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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInformation Item: Urban Wildlife Management Plan Scope of Work M E M O R A N D U M DATE: April 12, 2005 TO: Water Resource Advisory Board FROM: Wildlife Management Plan Project Team Bryan Pritchett, Open Space & Mountain Parks, Project Manager Mark Gershman, Open Space & Mountain Parks Alice Guthrie, Environmental Affairs Bev Johnson, Planning & Development Services Jeanne Scholl, Parks & Recreation Stephanie Grainger, City Manager’s Office SUBJECT: Urban Wildlife Management Plan Scope of Work The city-wide wildlife management plan is getting underway and we know this project and plan is of interest to the board. Staff took the draft scope of work for the Urban Wildlife Management Plan to the City Council Environmental Goal committee on March 3rd and received input and feedback. Attached are the draft scope and cover letter that went to the goal committee. Staff will bring the draft work plan to City Council for discussion under City Manager items on May 17th. Prior to the Council meeting, the project team will take the draft scope of work to interested stakeholders on April 21st for feedback before finalizing it for Council's review. In the meantime, staff continues to gather management plans from other communities, examine best management practices, inventory existing numbers and locations of species, and analyze existing conditions. The process for the Urban Wildlife Management Plan will include opportunities for public involvement including periodic updates and discussions with Council and the respective Boards.If you have any questions, need more information, or have any feedback on the draft scope of work please contact Stephanie Grainger, at 303-441-3005. Thank you! M E M O R A N D U M TO: Environmental Goal Committee FROM: Wildlife Management Plan Project Team: Bryan Pritchett, Project Manager, Open Space & Mountain Parks Bev Johnson, Planning & Development Services Jeanne Scholl, Parks & Recreation Alice Guthrie, Office of Environmental Affairs Stephanie Grainger, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT: Draft Scope of the City-wide Wildlife Management Plan and Proposed Work Plan Timeline DATE: March 1, 2005 Attached is the proposed scope for a city-wide Wildlife Manage Plan. The plan will incorporate management recommendations and policies for all of the species of wildlife in the city that need policy guidance or direction on their management. This broad plan will require approximately two years to develop. However, since the most pressing issue facing the city is the management of prairie dogs this will be the initial focus of the plan and staff work. There are a couple of large projects that will be developed within the next two years that have significant prairie dog populations and these projects will require policy direction from the management plan on how to address these large populations. Also, there are more imminent prairie dog management issues that are arising at the airport as well as at the Boulder Reservoir. Staff is proposing that the plan be a “living and breathing” document that can adapt as species management plans are added and as topics and issues progress through research and analysis, public process, and in policy considerations and recommendations. Staff believes that it can complete the prairie dog component of the management plan within one year. This plan will include policy recommendations on the “steps” of managing prairie dogs. The new wildlife ordinance has set a priority of (1) mitigation; (2) relocation; (3) trapping and humane euthanization; and (4) use of poison. Staff will be evaluating this hierarchy and will make policy recommendations to City Council on whether the city should follow this protocol or consider more stringent protocols for management of prairie dogs on public lands. The community needs to be involved in the conversation about the management of prairie dogs and other species and a key component to developing the plan will be a public process. Also, the following boards and commissions will most likely be involved at some point in the process for review and/or approval: Open Space Board of Trustees, Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, Environmental Advisory Board, Water Resource Advisory Board, Transportation Advisory Board, Planning Board, and City Council. As staff finalizes the scope of the work, it will identify the involvement level and decision points for each of these groups and for the public. Staff will also identify and work with various interested external groups. As is called out in the scope, there are several Front Range communities as well as other communities in the country with issues and environments similar to Boulder that have wildlife management plans. Staff will perform a review and assessment of these plans and will identify “best practices.” Mitigation techniques and approaches for prairie dogs and other species