, and she used to work for Colorado
[1:48:31] parks and wildlife as biologist. A rocky flats personnel were
[1:48:38] helping count elk on Table Mountain. Could rocky Flats elk
[1:48:43] management lead to. Active management of elk on Table Mountain
[1:48:50] or they separate initiatives. Great question. She probably remembers. We
[1:48:55] know Janet. She probably remembers this collaring project that we
[1:49:00] all work together on. We actually went up there in
[1:49:03] collared animals, and we do still count animals on Table
[1:49:06] Mountain. But yeah. It was quite an ordeal capturing those
[1:49:10] animals. But, yeah, we definitely were involved in that. I
[1:49:13] mean, my feeling is. As a collaborative and a partnership
[1:49:17] together. If we can show success working together. It will
[1:49:21] lead. To additional opportunities for us to. So if we're
[1:49:26] currently restricted on Table Mountain, maybe over time. If the
[1:49:30] animals are hanging out there, then we can utilize these
[1:49:33] as best case lessons learned. Best management practices to assist
[1:49:37] them, because that is Department of Commerce. Not necessarily the
[1:49:42] same agency as us. Thank you. And a comment on
[1:49:48] hazing because. I believe. My experience with parks and open
[1:49:54] space predates Christine's. For a while, and this was some
[1:49:59] years ago. We were trying to. Haze elk on Rabbit
[1:50:04] Mountain. And one of my other volunteer gigs with the
[1:50:09] county was participating with one of the wildlife biologists in
[1:50:13] hazing. And number one, we could never get close to
[1:50:17] the animals. And compared to what Joan was observing. And
[1:50:22] number two. When the animals did realize that we were
[1:50:27] just walking around unarmed. They would certainly vacate the property,
[1:50:32] but they would never go in the direction that we
[1:50:34] wanted. Them to. And so that was one of the
[1:50:38] experiences that led to approval of hunting up on Rabbit
[1:50:42] Mountain. Should have been on horseback. And. Final topic here.
[1:50:50] Is that? For the rocky Frathplats property. I understand that
[1:50:56] residual activity or radioactivity and other contaminants are believed to
[1:51:02] be below federal safety standards. But will hunters be either?
[1:51:09] Advised. Or be shown signage. Regarding. Residual radioactivity so they
[1:51:16] can make an informed choice over there. They want to
[1:51:18] hunt there. Or not? It's a great question. And yeah,
[1:51:21] obviously we have thought about that. The animals that we
[1:51:23] collected in 2023 were sampled for radio nucleiids and all
[1:51:28] were non detect in all tissues. There was also studies
[1:51:32] done going all the way back to the cleanup and
[1:51:35] why the lands that are the refuge were released. For
[1:51:38] what they can say. I want to get it right.
[1:51:40] It's ue unlimited use. Unlimited exposure. So it's non restricted
[1:51:45] in general. So there were studies back then we sampled
[1:51:47] 15. In 2023, and we actually plan to sample an
[1:51:52] additional 15 this winter during the colon process. Regarding notification.
[1:51:58] It will be a part of the history of rocky
[1:52:01] Flats, will be a part of the hunting brochure and
[1:52:02] that orientation, for sure. Great. Thank you, David. Further questions
[1:52:07] from Posac. Well, David, thank you for. A very informative
[1:52:12] and very comprehensive proposal. I mean, presentation. Thank you. Okay.
[1:52:17] Thank you. Okay, our final. I'm sorry, David, before I
[1:52:24] let you go. I'm sorry. I forgot a couple of
[1:52:29] things. Number one. Do we have people registered to speak
[1:52:36] in person? Yes, please come up. State your name. Yeah.
[1:52:41] This is only about hunting on rocky flats. Tess McDonald,
[1:52:49] Lions, Colorado so I'm wondering if you sampled deer and
[1:52:54] if you've ever tested the deer for chronic wastings disease?
[1:53:00] And if you do sample for chronic wasting disease, do
[1:53:02] you also sample for neurotoxins? Like in Nasaflam. Tests. This
[1:53:07] is a public comment period, David. You may ask if
[1:53:11] you choose to, you're not required. There were a couple
[1:53:16] of questions there. Test. So I'll try to answer. Yeah.
[1:53:18] Chronic wasting. Disease is one of the things we tested
[1:53:21] significantly in the elk. So at the moment. The deer
[1:53:25] population is not large, so we're not doing a lot
[1:53:28] of deer sampling or deer studying so the 2012. Surveys
[1:53:34] were of mule deer and included chronic wasting disease and
[1:53:37] radonuclei. This last round has all been exclusive to elk.
[1:53:43] Okay, so we did sample the 15 animals in 2023,
[1:53:46] and they were all non detect for chronic wasting disease
[1:53:50] in 2023. However, I know there's chronic wasting disease because
[1:53:55] we get called to deal with symptomatic animals. Unfortunately. They're
[1:53:59] generally down on one of those highways right next to
[1:54:02] the road, and we need to euthanize them, and then
[1:54:03] we sample them, and they have chronic wasting disease. Those
[1:54:07] 15 animals. We did sample for radio nucleiids as well,
[1:54:11] and they were all non detect. And edible tissues that
[1:54:13] we looked at. Muscle, kidney, liver. No other chemicals, but
[1:54:18] we did not. And Dazzaflam, I guess, helped. Me out
[1:54:22] with the brand name that. Juvra. Thank you. Yes, we
[1:54:27] have not. Sampled. We have not sampled. We didn't sample
[1:54:31] at Rabbit Mountain. We were only down at the rocky
[1:54:34] flats doing the sampling. Okay. Thank you so much. You're
[1:54:37] welcome. Thank you. Any other comments from people in the
[1:54:43] room? Nick, do we have anybody online wishing to comment?
[1:54:47] We have no hands raised. Thank you. Okay, David. Thank
[1:54:51] you very much. Okay. Thank you. Okay, so it's getting
[1:54:55] close to 830, which is our typical adjournment. Time. We
[1:55:01] still have one more topic. Postac. Are you needing a
[1:55:07] break? Okay, so I think we will proceed. To an
[1:55:14] update on the integrated weed management plan. And we have
[1:55:20] Joe Swanson. Presenting here. Good evening, everybody. Hope your evening
[1:55:28] is going well. Joe Swanson, parks in open space, noxious
[1:55:32] weed supervisor. And I'm back at your request. Actually, if
[1:55:37] we go back to last year when last time I
[1:55:39] saw you, I think you were requesting that. We come
[1:55:44] in and provide you an update? With. How our initial
[1:55:49] year plan updates was going wrong. So here I am
[1:55:55] tonight to provide that to you. That does not look
[1:55:58] like. You don't know that. Let's see where I'm at
[1:56:04] here. 's a nice podcast on plant blind that maybe
[1:56:11] you miss. Peacock. I'm a little lost here. Do I
[1:56:17] need to change? I wanted to know. Notes, mode second.
[1:56:24] Yeah. Does it need to go through teams? Extending up
[1:56:28] there. Okay. You can just change it.
[1:56:39] If you duplicate it, you will. Oh, no, because you're
[1:56:44] right. So I don't know if this. I need to
[1:56:50] go through teams, perhaps. Do another unplug of that HDMI
[1:56:55] cable, okay? And I'll plug it back in. Let's try
[1:56:59] that, okay? Not sure what it's.
[1:57:12] Hopping up here. Nick, I may need you to come
[1:57:15] up here. I can't figure this out, all right? I'm
[1:57:16] from now. Sorry about this.
[1:57:29] I'm trying to get to where I have the notes.
[1:58:01] That I've had that we.
[1:58:12] May have. So in the meantime, Did you miss me
[1:58:18] over the last. Year. Install windows.
[1:59:18] Maybe you think the wire is bad. I've had a
[1:59:26] bad wire lately. They should have just got.
[1:59:41] At one point because we had the. Was it we
[1:59:44] had the kayak? It was a paddle board. I do
[1:59:52] have. It on. What do I know? Yeah. Go grab
[1:59:58] it if you need to try that. Not about watercraft.
[2:00:04] Watercraft? Individual watercraft. I'm wrong.
[2:00:24] Driving across Pennsylvania, I think about running into elk in
[2:00:27] Colorado.
[2:00:37] What do you mean that have to be called? Yours,
[2:00:44] though, all right? It's all out of whack.
[2:01:07] There's some success.
[2:01:23] What is that? How much trouble with that.
[2:01:37] There we go. Okay. I think we have success. Once
[2:01:46] again, Joe Swanson, Parks and open space noxious suite supervisor.
[2:01:49] It's good to be in front of you again. Per
[2:01:56] your request, we're bringing this to you. When last we
[2:01:58] met, you did ask for. A one year update to
[2:02:02] the plan. This also happens to be our one year
[2:02:04] anniversary of the commissioner signing the plan this month. So
[2:02:09] excited to be here in front of you. The idea
[2:02:12] behind this update that I put forward for you tonight
[2:02:15] was that we did have seven. Goals that. We had
[2:02:22] implemented in the plan. Let me back up. We had
[2:02:28] seven goals within the plan that we were going to
[2:02:31] be implementing over the course of the next three to
[2:02:34] six years. A lot of these had long range. Goals
[2:02:39] to them reaching out to 2030. We had an impetus
[2:02:46] to get in some of the quicker goals, the goals
[2:02:48] that we really did. Not. Have. A lot of information
[2:02:54] on as we went through the plan. If you recall,
[2:02:56] we did talk a lot about the pilot projects. We
[2:02:59] really didn't quite know what those. Projects really meant or
[2:03:02] looked like. When we last met did not really have
[2:03:06] an idea of what we might replace our data management.
[2:03:09] Software with so that we could track. Our field activities.
[2:03:16] And herbicide use. Labor hours, all of those things. So
[2:03:21] we did come up with pretty good results in all
[2:03:23] of those things here in our first year going through
[2:03:26] this management plan. So I was going to focus on
[2:03:28] goal three and goal six. I did, however, in the
[2:03:31] last couple of weeks, have a little bit of a
[2:03:33] breakthrough. I didn't think it was going to happen, but
[2:03:35] I do have an update for goal number two as
[2:03:37] well tonight that I'll do a little. Later in the
[2:03:39] slideshow. First, I want to give you a big thank
[2:03:43] you. As we went through the plan. I believe you
[2:03:50] all recognize that we did have a need for added
[2:03:53] staff to help accommodate the new features of this revised
[2:03:57] integrated wheat management plan. That did flow up the change
[2:04:00] to the commissioners. The commissioners agreed. So they did award
[2:04:03] us with a new Fte. We got a field technician.
