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Letter from experienced prairie dog land managerFrom:elizabeth@elizabethblackart.com To:OSBT-Web; Jon Carroll; Dave Kuntz; Brady Robinson; Michelle Estrella Subject:Letter from experienced prairie dog land manager Date:Tuesday, July 11, 2023 6:33:25 PM External Sender Hello OSBT, I received the following letter from a person with a quarter century of experience working on prairie dog control. They do not wish to be identified because of their job. “Here are my observations on the aspects of the proposal that I think are problematic: “It has only been 2 seasons of implementing OSMP’s prairie dog removal plan. PD removal is flat HARD. It takes time, and 2 seasons of implementation is not nearly enough time to draw conclusions and re-plan. Especially after decades of no management of prairie dogs. “Change designations for properties where conditions have shifted in a permanent way “Transition and Removal” properties could be reclassified as “Prairie Dog ConservationAreas”. This is the most troubling aspect of the proposal. “The long-term viability of agriculture in Boulder County depends to a very large extent on the availability of agricultural land for operators. Access to land is the first requirement of all agricultural operations. Any land taken out of agricultural production permanently limits/reduces/injures the agricultural community in Boulder County. “Degraded agricultural land is not appropriate habitat for PDs. Though we all know PDs can exist just about anywhere, in order to provide for the real conservation values associated with prairie dogs, they need to exist in native grasslands. Reclassified properties would not exist as healthy native grasslands with healthy functioning ecosystems. “The long-term presence and impacts of PDs on reclassified lands will, with certainty, result in severe soil movement and loss, weed infestations and overall, a reduction in biodiversity. This is antithetical to what good land stewardship and soil conservation is all about. COBOSMP has been a huge proponent of supporting, encouraging and implementing management for good soil health. The reclassified properties would be a glaring contradiction. “I would hope COBOSMP would explain and justify how the impacts of transitioning agricultural land and the resulting impacts to the land can be viewed as good land stewardship and soil conservation. “Category C: Challenging and very expensive to restore. “May be best managed through co-existence with prairie dogs.” Again, after many years of experience in agricultural land management, prairie dog removal and land rehabilitation following prairie dogs, the notion of co-existence with prairie dogs is completely unreasonable to expect. It results in severely limited agricultural production and injures the viability of local farmers and ranchers. Co- existence results in compromised natural resources (land and water) and is VERY expensive to maintain. “A significant portion of the high cost of PD removal (and a significant reason for OSMP to give up on agricultural land) is the barrier fencing. There is a much cheaper and more effective alternative to the solid, sheet metal barrier fencing that OSMP installs. My observation after all these years is that correctly installed chicken wire is the most effective and practical. The costs savings of chicken wire over sheet metal barrier are tremendous. Less of a visual impact as well. “Rather than giving up on the agricultural land that is being proposed for reclassification, OSMP might want to consider selling or giving the fee interest of those lands to a private operator and keeping a Conservation Easement on the land. A private operator/landowner/famer/rancher will be able to provide for the stewardship that OSMP cannot, and their goals for conservation and preservation of agricultural land will be achieved. “Remove PDs ONLY from the irrigable portions of OSMP properties. I can tell you that it is completely unreasonable to expect that PDs can be prevented from moving from the non- irrigated portions of the property onto the irrigated land. Migration to the irrigated land will be constant. The time/effort/expense will, without any doubt, exceed the cost of an overall removal.” Thanks for your consideration, Elizabeth Black Elizabeth Black 303-449-7532h 720-839-5576c Elizabeth@ElizabethBlackArt.com 4340 N 13th St Boulder CO 80304 To Unsubcribe, click on Elizabeth@ElizabethBlackArt.com and tell me to remove you.