Geography and Fund Allocation
I think that land purchases close to the core of Fort Collins have some of the biggest benefits, especially when these areas can be accessed by children in the community. While these areas my not be of great habitat value, they enable a "connection to place" that these children will take with them the rest of their lives. The same cannot be said for a conservation easement remote from the City.

Don't pass over properties that meet criteria.

Prioritize the 'at risk' sites no matter what the geographic location.

Regional Conservation: Eagles Nest are near county lands. Grab as much now and manage at a later time. Protect the North Fork of the Poudre.

Use some of the 6.75 million now – borrow ahead. May not have purchasing power five years from now.
We can do the most conservation in the regional areas.
Split is appropriate.
Conservation easements make money go farther. Use in community separators (ag lands).
"Urban" vs. "local" areas

Connectivity between areas is important especially for wildlife along the Poudre.

Flexibility is key.

Urban natural areas have high maintenance and restoration costs.

Reduction of local emphasis makes sense in the second five years.

Regional provides increased opportunities for habitat protection.

Directional shift of money makes sense.

Local is as important as regional.

I am a citizen with a Fort Collins address, but technically live in the county by Horsetooth Reservoir. The majority of my purchases and time are spent in the city. Technical boundaries are only relative to the subject of discussion. The city natural areas program has a unique opportunity to plan for the long-term and think "outside the city", and I think they should take every advantage of that now, before it's too late. As we are all local, regional, and even global citizens, we shouldn't limit our thinking and planning to narrow boundaries.

Thank you for a job well done so far. But, there is still much more work that needs to be done in an effort to preserve and protect open spaces and natural areas not only within Fort Collins, but also well outside of the growth management area.

What would it look like if you considered only the highest ecological priority? This critical as far as ratio of money spent.

Consider lands in jeopardy, wildlife linkages (key wildlife habitat) that are most in jeopardy in next five years.
How many priorities should there be? - Could get watered down by too many.

Riparian corridors are important to identify, protect, and focus on.

Areas #7, #8, and #10 should be considered "local" areas and not regional, at least soon (3-5 yrs) if not now.

Community separators have less ecological value, but high aesthetic value. More emphasis should be placed on conservation easements vs. fee simple purchase in this area.

Community separators are very important to protect for some individuals in the group.

Need criteria for selection of land conservation sites to determine priority.

Need criteria for flexibility--basis for deviation; can't be unlimited flexibility.

Need flexibility, but 1/3-1/3-1/3 for first five years seems O.K.

Allocation for stewardship and management – don't know if this is a good split in allocation of land conservation monies because management costs are not stated. Need this inforomation in document to evaluate land conservation allocations.

The limited availability of lands within the city are dwindling quickly and are quite expensive; however, areas outside of our area are still plentiful and less costly. Other areas for consideration are the community separators especially between the Fort Collins/Windsor parcels as well as the encroaching Wellington community.

Preserve northwest Fort Collins, Bellevue, LaPorte. Comparatively speaking, the northwest part of our area is still fairly pristine and undeveloped. I would encourage working to keep it that way as much as possible.

Somehow, some way we need to help preserve the rapidly disappearing farm/agricultural lands. One way to do this is to avoid "flag pole" developments that extend into previously undeveloped land. In my way of thinking these are about the worst thing that can happen because it sets the stage for further development and selling off of land because farmers and ranchers feel they are being crowded out and cannot continue their agricultural operations with subdivisions nearby. I realize this is probably more Larimer County approving this type of development than the City, but it goes back to the regional planning and cooperation.

The "Waverly GP" has formed to defend Waverly from annexation or an overly large GMA from Wellington. They may be partners interested in joining a rural conservation district that could become a partner with City and County Open Space programs. Contact Jane Clark.

As a biologist/ecologist I encourage wildlife habitat protection of the foothills – grassland region. This narrow band of habitat supports a suite of animals and plants that differ from the Foothills-mountain zone and the true shortgrass prairie. It is this zone that you get more of a mixed-grass prairie. It is also this zone that has high development potential. Protection of this in the local Fort Collins area is important.

Keep a strong focus on acquiring or preserving areas in town for recreational purposes. How wonderful to have natural areas so close and not to have to drive 20-30 min or more to get there – or pollute the air as we make our way there! Also, the young and the elderly need the places of beauty nearby, as they often don't have the means to get there by car.

It is now preferred by buy land outside of the Ft. Collins GMA. There are great opportunities to the west and north of Ft. Collins for protecting large tracts of land, at reasonable prices. The County would be a welcome partner in these areas. The plan calls for spending outside of the GMA - this is very good.

We need to get the community separators done. The Timnath/Windsor community separator is currently critical. If not protected soon, it will be lost forever to development. The Wellington separator is also important.

Community identity has been eroding with the invasion of large franchises, and I don't want to live in ANYWHERE, USA with unlimited sprawl along the highways from Canada to Mexico. It is time to place importance on the land for its own sake, and slow the relentless sprawl machine that fragments wildlife habitat, erodes community identity, and increases fossil fuel consumption. Fort Collins Natural Areas program has the ability and obligation to set the standard in Northern Colorado for smaller communities to follow and participate in, and a strong regional approach will help accomplish this. The future is here, along with 6 billion humans, we have to think big in order to make even the smallest difference.

Emphasize community separators to avoid northern Colorado cities growing into each other. Particularly between Fort Collins and Loveland, Windsor, and Timnath (which seems to be gearing up for big growth). Community separators are going to be sorely needed along I-25 between communities.