[2:04:08] Full time employee, Alex Wendorf. I believe you just met
[2:04:10] him last month with the weed warriors. Program, so he
[2:04:13] has joined our staff from nurmer county. He's a great
[2:04:16] addition. Comes from our program, much like ours. Sees a
[2:04:21] lot of the same things in Larmor county that we
[2:04:23] encountered there in Boulder. County, so he's been a great
[2:04:26] addition to this. One of the avenues that we came
[2:04:31] through with the development of our weed management plan was
[2:04:35] that we did identify. Four unique management areas that we
[2:04:39] would focus. Our resources towards. You can see them labeled
[2:04:42] there on the left. By adding that fourth person, it's
[2:04:45] been really nice that we've been able to assign one
[2:04:47] full time staff member to each area. Of noxious feed
[2:04:51] management that we represent within our weed management plan. It's
[2:04:54] been really big in helping us. Be more efficient, cover
[2:04:59] more property. Just in general, get more done. There is
[2:05:05] still a lot of. Cross management collaboration between my staff,
[2:05:10] but they all have their priorities that they focus on,
[2:05:12] so it's been really nice to have that added person
[2:05:15] to the staff. Thank you for that. And it really
[2:05:20] helped us get our stuff done this year. So one
[2:05:25] of the big things, I'm going to jump to goal
[2:05:27] six. This was a goal that was going to update
[2:05:33] our reporting methods and increase our availability. With our weed
[2:05:37] management activity data. This was actually a very key implementation.
[2:05:42] I would say success for this year. This was the
[2:05:45] use of Opengov data asset management system that Boulder county
[2:05:50] has adopted. This is the first time it was really
[2:05:52] used in a land management. Aspect. This is a countywide
[2:05:58] deployment software. Primarily used for infrastructure buildings. Park bench just
[2:06:07] to kind of keep tabs of all of the infrastructure
[2:06:10] pieces that we have. Across the County. This was the
[2:06:13] first use that we really kind of moved it into
[2:06:15] a land use category. Christy. Spielman approached us in late
[2:06:21] 2024 to maybe consider using this data management system. We
[2:06:26] weren't quite sure how it would work, but I will
[2:06:28] have to say that going through the revision process with
[2:06:31] all of you over that twelve month, 13 month, 18
[2:06:34] month period that we did. Was very beneficial because I
[2:06:39] believe trace was the one who had kind of wanted
[2:06:41] to really see us come through with a flowchart diagram
[2:06:46] of how our work progresses and how we make decisions
[2:06:50] not only. With our treatment operations, but just in general,
[2:06:54] when we're assessing sites and what our processes are because
[2:06:58] we did develop that diagram. That flow, that workflow chart.
[2:07:03] We had a great place to start with implementing this
[2:07:06] data management. Software. So we really kind of got started
[2:07:10] in earnest in December. I didn't think we'd really be
[2:07:13] able to use this software much through 2025. There was
[2:07:18] a big lift we didn't think we'd just be able
[2:07:19] to get. Everything ready and in a usable situation. I
[2:07:24] am happy to say that with a lot of work
[2:07:26] and effort from our staff, we got our data transferred
[2:07:29] over from our old system, which we knew was woefully
[2:07:31] inadequate for the data and information that we wanted to
[2:07:34] keep and provide. So by March, we were fully active
[2:07:39] in this program. That's not to say we're not having
[2:07:41] tweaks and some changes. We're still trying to understand a
[2:07:45] little bit of how we're tracking everything, whether it might
[2:07:48] be a non asset that we're working with or an
[2:07:50] asset that we're. Working with. We had to upload all
[2:07:53] of our previous information into this database that we would
[2:07:56] have it. Big, big lift. But we did get it
[2:07:59] done, and we have been using. This software to track
[2:08:03] all of our activities this year. One of the things
[2:08:06] that. We can just share with you a little bit.
[2:08:10] Here are some of the things we can now do
[2:08:12] is we can track, we manage our herbicide records through
[2:08:15] this. Who we can manage our field workflows through this.
[2:08:20] Collect labor hours, assign cost values to. Those and just
[2:08:25] in general, keep far better track of our data and
[2:08:29] information. The work on the front end is a little
[2:08:32] bit heavier, but the work on the back end is
[2:08:34] much lighter, which you will get to experience when we
[2:08:37] submit. Our annual report in January, which will be our
[2:08:41] target time frame for our 2025 annual report. Of all
[2:08:46] of the things that we accomplished in 2025, no later
[2:08:50] than January 31 of 2026, This program is making us
[2:08:55] far more efficient with everything we do. Another aspect of
[2:08:58] this is that we can also share information across our
[2:09:02] departments. Other departments can make requests if they find noxious
[2:09:08] weeds in different parts of the county. Different parcels. They
[2:09:12] can make those requests online through directly to us. Another
[2:09:16] aspect of this is that we do now have an
[2:09:18] AsK Boulder county page. So if you are experiencing. Noxious
[2:09:24] wheel issues, safety issues with roadsides, whatever it may be.
[2:09:30] If we have weeds that are coaching on your properties
[2:09:32] that you'd like to make us. Aware of. You can
[2:09:34] go through this ask of Boulder county website. You can
[2:09:37] make your request and it will come straight to me,
[2:09:39] to which then it does get distributed out to my
[2:09:41] staff or wherever it may need to go. This has
[2:09:45] AlSo gone live for our county road system. So our
[2:09:47] county roads. If you have problems with the roads, you
[2:09:49] could also now go to. This asporter county and submit
[2:09:54] requests or notices through that. So, as I said, this
[2:09:57] is a countywide program. Software. And. It is. Active across
[2:10:05] the board, and we were the first ones. It's been
[2:10:07] an experience and a challenge at times to see this
[2:10:10] go through. But we are getting there. One of the
[2:10:14] things that we do feel like this is going to
[2:10:15] help us with. Is not only our internal communication, but
[2:10:19] with our external communication as well. In January 2026. We're
[2:10:25] hoping. This will become live. We have a. Test page
[2:10:32] right now where we are working this out, a proof
[2:10:33] of concept page that we are working on right now.
[2:10:37] This will help us with our workflow. So currently, right
[2:10:39] now, As we enter herbicide applications into our system. And
[2:10:45] then for a public notification process that we approved through
[2:10:47] our integrated weed management plan. We now have. To take
[2:10:52] that information, go to a separate page, reenter it into
[2:10:55] a second public facing page. On our website for people
[2:10:59] to come and see where we're actually doing our activities
[2:11:01] and our work in this case, as they enter in
[2:11:04] their tasks, if it's a herbicide, task. That task will
[2:11:07] automatically be updated to this page. Highlighting our transparency with
[2:11:11] the work we're doing, they can go see what the
[2:11:13] work is. Where it's going to occur, when it's going
[2:11:15] to occur, if it's been completed. It'll keep that record
[2:11:18] for us online there. So this is really exciting for
[2:11:21] us. I think this is going to really help us
[2:11:23] with our workflow, make us far more efficient with communicating
[2:11:27] with the public and also allow us to get our
[2:11:29] own work done just. A little bit better and faster.
[2:11:33] So, goal three. That was the one with all of
[2:11:39] our pilot projects. This was the goal in which we
[2:11:44] were going to look at many various alternative methods for
[2:11:47] weed. Management. And see how they might be able to
[2:11:51] help us improve. Our weed management activities. If there was
[2:11:55] a way to help us reduce our herbicide use through
[2:11:57] these methods. And just get us into thinking out of
[2:12:01] the box just a little bit. So we had decided
[2:12:04] on five of those programs. There were two that were
[2:12:09] mechanical, weed pulling programs, including the weed warriors. Which you
[2:12:16] just had a presentation on last month, so I don't
[2:12:17] know if you need. Me to go into this too
[2:12:19] much. This has been a very successful program. I feel
[2:12:22] it is. Working. There are some things I think we
[2:12:25] need to still consider over the next few years as
[2:12:28] this moves forward, but overall, I think. This has been
[2:12:32] for us, working with the public has been a very
[2:12:35] good program, and we will continue to try to make
[2:12:38] it better as we go forward. The Harry Willowerb as
[2:12:41] you just heard from. Our last presenter. This weed is
[2:12:47] becoming a problem. It is a list a. It is
[2:12:50] a perennial. Weed. So this pilot project started off at
[2:12:55] Pelopons. And a smaller area. There's 140 acres. That whole
[2:13:00] 140 acres is not covered by this. Weed. But it
[2:13:04] does occur in many locations across that site. The idea
[2:13:07] here is to see how effective we can be hand
[2:13:10] pulling the swede. It's. Not a lot of fun, as
[2:13:12] you can see by some of the volunteer hours there.
[2:13:15] Most of this work is being done by our staff
[2:13:18] hours. It's not a lot of fun. To go crawl
[2:13:20] down into a wetland type area. Mosquitoes and bugs and
[2:13:23] snakes and frogs. And 95 degree heat. Not a lot
[2:13:28] of fun to be down in there working in the
[2:13:29] muck, trying to pull these out, get them bagged up
[2:13:32] and hauled off. So this is a work in progress.
[2:13:35] We have seen a little bit of success with this
[2:13:37] program. In areas where we have been able to thin
[2:13:40] it enough, we have seen a flush of. Natives come
[2:13:44] back in native floor and font come back in through
[2:13:45] there. However, with this being a list a species. The
[2:13:49] target objective is eradication. Which this may be very difficult
[2:13:54] for us to achieve. With this pilot project, but we
[2:13:57] will continue to work at it and see what we
[2:13:59] can provide. These are all still under evaluation. No decisions
[2:14:03] have been made with any of these pilot projects, so.
[2:14:07] Far. We're really in our first year with a lot
[2:14:10] of these. The goat browsing pilot. This was very, very
[2:14:14] popular with a lot of people, a lot of our
[2:14:15] neighboring communities have started. To utilize goat browsing, I tend
[2:14:19] to be a little more. Of a stickler by using
[2:14:22] the term browsing. You hear a lot about goat grazing.
