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OSMP Board hearing on Prairie Dogs, Wednesday July 12 6-9 PM.From:tim schabacker To:OSBT-Web Cc:elizabeth@elizabethblackart.comSubject:OSMP Board hearing on Prairie Dogs, Wednesday July 12 6-9 PM.Date:Wednesday, July 12, 2023 7:09:36 AM Attachments:image002.png External Sender I live unincorporated Boulder County within a mile of both City of Boulder and Boulder County open space properties. I am writing to ask that the Board take necessary steps to restore City owned and managed irrigated properties to their previous productive use. The elimination of prairie dog colonies by either relocation or lethal removal is the first step in healing these lands. In the almost fifty years I have been living in this area I have seen many once viableagricultural properties acquired as open space by the City of Boulder and Boulder County. Unfortunately, neither entity has adequately managed the properties. We have arrived at the point that the exponential explosion of prairie dog populations on City and County lands has left many of these parcels barren deserts—with the exception of invasive noxious plants, mostly thistles. Now adjacent privately held agricultural and residential parcels are at risk from these interrelated problems as a result of the abdication of responsibility by City and County agencies. Ignoring these problems and failing to allocate adequate resources for dealing with prairie dog colonies and protecting open space lands has been a mistake, as has relying on demonstrably inaccurate policy notions. Hoping that “natural” controls would work is a fantasy. The theory that as a “keystone species”prairie dogs promulgate healthy ecosystems is magical thinking. There will never be enough coyotes or raptors to keep the rodents from overwhelming and ruining the landscape. Likewise, somehow relying on the random bubonic plague infestation is not science, and poses a serious threat to public health. Theabandonment of the lands to invasive thistle only compounds the problem we now face, and further emphasizes the urgency for a serious science based policy to solve these problems. The bargain struck with the taxpayers who have consistently agreed to fund open space acquisitions is that the agencies entrusted with managing the resources will be good stewards of the land. That is why I urge the Board to commit to engage with their counterparts at Boulder County to establish a comprehensive plan to revitalize the agricultural lands in your care which have been ruined by prairie dog infestation. Adequate resources should be allocated to engage contractual expertise where government agencies lack the resources to adequately address the problem. I suggest the Board review the successful approach recently taken by Boulder County with regard to elk herds which had overpopulated open space lands. Carefully managed lethal removal proved to be the most effective strategy for resolving the issue. Respectfully, Tim Schabacker5706 Prospect RoadLongmont, CO 80503 Sent from my iPad On Jul 10, 2023, at 1:05 PM, elizabeth@elizabethblackart.com wrote: Hi Everyone, 1. Please send your emails about Staff’s proposed changes to City of Boulder OSMP prairie dog policy to OSBT by Wednesday at OSBT -Web@bouldercolorado.gov. To read the proposed changes, go to: https://documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=181900&dbid=0&repo=LF8PROD2 (June packet); or https://documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=182117&dbid=0&repo=LF8PROD2 (July packet). 2. To join and watch the OSBT virtual meeting on Wednesday July 12th, 6-9PM, go to this link: https://bouldercolorado.gov/events/open-space-board-trustees-meeting-19 and hit the text saying Join online meeting; That will take you to a Zoom log in page at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85329618800#success . Follow instructions from there. 3. You can also join on your phone by calling: 1-719-359-4580; Webinar ID: 853 2961 8800 4. Prairie dogs are the last public hearing on the agenda, and the schedule estimates our item starting around 8PM, give or take a few minutes. 5. If you would like to speak to OSBT, you must sign up to speak, either before 5PM on Wednesday, or during the meeting. Sign up at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/071223-osbt-public-comment-for-prairie-dog-management-tickets-675310139807?aff=oddtdtcreator. Make sure that you have signed up for the right public hearing as there are 3 of them this evening! Note that the sign-up page is run by EventBrite, and it just gets you signed up to speak. It does NOT provide a link to get into the meeting or to speak. To get into the meeting and to speak when it is your turn, you must click Join online meeting on the OSBT meeting agenda page at https://bouldercolorado.gov/events/open-space-board-trustees-meeting-19. That will take you to a Zoom log in page at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85329618800#success . Follow instructions from there. 6. When the moderator opens the public hearing and invites people to speak, she calls their name. If she can identify you, she then will unmute you. Once you are assured that folks can hear you, you will have exactly 3 minutes to speak. That’s about one page of 16point type, depending on how fast you talk. The board will not be able to see you, and you cannot share photos. If you have photos that you want to show the Board, it is best to email them ahead of time. 7. The virtual public hearing system the City uses is studgy and several people had problems with it at the last meeting. Here’s a couple tricks that might help: a. Make sure you are unmuted on your end when it is your turn to speak. The unmute button is usually in the lower left corner of the screen, in line with the toolbar along the bottom of the Zoom page. It looks like this: If there is a red diagonal line through the microphone icon, click it to unmute yourself. b. Sometimes you may only be identifiable as a phone number. This may be the case if you are calling in to the meeting on your phone. To fix this, get into your phone settings ahead of time and set up a public profile for yourself with your name. Then the moderator will be able to identify you more easily. c. If you have problems connecting with your phone, try using your computer if it is available. Alternatively try calling back on your phone and hope for a better connection. Thanks very much for your engagement in this matter. All of us working together have been able to make some significant changes in the City of Boulder’s prairie dog policy. Please make sure that OSBT hears your voice! 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.