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Moffat County Land Use Board

Minutes of Meeting

June 16, 2003

Land Use Board Meeting Minutes June 16, 2003 The Moffat County Land Use Board met at the Courthouse Annex, 220 West Victory Way, at 7:10 p.m. President, Burt Clements, called the meeting to order with a roll call. A moment of silence was observed. The following members, staff and guests were present. Members: Steve Hinkemeyer Burt Clements Tom Deakins Rick Hammel Dean Gent Jean Stetson Bob Grubb Staff: Les Hampton, Ex-officio, Moffat County Commissioner Jeff Comstock, Moffat County Natural Resources Department Ann Franklin, Moffat County Natural Resources Department Guests: John Husband – BLM Sandy O. Approval of Minutes: May 12, 2003 Burt Clements presented the minutes of the May 12, 2003 Moffat County Land Use Board and asked for any corrections or additions. Rick Hammel moved the minutes be accepted, Steve Hinkemeyer seconded the motion. Minutes were approved as written. Approval of Minutes: May 29, 2003 Burt Clements presented the minutes of the May 29, 2003 Moffat County Land Use Board and asked for any correction or additions. Rick Hammel moved the minutes be accepted as written, Tom Deakins seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as written. General Discussion RS2477 Udall has introduced House Bill 1639. The state/counties has 4 years to assert their rights and then their rights will go away. Jeff reported Allard, McGinnis, and Campbell do not support the Bill and are questioning its legality. Expiration of rights does not exist at the Federal level. Rick argued that if the Bill should pass it would supercede all case law. Bob Grubb asked if the RS2477 is a way for local people to put pressure on federal agencies for management. Burt Clements stated that it is more of an acknowledgement of existing rights that existed prior to special land designations. Jeff reported that RS2477 and Moffat County’s involvement in the issue have been in the news very frequently over the last few weeks. RS2477 Ground-Truthing Jeff reminded the Board that Jean had mentioned at a previous meeting that there are many routes that may be more difficult to find such as Gadd’s cabin to Pop’s place and the Cross Mountain trail. He suggested picking a few trails to ground-truth initially. Rick Hammel suggested picking a few trails in each area and dividing up the County to ground-truth. He expressed his opinion that cherry-stem roads are a waste of time to ground-truth. Dean thought these types of roads might be very important because they could be critical routes to water, etc. Jean suggested the ground-truthing effort focus on trails that are not designated on a map that are from people’s testimony vs. documented on maps. Rick suggested that the County be divided up at Douglas Mountain north and south and 6 routes could be selected in each area. The roads in the WSA’s are probably the most important routes to designate because many of the areas don’t have documentation already. Jean suggested the people that are most familiar with areas should head up the different ground-truthing efforts. Jeff said it might make sense to form a sub-committee to concentrate on this effort. Les Hampton stated it might make sense to open it up to a real public process by inviting people with horses, etc. to document the trails. The Moffat County Road and Bridge Dept. and Pest Management are willing to document trails. Jeff Wilden is in charge of the GPS unit in the County and will probably need to go along because he is the only one that knows how to run it. The unit also has a camera that documents the route and photos are linked with the coordinates. Burt Clements suggested picking 6 routes to ground-truth right away. Dean suggested coordinating with the BLM to start the effort. Tom Deakins suggested that the sub-committee get together with the BLM to compare the documented routes. John Husband said that people should be very aware of not trying to misconstrue a route. Jeff will check with the BLM to get their information. Rick, Dean, Tom, Richard, Steve and Jean will head up the RS2477 committee. Water Meeting A water summit will be held on June 23 at 1:15 pm at the Extension Office. Northwest Colorado Stewardship Partnership Jeff presented a draft letter to thank participants for attending the partnership training. Todd Bryan is available to facilitate another meeting before July 18th and is willing to do the session for free. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 8th. RSVP will be due by July 1st. Rick moved, Jean seconded, to approve the letter with the addition of dates and location as recommended (8:30 am – 4:30 pm at the Shadow Mountain Clubhouse). Archeology Update Jeff talked about the proposed project by Marvin Moore to find the Fort Davey Crockett site on the Brown’s Park Wildlife Refuge. Mona Charles from Ft. Lewis College charges $3000.00 to take her students to an archeology site to do sonar photography. Refuge Manager, Jerry Rodriguez, has expressed support of the project unless it requires ground disturbance. Jeff is planning to apply for a $10,000.00 grant with no required match to do the project. Committee Reports Sage Grouse Update The next sage grouse working group meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 from 1-4 pm at the Extension Office. Tony Apa has been relieved of some of his responsibilities due to a new hire and may have more time to devote to the Sage Grouse Working Group. Tom Brown Inc. has been very responsive and willing to work with the sage grouse working group on natural gas development issues. Closing Comments Wolf Discussion Rick Hammel reported that Russell George made a prediction of “It’s not a matter of if but when the wolves are coming to Colorado”. Rick has been researching the wolf migration situation. Jean presented the Federal Register that states any areas north of I-70 are designated experimental, non-essential (gray wolf). The State has the ability to come up with acceptable depredation levels. Ron Villarde and Russell George have been working on this issue and are in the process of coming up with a plan. The 4(d) rule allows the state to come up with recommended levels, etc. Rick talked about a provision by the Defenders of Wildlife to reimburse people who have lost livestock to wolves. Dean Gent stated that a livestock operator has to have definite proof of the predatory animal that has killed their livestock and that is often very difficult to prove. Jean Stetson stated that she is part of the endangered species committee for the CCA and will stay informed of the wolf issue. Rick stated that the Wyoming plan doesn’t seem to be working very well. Jeff will look into this issue and will talk to the State as well. Northwest Colorado Stewardship Partnership Extensive discussion was held regarding County Commissioner approval for the Stewardship Partnership process. It was decided that phone calls be made tomorrow to all of the participants to give them a heads up that a letter will be sent to them inviting them to the next Partnership meeting. The County Commissioners will send out the letter after approval on June 23rd. Les Hampton suggested that another item to look at for the partnership may be pest management. Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are at an all time high in the County. John Husband will check into the situation on federal land. Announcements · A government representative is needed. The State Land Board can be considered as a potential government rep as well. Adjournment Rick motioned and Dean seconded to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.

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