[2:14:26] Great. Goats really aren't grazers. Their diet is 97% broadleaf
[2:14:31] plants and woody vegetation. So the grass is really left
[2:14:33] behind. So when we consider some of those aspects, Of
[2:14:37] how they operate in a system. I wanted to look
[2:14:42] at a couple of different ways that we could maybe
[2:14:44] utilize them and see. If we could find some really
[2:14:46] strong benefits through them. One of the ways we looked
[2:14:49] at them was just general noxious wheat suppression. The second
[2:14:53] way was through our restoration site. So as you're probably.
[2:14:57] Very aware when we get out and we try to
[2:14:59] reestablish our native grasses and things like that. Weeds tend
[2:15:02] to be our biggest competition in reestablishing those sites. We
[2:15:06] don't tend to really want to use herbicides to help
[2:15:08] control those weeds, although that is one of the primary
[2:15:11] methods to help control the weeds and get the grass.
[2:15:13] Grasses out competing the weeds in the system. But in
[2:15:17] this case, I wanted to see if there was the
[2:15:19] potential for the goats to be able to work around
[2:15:22] through those areas, eat the weeds. Out. Leave the grass
[2:15:24] alone. Have their hoof action, help, maybe stir the soil
[2:15:27] a little bit. More get their manure back in for
[2:15:29] fertilizer purposes. Potentially even broadcast a little bit more seed
[2:15:33] out behind them to see what kind of establishment extended
[2:15:37] establishment we could get. And that worked actually fairly well
[2:15:41] this year for us. The wildfire mitigation portion I worked
[2:15:44] with David Garcia in our water group, who has been
[2:15:47] tasked with monitoring wildfire mitigation efforts in ditch areas. We
[2:15:54] had a couple of sites. Right along. Via API we
[2:15:58] have an abandoned stretch of Mayhoffer ditch that I had
[2:16:01] received. Some complaints for with the overgrowth that was occurring
[2:16:06] there. We were over Twin Lakes. And on a ditch
[2:16:10] over in that area, and we did do the browsing
[2:16:12] down through there. The picture there on the bottom right,
[2:16:15] you can kind of see. That's the one. At. Along
[2:16:18] with the happy away over in Lewisville, this one was
[2:16:21] a little interesting. The things you do kind of learn.
[2:16:24] One of the neighbors that backed up to this drop.
[2:16:27] Well, first this is in town, so it's really hard
[2:16:29] to kind of get to. I believe they took 100
[2:16:32] goats over into this area for maybe about a half
[2:16:34] an acre site. They had to come through. The city
[2:16:37] of Louisville owns a property. Like an old lot that
[2:16:40] had never been built on. So we came through one
[2:16:43] of the side. Streets between the homes into the site.
[2:16:47] They had their fences set up, turned the goats loose
[2:16:48] in there. One of the neighbors, it was. Three houses,
[2:16:51] I think, along this stretch. One of the homeowners had
[2:16:55] a dog. They kept letting out in the yard. And
[2:17:02] he would run the fence line and he would bark
[2:17:03] at the goat. So when you go to the site
[2:17:05] and take a look. As you see there in front
[2:17:07] of you, the west end. Of the ditch. Looks very
[2:17:10] good. Very cleaned up and very. Well browsed, then. There's
[2:17:15] a little section in the middle where the dog kept
[2:17:16] coming. Out and disturbing the goats. Goats didn't want to
[2:17:18] hang out there. So when you got right behind one
[2:17:20] certain house. A little bit more brush. And vegetation. And
[2:17:25] then when you got to the east end, they were
[2:17:27] back away. So it is interesting how you see some
[2:17:29] of these things work. But overall, for fire mitigation, it
[2:17:34] seemed to work pretty well as far as limbing. Up
[2:17:37] everything and cleaning out some of the extra debris within
[2:17:40] those sites. I think the other site this was an
[2:17:43] interesting one to me as well. If you look there
[2:17:45] in the middle, the two pictures. This is Aaron arsenal
[2:17:48] property right on the south edge of superior. This is
[2:17:52] their old town mining site. It is littered with coal
[2:17:58] tailing piles and lots and lots and lots of wild
[2:18:01] ferro. Rye. Which winter annual invasive grass that we have
[2:18:05] in these systems, we can't really access it. A lot
[2:18:08] with our mowers and our tractors, so we can't really
[2:18:09] get a lot of mechanical work up in there. So
[2:18:13] we did do this 28 acre site with the goats.
[2:18:17] And as you can see, the difference there, they were
[2:18:19] able to knock down a lot of that. They would
[2:18:21] feed off the sea deads. I don't know how much
[2:18:23] of the actual straw they were eating, but they did
[2:18:25] actually try to knock it down, eat to bring it
[2:18:27] out. Of the heads of all of. The plants up
[2:18:29] and through that area. So it was an interesting. Pilot
[2:18:34] project this year. We hope to continue. No real decision
[2:18:37] has been made, but we saw a lot of good
[2:18:39] attributes coming from this. Overall, the goat Sprout is about
[2:18:43] 100 acres for us in Boulder county this year. The
[2:18:48] contract was awarded to a company called Restoration Grazing out
[2:18:51] of Valley Center, Kansas. They found. Our contract bid process
[2:18:56] through bonfire. They did provide the winning bid for that.
[2:19:01] Rex and susan. Rutledge. Excuse me. And they came in
[2:19:05] from Kansas and spent about 55 to 60 days. Working
[2:19:09] a lot of these areas. Date. Different sites included ahi
[2:19:13] or let's property or keys property over on the south.
[2:19:16] Side of Longmont. Several of these little, small, remote areas
[2:19:22] with the ditches. They are an arsenal property, and we
[2:19:24] spent a lot of time on Ahi, working russian olives
[2:19:28] and. Teasl trying to work through all of that. Another
[2:19:33] site location that we did use was Harney Lasoka Mayhoffer
[2:19:36] farms area right there on the east edge of Lewisville
[2:19:38] in that area. There and you can see that top
[2:19:42] left picture. I was really quite pleased. One of the
[2:19:46] concerns I had with this. Was. What evitation would they
[2:19:51] take and what do vegetation would they leave behind? They
[2:19:55] did not bother the cottonwoods at all. Through these drainages,
[2:19:58] I saw one green ash. Get. Harmed. And then the
[2:20:03] rest of it, they really seemed to desire. The siberian
[2:20:05] element runs through there. Which is now a list C
[2:20:07] species for us here in the state of Colorado. They
[2:20:10] did or did not. They did. The three trees you
[2:20:13] see there in that top left are siberian elm and.
[2:20:17] They really lived high on those plants. They went after
[2:20:21] them with a lot of vigor and effort, so that
[2:20:24] was nice to see. I think the one question I
[2:20:26] may have is. What our post work might have to
[2:20:29] be with some of these areas. We have a lot
[2:20:31] of standing Deadwood trees. When they're green, they're not as
[2:20:34] fireable. They're. Not as flammable. When they're dry and standing,
[2:20:36] they may become a little bit more of a burning
[2:20:39] hazard, but overall. I think it was a good first
[2:20:42] year for this pilot. Steam weeding. This was another one
[2:20:51] of those new innovations that we had talked about trying
[2:20:54] to use. In this case, Rabbit Mountain parking lot was
[2:21:00] set aside for this. About a two acre parking lot.
[2:21:03] Adafix. Solutions won this contract. It's about $4,000 contract. They
[2:21:12] had set up and provided six treatments across the season.
[2:21:17] About one every month for the most part. One every
[2:21:18] six weeks. And as you can see in the pictures.
[2:21:21] It was very effective. They were able to control the
[2:21:24] weeds. The process behind steam weeding is. Think of a
[2:21:26] Stanley steamer. They've got a steam head about the size
[2:21:30] of what they might run across your carpet. So when
[2:21:32] you think about two acres and they're going across a
[2:21:34] lot of these sites, it's a lot of work, a
[2:21:36] little bit time consuming. It emits water temperature it emits
[2:21:40] water at a temperature of about 325 to 400 degrees.
[2:21:44] That heat and steam bursts the cell structure within the
[2:21:47] plants. And effectively kills the plant on the surface of
[2:21:52] the soil. And it does pretty well, but it does
[2:21:55] need repeated treatments. I was very pleased with the way
[2:21:59] this worked. I was not real sure how this might
[2:22:01] come across, but it worked out very well. I'm considering
[2:22:05] potentially moving this into another parking lot as well, and
[2:22:08] maybe trying to do two parking lots here in the
[2:22:10] future. They also do offer. Probe steaming. So I suppose
[2:22:18] the best way to maybe think of this is as
[2:22:20] you get into some of these surrounding areas next to
[2:22:23] the parking lots and around the structures where you do
[2:22:27] have native grass. Areas, perhaps. There's. Larger weed thistle, curly
[2:22:34] dock. That's something of that nature. They can actually shove
[2:22:36] the probe. Down in next to the base of the
[2:22:38] roots and steam kill the weed from down into the
[2:22:40] ground in a root face. So we may even try
[2:22:45] a little bit more of expanding that out into those
[2:22:47] areas and see. What kind of efforts we can get
[2:22:50] out of that, what kind of feedback we can get
[2:22:51] from that type of work as well. But overall, I
[2:22:55] thought this was pretty good. Turned out. For something I
[2:22:59] wasn't really aware of and how it really worked. I
[2:23:05] was a little impressed with the way it came through
[2:23:06] in the end. So is seating impossible? Christine Johnson Posec
[2:23:12] is seeding a possibility in conjunction with the steam, or
[2:23:16] are they incompatible? That's a good question. I'm not really
[2:23:19] quite sure yet. I do question we talk about. Soil
[2:23:24] health and things of that nature. Now, this is in
[2:23:26] parking lots where we're looking. For bare ground efforts anyway,
[2:23:29] but. To your point, as we move into areas, natural
[2:23:33] areas, in and around. These facilities, parking lots and things
[2:23:36] of that nature. I'm really curious what 400 degree water
[2:23:40] does to microbes and worms and all of the soil
[2:23:44] biota that's underground. So that's something that we would have
[2:23:47] to still kind of consider and work at these projects
[2:23:49] are planned to go for three to five years. So
[2:23:52] I think we'll have plenty of time to try to
[2:23:53] address some of those topics. And issues, but, yes, thank
[2:23:55] you for that question. And then our final. Pilot project
[2:24:03] was the soil amendment pilots. I believe Stuart Jennings came
[2:24:07] in. Or someone from Lyons. I'm trying to remember his
[2:24:11] name. Had recommended that Stewart come and speak to us.