Regional land conservation planning and cooperation with surrounding communities. I think Fort Collins is doing a great job with natural areas conservation, but it seems to be a lower priority in Loveland and Windsor, for example. As the largest most dynamic city in this area, Fort Collins must be a leader in influencing land conservation policy in this region.

Focus mostly on regional to get more land for the money. Local and Community Separators are too expensive. Change the allocations to regional – 75%, Local and Community Separators - 25%.

Are there any opportunities for preserving the corridor along Highway 287 north of Ted's place where the "water buffaloes" want to put a reservoir? This is a beautiful scenic are with great cliffs, raptors and an entry to LaPorte and Fort Collins.

Focus on regional areas – they become "local" areas in the future.

New regional focus is very important – don't be shy. Be flexible – don't lose any good deals.

Go for more outright purchases in regional for more control.

Buy as much regional as possible. There's lots of it at a lower price. Plus, it gives recreational users more opportunity to get out of the city and enjoy nature/wildlife, etc.

Poudre River is a huge priority for community separators and regional.

I'd like to see more focus put on the regional conservation efforts. Although further from town, the conservation value is so much higher and the opportunities much greater.

The plan seems like a good balance geographically. I especially like the idea of conserving land in the Laramie Foothills. Also, the community separators are critical.

Look at regional cooperation beyond Larimer County – Weld, Boulder, and Wyoming.

Since funds are limited, more urban natural areas is not the best expenditure of money. They do not provide connectivity or corridors.

Need to incorporate preserving rural agricultural character of area when possible. Buy conservation easements from farmers, even if not in bubble area, to prevent further development and preserve aestethic open space.

Five-year goals: Greatest goal for City should be in infill regulation/easements in the Poudre Corridor up to Bellvue; first between LaPorte and Owl Canyon. De-emphasize Rist Canyon – plenty of Forest Service land nearby.

De-emphasize community separators – they cost too much. 50% on local, 50% on regional.

Ten-year: to Meadow Springs-North County region, Laramie Foothills, Cooperative efforts with County.
Local: Poudre corridor to mouth of Poudre Canyon.
Some buyers split – 50% regional 50% local.

While local conservation concerns within the city limits are certainly important, I think more funds should be allocated to the regional areas and community separators during the short-term (2004-2008) as well as the long-term (2009-2013). The proposed split of 1/3 to each category in the short-term and 25/50/25 split in the long-term is reasonable, but I would suggest that even less should be concentrated on the local area for reasons of high acquisition costs. More "bang for the buck" can be achieved regionally, and that land is going fast.

I am concerned that local tax dollars are being used to fund purchases of land that are for regional use. If these types of lands are targeted than I believe there should be regional support and funding sources for this purpose. I would support Fort Collins paying a proportionate share based on population, or land area, or some other reasonable method of allocation. But if the regional governments are not going to support the purchase than either don"t make the purchase or have a fee for non-Fort Collins resident's use.

Allocation split appropriate.

More regional and community separators in the short term.

More allocation now for local – focus on properties along the Poudre.

Do not take from regional to gain a community separator or small local.

Community separators could be created by local conservation areas.

Bellvue and Laporte are important.

Try to add to properties and not buy pockets here and there.

Not important to just maintain a pretty view for drivers along I-25 – only appropriate if it meets other criteria.

Allocations need to be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities.

More money to regional and community separators.

Don't want to miss opportunities close-in.

Community separators will disappear quickly – start here.

Keep flexible – opportunistic (in a nice way).

Ok balance – leverage money and partnerships.

Different focus areas have different conservation values = accommodating different values.

Be on constant alert for protecting agricultural lands and water.

Land continuity and linkage of land is important. Prevent fragmentation.

The guidelines should not be a rigid prescription.

The monetary breakdown is arbritrary.

Think and focus on watershed scale and protection.

Local: feel balance is pretty good.

Look hard – try not to take funds out of regional

Mouth of Poudre and Bellvue are important.
The timing of acquiring the properties proposed in the regional plan seem dire to me, these rare ecological treasures are seemingly being gobbled up by the only remaining forward thinkers...the developers. To me, preserving these areas is crucial to keeping the regional area such a special place.

The regional areas program is an excellent plan. The City would benefit in so many ways if these areas were protected from the sprawl so much of the front range as succumbed to.

We feel that going outside the GMA is great and might mention we are hearing there are growing opportunities to the north and west. We have also a keen interest in continuing the purchase of separators between Timnath, Windsor, and Wellington as these communities have clearly developed the idea that growth will solve all problems no matter how willy-nilly it is.

Obvious it is hard to make choices when the needs for conservation are so considerable, but if there is one thing the plan seems not to adequately address is nature close to where people live. I believe there are opportunities to enhance areas like Spring pr Fossil Creeks -- and many other areas I don't personally know -- that would greatly enrich the lives of citizens because they are close at hand. Conserving regional conservation priorities shouldn't overshadow what can be done within the city. Yes, conservation can be more expensive here and the species may not be as glamorous as elsewhere, but something profoundly important to conservation can be accomplished. It's an issue ecologist Robert Michael Pyle calls "extinction of experience" (The Thunder Tree, 1993). "If a species becomes extinct within our own radius of reach...it might as well be gone altogether," he says. To which he adds, "I believe that one of the greatest causes of the ecological crisis is the state of personal alienation from nature in which many people live."

Glade Reservoir area is at risk. It should be protected and it's not currently in a focus area.

Poudre River corridor is a local priority, especially with land use changes.

Separation with LaPorte is a priority.

Urban growth boundary should be fixed through City Plan. Acquisitions should help define growth boundaries of Fort Collins.

Protect land around reservoirs.

Regional has more impact – wildlife value, buffers, corridors.

Local is important too – bike trails, near schools, pockets.