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The Natural Areas Program extends its thanks to everyone who took the time to comment on the Framework for Future Land Conservation. This chapter is the primary focus of the update of the 10 year-old natural areas policy plan, now called the Land Conservation and Stewardship Master Plan.
We received comments from more than 75 people who attended the public open house and participated in small group discussions on September 30, and from more than a dozen people who commented via our web site and email.
To facilitate synthesis, the comments were divided and organized into the following categories:
Overall, most people were in favor of the plan as presented and expressed confidence in the Natural Areas Program to continue to implement its mission to protect and enhance lands with existing or potential natural areas values, as well as lands that serve as community separators, and lands with scenic values. Residents feel fortunate that Fort Collins has a program in place to conserve natural areas and open lands.
Many people feel a sense of urgency to protect lands before they are developed, especially in the regional area. Community separators were also viewed as being very important, and it was pointed out that the Poudre River, corridors and contiguity between protected lands are a high priority and to strive to avoid further fragmentation of the landscape. Several people expressed their feelings on the values of local natural areas within the city, although some felt less money spent here meant more land conserved in the regional areas. A strong message was one of flexibility in the funding allocations and geographic locations.
Land Conservation and Revenue Status
In 2002 and 2003 the Natural Areas Program helped protect 1,987 acres of land. These included Indian Creek, Pelican Marsh and Fossil Creek Reservoir. We expect to purchase an additional 950 acres before the end of the year to bring the total protected lands to 10,833 acres.
We will end the year with a balance of approximately $1.8 million in land conservation funds. We have closings in January, 2004 for $1.8 million, so essentially, the Natural Areas Program has used all available funds for land conservation.
The fund allocations outlined in the Framework for Future Land Conservation are based on future sales tax revenue projections and are estimates only. We do not yet have this money – it will be collected over the next ten years. Our program does not have bonding capability so we cannot spend the money prior to the sales tax collection.
Partnerships
Many people commented on using partnerships to boost our conservation power. We have participated in conserving land with the City of Loveland, Larimer County, Great Outdoors Colorado and other city departments. We are currently working with the Trust for Public Lands, Legacy Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy and private partners to stretch our dollars even further. In the future we hope to partner with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the U. S. Forest Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and others.
The Process for Protecting Land
The Natural Areas Program staff has done extensive inventory and prioritization of lands with conservation values since the inception of the Natural Areas Program in 1992. Staff continually updates the inventory and seeks new opportunities as conditions change. In 2003, two staff members in the Real Estate Division were hired to work full-time on negotiating acquisitions and conservation easements. It is typical to be in negotiations on 4-6 properties, and in discussions with 20 additional property owners at any one time.
“We are thrilled with the amount of public interest in the natural areas program, especially the sense of stewardship shared by so many,” said Mark Sears, Natural Areas Manager. “We are considering and evaluating all of the comments received as we move forward with the entire master plan.”
The Land Conservation and Stewardship Master Plan is scheduled to go to the Fort Collins City Council in March.
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