[2:24:15] Stewart is the owner of a daffix. Products company. And
[2:24:21] soil amendment is one of. His proxy does sell. This
[2:24:27] was in reference to potentially being able to use basically
[2:24:30] a fertilizer to help us. Control weeds and cheat grass
[2:24:34] across native prairie areas. This one took a little bit
[2:24:38] longer for us to get in. This was originally slated
[2:24:40] for Walker Ranch, but due to the nature of how
[2:24:44] we have to apply this product, In this case, with
[2:24:47] this study, we did about £350 per acre. As fairly
[2:24:52] recommended for heavy, dense ggrass sites. But one of the
[2:24:56] things we noticed up a Walker ranch was one we
[2:24:58] couldn't really find a large enough accessible area to get
[2:25:01] equipment in to spread the spread the fertilizer so this
[2:25:04] actually got bumped over to rabbit mountain. So we're up
[2:25:07] on Eagle wind trail. Kind of. In the hardware of
[2:25:11] the elk. Used to hang out. It was also part
[2:25:14] of our tour, public tour. We went now to see
[2:25:16] the aerial application that's south into Rabbit Mountain. We're down
[2:25:19] in that region of. Rabbit Mountain. This is going to
[2:25:22] be a full blown. Research type study. If we would.
[2:25:27] Our hope is that if we do want to see
[2:25:29] it get published, we would. Have the scientific research data
[2:25:32] to back that up. And really send it off to
[2:25:36] have somebody. Want to perhaps write up an analysis of
[2:25:40] this study. It's three sites, kind of up. There on
[2:25:42] top of the hill. There's 14 replications within each site.
[2:25:46] It's. A comparison with standalone soil amendments combinations. With other
[2:25:51] herbicides and then maybe even actually comparing it to actual
[2:25:54] herbicide standalone. So we can kind of get a good
[2:25:57] idea all the way around. What the benefits, what the
[2:26:01] power of this product can be. So that was the
[2:26:06] last of our pilot projects. I thought these were kind
[2:26:11] of interesting. I really felt like these were the ones
[2:26:13] that I wanted. To bring to you tonight and show
[2:26:15] you, as part of our update, the rest of our
[2:26:17] weed work this year was very normal to our activities
[2:26:21] that we would do generally. I do have one more
[2:26:25] update for you. And that was. I didn't know if
[2:26:26] this was going to happen this year or not. I
[2:26:28] did get word from contracting just here in the last
[2:26:32] seven to ten days. I forgot to stable citizens. Just
[2:26:36] kind of a summary of those five projects that you
[2:26:40] can see. Their staff hours involved volunteer hours. Acres associated
[2:26:46] with those. Just to kind of summarize all of that,
[2:26:48] and if you would, like to see this a little
[2:26:49] more. I can come back to this. But I did
[2:26:52] just learn here in the last. Oh, it's on the
[2:26:56] other. It was on my other slideshow, so I don't
[2:27:00] know if I'm going. To be able to show it
[2:27:01] to you or not. I did get word from our
[2:27:03] contracting office. That our drone application for cheat grass did
[2:27:08] get through this year. I didn't think it was going
[2:27:09] to happen this year, I thought we're going to have
[2:27:10] to put it off. Till 2026, but they did get
[2:27:12] it through, so. We will be doing a drone cheat
[2:27:15] grass application on the Red Hill area. Along Highway 36
[2:27:20] there. Here in the month of December, weather permitting. So
[2:27:24] that would be the one update. To our second. Program
[2:27:31] note. That will be occurring this year. So with that.
[2:27:38] It's not all seven goals, but I thought this was
[2:27:40] the goals that. We really had the most benefit of
[2:27:44] learning from this year and showed the most interest. And
[2:27:49] degree of gain and knowledge for us, anyway. So thank
[2:27:54] you, Joe, for the details, and thank you for your
[2:27:58] patience with the equipment at the start. Let's start with
[2:28:02] Christine this time. Come back to me, okay, Carol. I
[2:28:09] read the Carol Byerly poset. And. I read the full
[2:28:18] report that we approved last year. I think this is
[2:28:22] different. I think this feels different. You don't start with
[2:28:29] chemicals, you start with cultural. And so I think that's
[2:28:34] good. We're recognizing new approaches. In fact,
[2:28:44] even apparently embracing them. The report even mentioned. Bees in
[2:28:52] it. And so that was when you're thinking about that,
[2:28:55] so. I was gratified. I think. A lot remains to
[2:29:03] be seen. And it's not what everybody. It's not as
[2:29:07] far as everybody would like us. To go. But. I
[2:29:13] use steam to kill the ants in my patio. I
[2:29:17] pour boiling water on them. It's very. But it works.
[2:29:21] It totally works. I mean, the ants. But anyway, so
[2:29:28] I want to. Thank. I'm glad the commissioners gave you
[2:29:31] another person. And I'm very interested to see this report.
[2:29:35] I appreciate the comprehensive. Update. And so let's see where
[2:29:44] this takes us. Absolutely. Yeah. I will say. My staff
[2:29:49] really embrace this plan? I mean, I think we all
[2:29:51] did. This was a big, concerted effort from all of
[2:29:54] us in this room. And voices from the public, and
[2:29:59] I felt like we had arrived at a really good
[2:30:01] compromise and brought the plan forward and my staff. Did
[2:30:05] really embrace it and took it to heart and started
[2:30:07] to really try to get it moving. This year. Thank
[2:30:11] you for that. Okay. Thank you. Derek. Derek Turner, Posac.
[2:30:14] Thanks for the presentation and thanks for highlighting. These more
[2:30:19] newer strategies. I have some questions. I kind of skimmed
[2:30:25] through. The plan that was approved, and I got to
[2:30:28] the section that requires an annual report and the annual
[2:30:31] report has a lot of detailed requirements, a lot more
[2:30:34] than some of. These. So. This isn't a summary of
[2:30:40] the annual report. January. That's coming in January. Yes, and
[2:30:45] it will be a heavily detailed report. I know Sherstine,
[2:30:49] who's sitting here behind me, is kind of excited. She's?
[2:30:52] Kind of become her database guru and. The old software
[2:30:56] that we were using really was not up to par
[2:30:58] for the amount of work. And the amount of data
[2:31:00] that we wanted to collect. There was so much work
[2:31:03] on the back end that she would spend hours sorting
[2:31:05] through that, creating tables and moving through all of it.
[2:31:08] So, yeah, I think one of the things we're going
[2:31:09] to see out of the benefit of this new software
[2:31:11] that we're using, this asset. Management software is that Shurstine
[2:31:13] is going to be able to play. In the end
[2:31:16] here and come up with some really great reports for
[2:31:18] Utah. Follow and see and read. So, yeah, I'd look
[2:31:22] for a highly detailed report coming through to you in
[2:31:24] January. And I guess. Part of me wonders if our
[2:31:28] conversation and reflecting on the update would be more would
[2:31:31] be a month or two after the annual report that
[2:31:34] we can see a full picture. And speaking of the
[2:31:38] more traditional methods, you can go to the website and
[2:31:42] you can see. On a daily basis. Multiple days where
[2:31:48] you have applications of pesticides. I do note that the
[2:31:52] information that the public has in that list that you
[2:31:55] had the slide that highlighted that doesn't have the specific
[2:31:58] amounts. Or the concentrations. I know that you're required to
[2:32:03] provide that in the annual report, and. It looked like.
[2:32:07] You're going to launch the portal that will provide. Assist
[2:32:11] the people to see that. One of the things I
[2:32:14] would like to point out. We did expand the amount
[2:32:17] of reporting that we were doing for transparency. So we're
[2:32:22] also reporting on our closed spaces that we treat in
[2:32:25] natural areas. A lot of those. Shurstine will often remind
[2:32:29] me that Joe. I went out and sprayed. Ted Knifert
[2:32:32] sites today, and I used less than a half a
[2:32:35] gallon of herbicide because there's so many just spot treatments
[2:32:38] that we do in a lot of cases, especially in
[2:32:40] eradication purposes, we're looking at small. Populations. We're looking at
[2:32:45] small little stands here and there, so really it doesn't.
[2:32:48] Take a whole lot. So while it looks like there's
[2:32:49] a lot of application going on, if you look at
[2:32:52] the overall amount that's actually going on the ground, it's
[2:32:55] actually very small in a lot of cases, and I
[2:32:57] think that will be better seen in the new reporting
[2:33:00] process that we're going to have. Nice. And I look
[2:33:03] forward to seeing. Like the second year after the second
[2:33:06] annual report, because ultimately the number one goal is reducing.
[2:33:11] The amounts chemicals. So we really can't absolutely determine success.
[2:33:15] Yeah, and that's why I kind of chose. The two
[2:33:18] that I really looked at here today, and that's because
[2:33:21] the others are long. Range goals. Right. And we're really
[2:33:23] probably not going to be able to demonstrate a whole
[2:33:25] lot on those for a couple of two or three
[2:33:26] years before we really start seeing some of those changes
[2:33:29] in trends just because they are long range goals for
[2:33:31] us that we set up. Thank you through the plan.
[2:33:35] Tony. Tony Lewis Posek. Thanks, Joe, for the update. Appreciate
[2:33:39] that. And I think more than anything just looking forward
[2:33:42] to January and getting more detailed information, having that discussion.
[2:33:48] Thanks. You bet, Vicky. Thanks. Yeah, I have a couple
[2:33:52] of questions. First of all, can you explain the soil
[2:33:56] amendment? So I wasn't here last year when. All this
[2:33:59] weed stuff went on, thankfully. So explain to me what
[2:34:02] the soil you're trying to outlets. Other grasses outcompete the
[2:34:05] cheat grass. Is that what you're promoting? Yeah. The idea
[2:34:09] behind the soil amendment is that. One. We're adding amendments
[2:34:15] to the soil. That, in essence, a lot of the
[2:34:18] wheats do not like the annual cheat grass does not
[2:34:20] like. And then secondly, to help assist the natives that
[2:34:24] are on those sites. To gain the resources they need
[2:34:28] to help out, compete. In this case, cheat grass, which
[2:34:32] can be pretty prevalent in a lot of places. So
[2:34:35] what is it that she grass doesn't like? Well, that's
[2:34:37] a good question. We're trying to understand that part of
[2:34:39] the. That's a whole nother conversation. In itself, and I'd
[2:34:44] be happy to go into that with you sometime, but,
[2:34:46] yeah, that's. A whole nother conversation. One other question in
[2:34:49] there again, probably just because I wasn't here. Last year
[2:34:51] was. What are the drones applying? I'm assuming that you're
[2:34:55] using some kind of an herbicide. Yeah. It's a rejuvena
[2:34:59] herbicide. It's in Dazzaflam. It's kind of a revolutionary product.