will also be addressed in the plan and staff will also research and document leading technology in the field as well as best practices. Staff also heard from City Council during discussions on the north Boulder prairie dog fence that it would like staff to consider in its analysis and plan development establishing designated habitat areas for prairie dogs and non-designated areas; to look into available unoccupied suitable habitat sites and the possibility of obtaining new sites; to look into the potential impacts or unintended consequences that mitigation techniques may cause; to address mitigation approaches and techniques for all park land in the city with prairie dog issues; and to assess the carrying capacity of city lands for prairie dogs. These issues will be considered in the plan. The staff team that developed the wildlife ordinance will continue as a team and will be doing the work on the city-wide wildlife management plan. Bryan Pritchett is the project leader and Stephanie Grainger is the project advisor. Additional staff and outside resources will be used to help develop the plan as needed. Staff will review the draft plan scope at the Environmental Goal Committee meeting on rd Thursday, March 3. If you have any questions prior to the meeting please contact Bryan Pritchett, Plan Project Manager, at 720-564-2051 or Stephanie Grainger at 303-441-3005. WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT PLAN OUTLINE I.Executive Summary/Overview - Background and History - Purpose and Goals/Objectives - Identification of Issues - 'HILQLWLRQRI:LOGOLIH±:KDWZLOGOLIe and habitats are included and why - Public Process II.Approach to Ecosystem Management and Best Practices - Existing Policies, Ordinances, and Other Related Plans and Master Plans; Review of Plans of Front Range and Other Communities and Identification of Best Practices highlights and commonalities of otKHU&LWLHV¶SODQVDQGGLIIHUHQFHV from Boulder - State and Federal Authority and Responsibility - City Authority and Responsibility in Wildlife Management - Review of Wildlife Management Plans of Management Philosophies: Individual animal protection versus ecosystem conservation Preservation, Conservation, and ThreVKROGV±FRQFHSWRIDSSURSULDWH numbers of a species and appropriate and inappropriate locations Public Lands and Private Lands Mitigation on Public Lands Education/Information III.Analysis and Assessment - Inventory and mapping of existing numbers and locations of species - Identification and analysis of wildlife movement (corridors and islands) - Identification and analysis of conflicts and problems - Prioritization of wildlife management issues/concerns - Capacity of lands and opportunities IV.Species Specific Plans Prairie Dog Management Plan: Ecology, behavior, habitat preference, habitat modifications Issues associated with prairie dogs: Facts versus myths: plague, reproduction, burrowing behavior, reloFDWLRQ³NH\VWRQH´UROHSHVWRU wildlife? Conflicting state regulations Regulatory Compliance - Federal, state, and local status Value in urban setting: prey base, education Problems in urban setting: individuals and colonies Identification and mapping of colonies: -Benefits and conflicts of where they are. -How should conflicts be resolved and when -:KDWKDSSHQVLIDQDUHDLV³SODJXHG´" Existing management plans and new city ordinance Habitat and species preservation and management on city lands and on private lands ³7KUHVKROGV´IRUDFWLRQ Establish Policy and Protocol: $FWLRQ³6WHSV´RU3ULRULWLHV±IRUH[ample: natural control, mitigation, relocation, transfer, trap and humane lethal control, extermination with humane lethal control, extermination with poison(?). Other Species Management Plans: Bears, Mountain Lions, Deer (address chronic wasting disease), Birds (geese non-migratory), burrowing owls, eagles and other raptors), squirrels, beaver, muskrats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, fish (game fish and non-game fish), New Zealand mud snails, mosquitoes (West Nile Virus), invertebrates, threatened or endangered species. Note: A management plan for each identified species would be established and will IRUPDVHFWLRQRU³FKDSWHU´RIWKH wildlife management plan. The detail in each plan will vary with the number of identified issues, urgency, and ability of the city to manage the species. V.Connections and Interrelationship of Species - Habitat related issues (wetlands, grasslands, forests, riparian areas, etc.) - ³1RQKDELWDW´ EDFN\DUGVDLUSRUWVHWF VI.Other Related Issues – Legal and liability issues/concerns; impacts and on parks infrastructure and mitigation approach; incorporating policies and practices into project design and development; VII.Policy Recommendations VIII.Action Recommendations IX.Implementation Plan, Schedule, and Funding X.Future Considerations and Concerns To be identified/established: Review and Approval Steps: - Public Process and Input - Staff Input and Approval - Board/Commission Process and Approval - City Council Approval/Adoption