[2:35:05] It's been out now for 15 years. We see it
[2:35:10] control winter annual invasive grasses extremely well. Insights that we
[2:35:15] have. We actually just had a couple of publications this
[2:35:17] year get published, one in the journal of Ecology and
[2:35:20] one. In the Society of Range Management. Range Lance Publications.
[2:35:25] It controls the seed bank for us. So any seed
[2:35:29] that was to germinate. When it reaches the swap, it's
[2:35:34] its little root radical end of the soil to try.
[2:35:36] To grow, absorb the herbicide. It can no longer form
[2:35:38] cellulose, so it can no. Longer form roots. We can
[2:35:41] control that seed at that point, and within just one
[2:35:44] growing season. So we do that treatment here this fall.
[2:35:49] By spring. That next growing season, the cheap grass is
[2:35:54] subdued. And the natives that are currently in the soil
[2:35:58] really erupt from the soil, and I can send you
[2:36:00] a few things if you'd like to get a little
[2:36:02] more information on that. But. It's pretty incredible. How long
[2:36:07] does that herbicide last? On the ground. On the ground?
[2:36:11] About two years. After two years, it really fades. Even
[2:36:14] after the first year, it starts to fade. But after
[2:36:17] two years. It's the amounts that you would be fined
[2:36:20] in the soil. Is greatly, greatly reduced. It's a fraction
[2:36:23] of what it was when it was put down. So
[2:36:25] were you blanket spraying with that? Yeah, it is watching.
[2:36:28] And you're just going after. There's a little Pomper. Yeah.
[2:36:31] So this would be more of a broadcast application. That
[2:36:34] we do use this for. Thank you so much. John.
[2:36:37] Same question she did. Joan. Okay. I was just out
[2:36:43] on the eagle wind trail the other day, and I
[2:36:47] was seriously thinking of reporting to the ranger that somebody
[2:36:51] had taken. Had joyrided off trail. Because. I just wonder.
[2:37:02] The vehicle appears to be so large and heavy that
[2:37:04] was used and. There was some crushing of yucca and
[2:37:08] sumac and ball cactus, although it's lower. Down in the
[2:37:12] ground. Now, that's getting to winter, and I just wonder
[2:37:14] if it could. Be done. In a less heavy handed
[2:37:17] way. So what you're referring to? Is. The pilot site.
[2:37:24] For the soil amendment that is right up there in
[2:37:26] that portion of the ground. It has to be broadcast
[2:37:29] spread. It is a granular product. £350 an acre. I
[2:37:33] think we were in. These test plots, we were putting
[2:37:36] out as much as, like, £100 across. These individual test
[2:37:39] plots, and the only way we can get it on
[2:37:41] the ground efficiently and effectively. Is to use some sort
[2:37:45] of mechanical device of that nature. That's all going into
[2:37:49] part of this. When I talk about this being a
[2:37:51] research project. We went out and did all of our
[2:37:54] baseline information, data collection. So we have species composition. We
[2:37:59] have biomass. Amounts of g grass and also of the
[2:38:05] natives that can be found on those sites at the
[2:38:07] same time. So it's a fairly involved. That's a fairly
[2:38:11] involved. Pilot project. But, yeah, I'm not sure how we
[2:38:15] can avoid doing some of those things. That is one
[2:38:19] of the reasons we do like the thought of using
[2:38:21] drones, and that is because we can access more steep
[2:38:25] properties where we cannot get ground equipment and be effective
[2:38:29] with our treatments. In those regards. Couldn't use a smaller
[2:38:33] light. Away broadcaster. Potentially. Well, it's going to take me
[2:38:38] more money. But maybe. I don't know. It's just really
[2:38:42] hard. To. I'm not sure what else we might be
[2:38:47] able to use in that regard. That would get us
[2:38:49] across that land up in that portion. I'll take it
[2:38:53] back. And highly consider that. And, Steve, if I can
[2:38:56] find a better solution or answer for you for that,
[2:38:58] but, yeah, right now, that's kind of where we're at
[2:39:00] with it, okay? Soil amendment. Makes me think of fertilizer
[2:39:06] and hummus and so on. But help me to understand.
[2:39:10] It just seems like some of the best, most biologically
[2:39:14] diverse areas. At rabbit are just, like, practically bare rock
[2:39:18] at the surface and just, like, crumbled gravel. And some
[2:39:22] of those areas have the least weeds. And the most
[2:39:27] native, so I hope. We're not. Yeah, that's why we're
[2:39:31] doing smaller test sites with this, just to kind of.
[2:39:34] See how it works. We do this with a lot
[2:39:36] of. With a lot of our different methods. As we
[2:39:40] will try it out on a smaller site just to
[2:39:42] see what the ramifications are of those different activities and
[2:39:46] then move forward from there. That'll all be accounted to.
[2:39:49] We're in this pilot project so that we can kind
[2:39:51] of identify. We did do soil health sampling prior. To
[2:39:56] this pilot project so that we can follow up with
[2:39:59] those in three or four years, five. Years. And see
[2:40:02] what the soil. Health change might be across those sites.
[2:40:07] Yeah, well, if it was an experiment, I would wish
[2:40:10] that. You would go. To. An open space that. Was
[2:40:15] not as precious. Rabbit Mountain. Because I was told it's
[2:40:21] one of our most biological. And I know there's the
[2:40:24] prairie dogs. Okay. And then another question on a different
[2:40:29] matter. Would you ever consider authorizing volunteers to collect? You
[2:40:34] could say certain weeds, just one weed, for example, as
[2:40:38] they walk county trails on their own. Obviously only after
[2:40:44] thorough orientation. Et cetera, because many of these weeds get
[2:40:50] started along trails. I mean, I'm just thinking the beginning.
[2:40:55] Of the Grindstone Quarry trail. There's. These big. They're about
[2:41:01] to become tumble weeds, non native, and I would love
[2:41:05] to collect. Them in a bag and dispose of them
[2:41:08] properly before they go spreading all over. And I know
[2:41:12] volunteers. It costs money to train them and so on.
[2:41:17] But I just wonder if that's a possible. Yeah, I
[2:41:19] think that's really what this weed warrior program is that
[2:41:21] we've established a walker ranch. That's really kind. Of a
[2:41:23] pilot to try to identify what our abilities are to
[2:41:26] do to do that. And maybe start relying a little
[2:41:29] bit more on our citizen volunteers to maybe conduct those
[2:41:32] types of treatments for us. Once again, it's all stuff
[2:41:36] that we're kind of trying to look at and review
[2:41:39] and see how we can best take that forward with
[2:41:41] the results that we see. Thank you. John sean white
[2:41:46] posek. The steam cleaning of the. Parking lot.
[2:41:57] Is one thing. If you're talking about going out into
[2:42:00] the fields where things like Curly dog are and sticking
[2:42:03] in a probe. You're wiping out a ton. Of biologically
[2:42:09] rich. Life. And. When you're not near a parking lot.
[2:42:16] That matters a lot, right? So what are you? Planning
[2:42:20] on using? Where are you planning on using the probe?
[2:42:24] Where? It's not going to wipe out the biota. So
[2:42:28] right now, that's just. Kind of a thought in process
[2:42:31] for us right now as a potential pilot to kind
[2:42:33] of see this is one of our alternative. Methods that
[2:42:37] we're trying to use. Right. Our goal is to reduce
[2:42:39] our use in herbicides we're talking about putting steam water
[2:42:42] into the ground, which is perceived by many to be
[2:42:45] a better situation. I think a lot of that still
[2:42:48] needs to be evaluated and looked at. And so, once
[2:42:52] again, this would be a small test area. Perhaps. In
[2:42:57] the natural area surrounding the rabbit mountain parking lot that
[2:42:59] we might extend into and take a look at that
[2:43:01] and kind of see what those impacts might be, how
[2:43:04] effective it actually is in the end. Anyway. So you're
[2:43:10] going to evaluate things like. How bright earthworms you run
[2:43:14] it up with. Yeah. I mean, hopefully it doesn't. Come
[2:43:16] to that. Absolutely. But, I mean, that would all be
[2:43:18] part of. We'd have to. Kind of design, what we
[2:43:20] wanted to look at and how we wanted to go
[2:43:22] forward with that. But this is just an attempt to
[2:43:25] try to find some alternative methods to the herbicide use.
[2:43:29] Anybody else on postac? Christine Christine Johnson Posak. I really
[2:43:37] appreciate seeing you and looking forward to reading the report
[2:43:41] in January. I think there's been a lot of engagement.
[2:43:48] From the public around this, especially around the alternatives. And
[2:43:51] I wonder. Your photos were really intriguing. I'm wondering if
[2:43:55] we could have some kind of a tour. Or even
[2:44:00] something that's open to the public. I don't know. Like
[2:44:03] two years in or whatever. I think people would love.
[2:44:06] I would love to get out and. See this. I
[2:44:09] would imagine there's other folks who would love to get
[2:44:11] out and see. It, so I'm just putting in that
[2:44:13] request. Well, maybe we can add that to your field
[2:44:16] tour here in 2026 to do one of your field
[2:44:18] trips out to maybe take a look at some of
[2:44:20] this stuff? And I'm hoping that we'll be able to
[2:44:23] provide. Feedback or questions to the report when we get
[2:44:28] that. I was really curious about a couple of things
[2:44:32] that you said. And I'm wondering, so with the harry
[2:44:36] willow herb and the trees, it sounds like. The handweeding
[2:44:43] and the goats are not fully effective, but I'm wondering
[2:44:46] if you. Might be able to do sort of a
[2:44:48] one two punch where. If this is something you would
[2:44:53] consider. Using a less invasive process to reduce the load
[2:45:00] and then do spot treatment. As a follow up, and
[2:45:04] if that is something you'd consider. Yeah, absolutely. I mean,
[2:45:08] that's really kind of the idea behind the whole integrated
[2:45:10] weed management. Plan, right, is that we can utilize different
[2:45:14] methods to attack the same problem. And try to expand
[2:45:18] that I will add to this just a little bit.
[2:45:22] When we talk about using the goats for some of
[2:45:23] this work, it was really interesting at the earn arsenal
[2:45:27] property where the Ferrell rye was, because that is a
[2:45:29] graze. That is a tenant grazed lease. And once the
[2:45:33] goats were done there, the nicals came through themselves behind
[2:45:36] all. Of that, and I haven't had a chance to
[2:45:38] really go down and evaluate it yet. And take a
[2:45:40] look at it, but I think that. When we think
[2:45:43] about the evolution of our prairies and things like that.
[2:45:47] Many different grazers and browsers utilize the different resources across
[2:45:51] the bray right at Buffalo then an elk might do
[2:45:53] something a little different than an antelope might do something
[2:45:55] a little. Different and on down the line. I think
[2:45:57] in some of these cases, even. For other applications that
[2:46:02] could maybe potentially be something that we could use to
[2:46:03] help manage some of these weed problems we have. And
[2:46:08] I think that flows nicely into my next question, which.
[2:46:13] Is. I'm hearing a lot about suppression, and I think
[2:46:16] grazing is part of the answer. But. I'm curious about
[2:46:24] what's being done. For the encouragement or establishment of healthy
[2:46:29] native vegetation. So some of that. Sometimes it's grazing to
[2:46:33] encourage. Denser grass cover, and I'm wondering about seeding. Are
[2:46:38] you seeding along with all of this. That was in
[2:46:42] the plan. One of the problems I ran into this
[2:46:44] year, I had a little bit of a stag with
[2:46:46] my contracting process, and so the goats got to the
[2:46:48] sites a little bit late in the year, so we
[2:46:50] had some pretty good effectiveness on some weeds, but then
[2:46:52] some weeds were past the point of really being viable
[2:46:55] for him. I mean, they'll get to a point where
[2:46:56] even the ghosts that want to eat them. So unfortunately,
[2:46:59] but so that will be remedied this year. I think
[2:47:02] one of. My other challenges to your point is that
[2:47:04] when we use them as suppression, suppression is really kind
[2:47:07] of a two or three time a thing when we're
[2:47:10] trying to control these weed populations. And working with Susan
[2:47:14] and Rex through this process. They want to bring their
[2:47:17] goats in. I mean, they're trying to earn money with
[2:47:19] their product. They want to bring goats in, they want
[2:47:22] to get the job done, and they want to move
[2:47:24] on. And so then the potential to have them come
[2:47:26] back. Might be a little difficult to get that second
[2:47:30] round of suppression work done through the goats. So all
[2:47:35] just these little things. That's why I say all of
[2:47:36] this is still under. A high evaluation and. I'm really
[2:47:40] looking forward to seeing how some of this stuff works
[2:47:42] out in the end. And what we can find to
[2:47:44] help make it work. And. I wanted to underscore. That.
[2:47:50] I think that the weed warrior program. Is effective both
[2:47:54] in terms of. The weeding, but also in terms of
[2:47:58] education, and I would encourage you to. Expand that as
[2:48:04] widely as you can. And also, I would encourage anyone
[2:48:07] in the room. Who's interested in this, especially in alternatives
[2:48:12] to volunteer for the program, put your money where your
[2:48:15] mouth is. And the last thing that I'll say, I
[2:48:20] think soil is pretty resilient. And steam. Is probably the
[2:48:25] least. Impactful thing we could be treating the soil with.
[2:48:30] And that's it. Thanks. Any other questions? Comments from Postac
[2:48:38] Joe, thank you. I have. A couple. Of comments here.
[2:48:44] And first of all, Christine, the public are invited to
[2:48:48] the field trips and they do participate. So those are
[2:48:52] mentioned publicly and people can sign up. And I'm very
[2:49:00] happy to see that you have adopted. All of these
[2:49:04] various pilots, some of which. Were suggested and supported by
[2:49:10] public participation. During the 2024. Meetings on weed management, so
[2:49:18] thank you. For setting those up and running them. I'm
[2:49:24] also very happy to see you're using that asset management
[2:49:28] software application. To collect and report data. And.
[2:49:38] From looking at. The handout that we received before the
[2:49:43] meeting. I want to make sure that when you do,
[2:49:48] do your final report. That you do. Have very definite
[2:49:54] metrics. Areas treated, species removed, species remaining. That's going to
[2:50:02] be very important, so thank you. Any other Postac questions
[2:50:09] comments. Okay, then do we. Have any. Public comments. Not
[2:50:18] questions, but comments from people in the audience. Yes, tess,
[2:50:24] I think you had your hand up first. So it
[2:50:27] sounds like Tess McDonald lions. It sounds like Joe. You
[2:50:36] used Tyler's soil amendments and tend to be used near
[2:50:40] lions. To make your rejuvena experiments on rabbit mountain look
[2:50:44] better. Hello, Posac. As most of you know, this POS
[2:50:52] team blanketed my neighbors with Rejuvena. On November 1, 2022.
[2:50:59] I have neighbors who haven't been able to grow carrots
[2:51:02] or sprout seeds. On their property since the spray. Let
[2:51:06] that sink in. One neighbor's baby broke out into a
[2:51:10] rash, as you know, from head to toe. His health
[2:51:13] could be affected for the rest of his life. Another
[2:51:18] neighbor lost her baby due to. Impossibly non genetic neurological
[2:51:24] disorder. I know the difference between causation and correlation. One
[2:51:30] is hard to prove, the other is almost impossible. But
[2:51:33] Bobby Kennedy was able to prove roundup caused non Hodgkin's.
[2:51:37] Lymphoma. And now we see whole towns have epidemic rates
[2:51:42] of a once rare cancer. All I need you to
[2:51:46] do is recommend that PoS abstain from aerial sprain pesticides.
[2:51:51] Rather from helicopter or drone. This weed management's team's actions
[2:51:57] show a pattern of practice that is out of compliance
[2:52:00] and therefore life threatening, especially to the most vulnerable. I
[2:52:05] know you don't make decisions, but you are supposed to
[2:52:08] be part of the process. And like you, we the
[2:52:11] public. Were left out of the aerial spray. Discussion. In
[2:52:16] fact, BCPOs should have never aerial sprayed in the first
[2:52:20] place because the aerial spray wasn't even on the 2004
[2:52:23] Integrated weed management plan. Then my unemotional, practical side. Thinks.
[2:52:31] Wouldn't it just be cheaper to spray gasoline anyway? Probably
[2:52:35] would be just as effective. But that sounds ludicrous. Sprain
[2:52:41] pesticides from a helicopter or drone. Sounds ludicrous. Too. What
[2:52:46] if sprain petrochemicals aerially is actually causing fires? We should
[2:52:52] stop this practice until independent scientists can prove they don't.
[2:52:57] So the question is, do you continue to recommend Pos.
[2:53:02] Test petrochemicals on conservation land, cultural lands, or on the
[2:53:07] town of lions without getting proper permits without following the
[2:53:11] labels or conducting environmental impact studies. Or should we be
[2:53:16] listening to Commissioner Ashley Stoltzman, who's a chemical engineer? Dr.
[2:53:21] Peter Cowdrie Corvin, another chemical engineer, and I have his
[2:53:25] white paper on endazophilam. Rich Andrews, another chemical engineer, Dr.
[2:53:30] Robert Brackenridge, a full, bright researcher from CU Dr. Tim
[2:53:34] C. Said. Who all argue that pesticides are more harmful
[2:53:38] than sheet grass or Joe Swanson as time is up.
[2:53:41] Please finish up. I don't claim to be an expert,
[2:53:46] but I know when something is more troubled than it's
[2:53:48] worth. Seeu is one of the leading schools for drones.
[2:53:52] Maybe they can spray. Water on the land. I'm sure
[2:53:54] bees, butterflies, plants, deers, hikers would appreciate that. A lot
[2:53:58] more than neurotoxins. Thank you for your service, and please
[2:54:01] help end Ariel spray of pesticide. Thank you. Tess. There
[2:54:04] is somebody with their hand up sitting next to Tess.
[2:54:09] Yes. Hi. My name is Amanda Domenega, and I'll be
[2:54:18] also pulling time from Robin. Lucas in case I need
[2:54:21] it. Okay. You will have six minutes, then. Okay, great.
[2:54:28] I'm speaking as my personal capacity and also representing save
[2:54:31] our Saint Brain Valley SOSV. And environmental nonprofit. Members of
[2:54:39] POSAC, thank you for the opportunity to speak. Welcome to
[2:54:42] new members. I thank all presenters for Pos. Even presenting
[2:54:48] on land acquisition, have already done some of my job
[2:54:52] for me by impressing upon POSAC members, the high biodiversity
[2:54:57] and unparalleled natural resources on Rabbin Mountain and it was
[2:55:03] evident from POSAG members. Comments so you're all familiar with
[2:55:07] the area anyway. So I'll just get to some updates.
[2:55:13] Since our long 18 month review of the IWMP that
[2:55:17] had then been 16 years out. Of compliance with the
[2:55:20] CDA until we brought it to your attention. On April
[2:55:25] 29, 2022. Pos lead manager and tonight's presenter, Mr. Joe
[2:55:31] Swanson. Stated publicly that Boulder county was ground zero for
[2:55:36] the research and operational testing of the. Bear ag product
[2:55:40] in Dasaflam, which he referred to tonight as. Our rejuvena
[2:55:46] using products Esplanade which has the same contact of endassophrom.
[2:55:51] Mr. Swanson appears to have, according to Cora documents, and
[2:55:57] this public admission. Escalated the research and testing that was
[2:56:02] taking place on Cmax land, which is owned heavy industrial
[2:56:08] and was done via backpack. Applications of plots to broadcast
[2:56:15] helicopter spraying on Rabbit Mountain Hale ranch. Ron Stewart Natural
[2:56:21] Preserve south down Indian Mountain, which was actually deeded to
[2:56:26] the county in 1997. For expressed cultural resource. Protection and
[2:56:33] instead became the testing site. For again in Dasaflam by
[2:56:38] using. Esplanade, which was limited to industrial uses. As Tess
[2:56:45] pointed out, all public research, including federal sites. Quora documents
[2:56:52] show the spray zones. It's very, very clear. It was
[2:56:59] done without environmental impact study, without a special use authorization,
[2:57:04] without. BOCC approval, and it's been stated that POS doesn't
[2:57:09] get to make decisions, but I think the public deserves
[2:57:12] to know. How did plot tests with CSU starting in
[2:57:16] 2024 escalate to what has been admitted and confirmed through
[2:57:21] Cora documents to Rapyrian. Habitat. And. The most. I think
[2:57:28] it was said special sites. Now, I do appreciate the
[2:57:31] efforts the goat grazing. The new things that are being
[2:57:36] implemented that the community pushed for. But I don't think
[2:57:40] we can push under the rug. The admitted testing that
[2:57:44] has yet to be addressed. There is an open CDA
[2:57:47] investigation into this. And I think it's important for the
[2:57:51] local regulatory bodies to regain trust after being out of
[2:57:56] compliance. After it's unanimous and unilateral that they had no
[2:58:00] oversight. To consider why and under whose authority did Robin
[2:58:05] Mountain become research and testing for BaER envu? And we
[2:58:11] will be following up to send you the detailed data,
[2:58:14] but. The label. The EPA label doesn't just talk about
[2:58:19] what chemical is used. And the cora documents, it clearly
[2:58:22] states that. There were tank mixtures determined on site. The
[2:58:27] notice to proceed was on BOCc letterhead. And it was
[2:58:31] signed by Mr. Swanson, and it stated that. It was
[2:58:36] closed to the public. South down indian mountain is where
[2:58:40] Marty Chase alone in his group and the county has
[2:58:43] awarded for cultural preservations. It's a Lakota group that used
[2:58:47] to be on my land. They were recruited by BCPOs,
[2:58:51] so it is not close to the public. I find
[2:58:54] research and testing that without environmental impact study or. A
[2:58:59] special use authorization, BOCC approval. To be reprehensible, and I
[2:59:04] advise. Posak to please encourage the BOCC to take a
[2:59:09] proactive approach. The label also limits not just quantity. Which
[2:59:16] was abused. And it's all in the core of documents
[2:59:18] as well. What was used. Including indasiflam, glyphosate and tank
[2:59:23] mixtures to be. Shown on site, so we don't actually
[2:59:28] know. But I did hear Mr. Swanson say as the
[2:59:31] manufacturer says that one use is sufficient. So I think
[2:59:36] everyone needs to be just asked. The basic question. Why
[2:59:39] have we been spraying rabbit Mountain with esplanade Rejuvena? Plus
[2:59:45] this research. And testing. Both csus and poses was used
[2:59:50] for the approval of reduver plus in 2020. And for
[2:59:54] Vira, Tm or, sorry, reduver. Plus I think in. 2020
[2:59:58] and then reduver TM in 2022. And we're still sprayed.
[3:00:03] They still sprayed. In Dasaflam on Rabbit mountain. And the
[3:00:08] only people that have tested that and said it was
[3:00:10] okay are the very culprits that escalated the research and
[3:00:15] testing from what CSU? Was doing on industrially zoned CMaX
[3:00:19] land to the highest cultural assets in Boulder. County. Thank
[3:00:23] you. Thank you, Amanda. Good evening, Hosak.
[3:00:33] Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is
[3:00:35] Aaron Meshki. I live in boulder and represent myself. It's
[3:00:38] been a while since I've been to a post hack
[3:00:39] community or a site tour, but the integrated beach weed
[3:00:43] management plan has stayed on the top of my mind
[3:00:45] because I'm part of a group pro se lawsuit against
[3:00:47] the county for conflicts of interest in creating the 2024
[3:00:50] Integrated weed management plan. Ways, it does not comply with
[3:00:54] state statute and BCPOs's current refusal to do their duty
[3:00:57] to review the Cropland policy, which was up for its
[3:01:00] triennial review on December 7, 2024. Over the last couple
[3:01:04] of years, we have uncovered a pattern and practice of
[3:01:06] noncompliance with BCPOs. That should concern everyone who wants to
[3:01:10] protect our open spaces. But I don't. Have time to
[3:01:13] cover that this evening. A major flaw in the integrated
[3:01:16] weed management plan is the supposed reduction in pesticide use.
[3:01:20] I made this point during the process, but it warrants
[3:01:22] reiteration. Pesticide reduction based on acreage is almost meaningless for
[3:01:27] actual pesticide use. BcPOs could use more quantity of pesticides
[3:01:31] on less area and given information, Mark Guttridge sent. To
[3:01:35] Posac and the commissioners in July. Pesticide use was up
[3:01:39] 300% at that. Point. The goal two of eliminating 3000
[3:01:43] acres of cheek grass is in direct conflict with reducing
[3:01:46] pesticide. Use. It is also important to note. That goal
[3:01:50] to allows a broad variety of research, some of which
[3:01:53] can be incredibly toxic. Like what? Was conducted on open
[3:01:55] space within. Products since at least 2018. Boulder county residents
[3:02:02] did not sign up to be guinea pigs, nor were
[3:02:04] they consulted about experimental testing on open space areas where
[3:02:07] they recreate and even hold indigenous religious and healing ceremonies.
[3:02:12] The public facing application database does not show the acreage
[3:02:15] treated or the amount of chemical applied, so accountability is
[3:02:19] basically nonexistent unless. BCPOs chooses to present that information or
[3:02:23] a quora request forces disclosure. So goal six is a
[3:02:27] promise that has noble implemented. I was glad to hear
[3:02:30] about the updates on the pilot. Projects, but most of
[3:02:33] the communities concerns were not heated. Drone sprays are imminent.
[3:02:37] Pesticides are still widely used, as they were before. The
[3:02:41] dramatic increase in 2025 seems to be making up for
[3:02:44] lost time. And despite what you all voted for BcPos
[3:02:48] is still able to use glyphosate on our open spaces.
[3:02:51] There is nothing barring postac or the commissioners from insisting
[3:02:54] on revisions to the 2024 Integrated Weed management Plan for
[3:02:59] greater protection and accountability before the three. Year requirement, especially
[3:03:03] given what has surfaced during. Since that plan was passed
[3:03:07] last year. You are our representative. You are our line
[3:03:12] of defense, and what the community needs from postac. Right
[3:03:14] now. isn't more land acquisition recommendations but better oversight of
[3:03:23] bcpos thank you thank you aaron Is there anybody else
[3:03:25] who wants to speak? Yes, please come up. Suzanne
[3:03:35] Webble, five seven throughout prospect road long lot I wasn't
[3:03:39] planning to speak, but I can't resist. The whole thing.
[3:03:44] Is integrated pest management. And you have to use, when
[3:03:49] it comes to weeds, you have to use the right
[3:03:52] weed for the right plant pests, whatever it is. And
[3:03:57] I think Boulder county has been doing a fantastic job.
[3:04:01] The weird situation. Is essentially out of control. I have
[3:04:05] an 80 acre farm, and I'm a weed wonk. I
[3:04:09] hate weeds. And I think it was fate that brought
[3:04:12] me to this piece of distressed property that was nothing
[3:04:16] but weeds and rocks. And in 25 years, it is
[3:04:21] now certified weed free. For hay. And where it isn't
[3:04:27] possible to hay it. I go after those weeds by
[3:04:30] pulling them. By hand. And I do spray when I
[3:04:33] have to, but I try not to. Because I get
[3:04:36] it. This is bolder, and it's the right thing to
[3:04:39] be thinking. About. But there are times when. You have
[3:04:42] to evaluate what's the worst. Is it the weeds? Or
[3:04:48] is it the chemicals? And sometimes the weeds are worse.
[3:04:52] The weeds are choking out native vegetation. I've seen it
[3:04:56] happen on my own farm. The weeds choke out wildlife,
[3:05:00] and, yes, The elk did bring. Harry Willow Herb, which
[3:05:05] is the worst thing. That's happened to my farm in
[3:05:08] a long time, and I don't have a clue how
[3:05:10] to take care of it. It is rampant and I'm
[3:05:13] embarrassed, but I keep everything else as best I can,
[3:05:17] under control. And I've got russian olives that I've. Taken
[3:05:21] out thousands of them. By hand. If you don't stay
[3:05:26] on top of it after you've cut them off, you've.
[3:05:29] Got another 15 russian olives. That sprout from the trunk,
[3:05:33] it's ridiculous. And then they spread all their weeds with.
[3:05:38] Their seeds from all of those saplings. So. In very
[3:05:44] limited places. I go after my russian olive stumps. With
[3:05:49] roundup, because if you don't. You're worse off than you
[3:05:53] were before you started. So cut these guys Some Slack.
[3:05:58] I think they're doing a good job. And your job?
[3:06:00] Is to just make sure that. It's in balance. So
[3:06:05] thanks. Thank you, Suzanne. Is there anybody else in the
[3:06:08] room? Who wants to comment? On the topic of weed
[3:06:13] management. I don't see any hands raised. Nick, are there
[3:06:18] people online? We did have some people sign up. I'm
[3:06:22] not seeing any hands raised. Okay, here we go. We've
[3:06:27] got Crystal Markovich. Crystal, you need to unmute yourself. Can
[3:06:34] you hear me? Yeah. Yes, we can. Crystal recall you.
[3:06:37] Have three minutes here. Okay. Hi, I'm Castor Makovich, Newerland,
[3:06:45] Colorado. So during the campaign to stop the aerial spraying
[3:06:49] of glyphosate and indosiphram, Buddha county residents demonstrated the care
[3:06:55] for the public lands, the approval of using drones to
[3:06:59] spread the highly toxic herbicides. In those eplam by two
[3:07:04] of a commissioner on BCPOs natural land hit our community.
[3:07:10] Hub. It is understandable. As our community is very well
[3:07:15] informed that industry flams toxicity. To which they are exposed.
[3:07:20] And our community is not alone in being concerned. I
[3:07:24] encourage you to read the fact sheet created by the
[3:07:28] public employees for. Undermodal responsibilities. Where public employees express their
[3:07:35] concern regarding the widespread use of Indoziflam on Tubi clans,
[3:07:41] however. We did not want to be left with a
[3:07:44] feeling of being abundant and powerless. Our community created an
[3:07:50] email list for opportunities to join and support local ecosystem
[3:07:55] restoration project. On public network land without exposure to recent
[3:08:01] herbicide spraying. One of this project is the community based
[3:08:06] local ecosystem restoration project. On Winigurridge in collaboration with the
[3:08:11] National Forest Service. This project is approved by the local
[3:08:16] USFS ecologist with whom I coordinate. We also receive guidance
[3:08:22] from other local ecologists. Under my direction, volunteers manually collect
[3:08:28] seeds of chickwas, canadian fishers, and mullins to limit the
[3:08:33] spread and to give an advantage to native plants without
[3:08:36] disturbing the soul. Essentially, the community demonstrates that it can
[3:08:43] successfully steward land in Boulder. Country and achieve excellent results
[3:08:48] in collaboration with the National Forest Service. This project was
[3:08:52] celebrated by the Society of Ecological Restoration. For an in
[3:08:58] person presentation. During the 11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration
[3:09:04] in Denver this October. In the email I sent you,
[3:09:08] you can watch a recording of our presentation and view
[3:09:11] the associated posture in the attachment. If bcos. Ever creates
[3:09:19] a restoration project or natural lands. That have not been
[3:09:24] recently spread with a beside let us know so that
[3:09:28] we can advertise it on our list of volunteers. See
[3:09:32] my email. To see my email to you for more
[3:09:37] details on why the Cuban to withdraw your program ruined.
[3:09:41] By the BCP or staff does not qualify as such
[3:09:45] a project. Crystal. Time's up. Thank you. Nick, do we
[3:09:51] have anybody else online? That was all we had. Okay.
[3:10:00] Thank you. Do we have any public comments on items
[3:10:06] not on tonight's agenda? Anybody in the room? If you
[3:10:12] could submit it. Through Renata, and she could send it
[3:10:20] to all of us at the same time, please. Thank
[3:10:24] you. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you.
[3:10:33] What about online, Nick? Anybody wanting to comment on items
[3:10:37] not on tonight's agenda? No hands. Raised. Thank you. Posac.
[3:10:43] Does anybody want to comment on items not on tonight's
[3:10:47] agenda? Yes, john. Lutz Posac and I just like to
[3:10:56] reiterate, even though it seems like a hopeless cause that
[3:11:00] I do wish we could be given pertinent information about
[3:11:03] conservation easements. Because it's one thing to have the conservation
[3:11:07] easement that, for example, prohibits antler gathering. And that's all
[3:11:12] it does. Versus one that pro. Prohibits annexation or further
[3:11:16] subdivision. If we could be told this about Stillwater during
[3:11:22] the POSAc meeting. Why not include it in the package
[3:11:26] of written information that was shared with us in the
[3:11:29] public? A week before the meeting. Okay. Thank you. Thank
[3:11:33] you. Thank you. Anybody else? Christine christine johnson posak.
[3:11:43] I just wanted to express. That last week I attended.
[3:11:49] The Colorado pollinator summit. On the Cu campus. And. An
[3:11:57] interesting fact or factor. Of that summit looking. At decline
[3:12:04] in species after species after species. Of native pollinators. Butterflies,
[3:12:10] bees, hummingbirds. And concerns were expressed. About.
[3:12:21] Changes in land management. Climate change, but especially pesticides. And
[3:12:28] pesticides. In general were fingered as the predominant. Concern. For
[3:12:36] most of the species. And. I want to express gratitude
[3:12:42] to. Pos staff and to the community. That there's concern
[3:12:49] about this and that we are considering all of this
[3:12:53] carefully. I see all of you, including this staff, and
[3:12:58] I appreciate that we're spending a lot of time thinking
[3:13:02] about this. I do feel like we are making. Some
[3:13:06] incremental progress. I would encourage. Staff to. Keep working at
[3:13:13] whatever you can do. To reduce pesticide use. Thank you.
[3:13:21] Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. So before we move on
[3:13:25] to the director's update, I want to mention that two
[3:13:31] other staff members. Very central to. Postac success. Are retiring
[3:13:39] this year. Renata Fry and Vivia Janatapur. And I want
[3:13:43] to thank both of you for all the support you've
[3:13:47] given us. For the entire seven years that I've been
[3:13:51] involved on Postac. So thank you very much. So we'll
[3:13:59] turn it over to Teresa Glocky for the director's update.
[3:14:04] And I also want to mention that Teresa is retiring
[3:14:08] this year. And we won't have a December meeting. So
[3:14:13] on behalf of all postac members, Teresa I want to
[3:14:16] thank you for your years of service. To Boulder County
[3:14:21] Parks and open Space Advisory committee as director and in
[3:14:25] other positions, you've held. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate
[3:14:33] that. Yeah. And thank you for recognizing Renata and Vivian.
[3:14:38] Yeah. They have been instrumental in PoSac for all the
[3:14:41] years that they've worked. Here. And they wouldn't be retiring
[3:14:43] if they hadn't been here longer than 15. Years. So
[3:14:47] that's 15 years more than that. 18. You're both at
[3:14:51] 18, 1918 and 19, so it's a lot of years.
[3:14:55] We're going to be turning over. And you heard Janice
[3:14:57] as well. 20 years and then. We saw Tina brief
[3:15:00] appearance this evening. Tina is also retiring. And the reason,
[3:15:05] just so that you all know the reason, is that
[3:15:08] the county is looking for cost savings and has offered.
[3:15:14] Voluntary separation incentive program to all county employees that have
[3:15:17] been here for 15 years or more. Parks and open
[3:15:20] space had 48 employees who have been here for 15
[3:15:24] years or more. That's quite a number of those 48.
[3:15:27] We've had eight people who have accepted. The incentive program.
[3:15:32] So there will be changes, that's for sure. And actually,
[3:15:37] I was going to say this at the end, but
[3:15:39] since we're talking about it. There is no Posac in
[3:15:41] December and in January since I'm leaving. The county commissioners
[3:15:48] have not yet. Named an interim director, even, and the
[3:15:53] process for hiring my replacement has not started. They've had
[3:15:56] other things on their mind, including hiring a new HR
[3:15:59] director, which they did. So. I would be cautious on
[3:16:07] whether or not. Don't cancel your January. Your. Third Thursday
[3:16:12] in January. But whoever the interim director is will be
[3:16:16] reaching out to you because Renata won't be here to
[3:16:19] reach out to you, so we'll make sure that that's
[3:16:21] on their list. And if there are acquisitions, we will
[3:16:26] have a meeting in January. If not, it may be
[3:16:29] a February meeting. Someone will be. So just a few
[3:16:36] things to update you on. The podcast voices of open
[3:16:42] space is still going strong. Another issue. Was another episode
[3:16:47] was released today. I highly encourage you to pick up
[3:16:49] some of those. Some of those podcasts. You can watch
[3:16:52] them on YouTube if you want. And thank you to
[3:16:55] Poria for all his amazing work helping get those off
[3:17:00] the ground. Recorded, edited and then produced. So. They're wonderful.
[3:17:05] Volunteers were one of the most recent ones and was
[3:17:09] a long term volunteer naturalist who's been a volunteer for
[3:17:12] 47 years. So it puts to shame those of us
[3:17:15] that have been here. For 15 or 20 years. Anyway,
[3:17:19] I encourage you to listen to the podcast. We have
[3:17:21] a big celebration. The ballot initiative to change. Our. 15%
[3:17:28] sales tax, which was set to expire in 2030, has
[3:17:31] been extended by the voters of Boulder county in perpetuity,
[3:17:35] and that was approved by 74%. A wonderful margin, so
[3:17:39] that is really good news. It gives us a little
[3:17:42] breathing room as far as looking at our long term
[3:17:45] projections. To fund open space. Now, a few greedy things
[3:17:50] you may have seen out and about. Loggerman parking lot
[3:17:53] we are updating that it's been years in the making.
[3:17:57] We are virtually doubling the size. And making it more
[3:18:00] accessible to horse trailers. That should be done in the
[3:18:05] next couple of. Months for sure. Prince Lake. The dam
[3:18:10] agricultural dam restoration out near Erie. We're at 90% completion.
[3:18:16] It'll be done by the end of this year. So
[3:18:17] if you live out in the Erie area and you've
[3:18:19] seen a big construction project, right adjacent to the homes.
[3:18:25] That's Boulder County's Prince Lake. We're very glad that that's
[3:18:28] done our prescribed fire. This is our prescribed fire season.
[3:18:33] We have been able to burn some ditches and black
[3:18:36] lined a large. Area at Hall Ranch to do a
[3:18:40] broadcast burn. So if weather conditions are right, we will
[3:18:46] be able to do more burning. That is a good
[3:18:49] thing for both weed management, natural resource management. So watch
[3:18:53] for notices on that. The AG division manager. So Mike
[3:19:00] Foster, who you have met, left us in June. And.
[3:19:06] The position. Has been advertised. We've gotten applicants back, their
[3:19:10] staff are going through the process, and there will be
[3:19:12] a public survey asking the public what you are interested
[3:19:16] in, what qualities and traits you would like to see
[3:19:19] in an ag division manager. And what kind of questions
[3:19:21] would you recommend? Staff ask the final candidates. So that
[3:19:26] should be released tomorrow. We've already put that similar survey
[3:19:29] out to our ag tenants and gotten their feedback. So
[3:19:33] if you are interested, check our website out tomorrow and
[3:19:36] you'll be able to give your opinions and tell your
[3:19:38] friends and neighbors too. We're very excited. It does look
[3:19:42] like we have a good candidate pool. Prairie run, which
[3:19:46] many of you approved about the same time as the
[3:19:49] integrated weed management plan construction has started on the 109th
[3:19:54] street parking lot. And the 2.2 miles of trail, and
[3:20:00] that is expected to be done in the spring. The
[3:20:02] first phase, the southwest corner of that. Park basically is
[3:20:08] expected to be opened in the spring, spring, December next
[3:20:12] year. And that is all I have. It has been
[3:20:15] a pleasure serving you. I have always appreciated the perspective.
[3:20:19] Posac brings the tough questions that you all bring tonight.
[3:20:25] Is no exception. You really come at it with heart
[3:20:28] and with really good questions for our staff, and you
[3:20:31] make us think as we're writing management plans and being
[3:20:35] responsive to the public. So thank you. It's been a
[3:20:38] pleasure working with you. And maybe I will see you
[3:20:42] in my three minute time frame. Speaking about something parks
[3:20:45] and open. Space is doing. Thank you, Teresa. Anybody on
[3:20:49] Postac have any questions or comments for Therese? Thank you.
[3:20:58] Very much. Absent a December meeting. I want to wish
[3:21:04] staff Posack and the public. Happy holidays in whatever tradition
[3:21:10] you celebrate. And thank you all. Bye bye.