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Open Space
Every Member Material - April 2006
League Position In Brief: Support for an integrated, total county approach to planning which provides for the diverse needs of the members of the community while ensuring environmental quality. Support for a county-wide Open Space Program funded by a sales tax.
A. Administrative Structure
The open space plan we have in place today was the brainchild of Carol Karlin. She saw a real need to save some of the lands and historical areas within Jefferson County before development took over and they were lost forever. She invited 11 people to meet at her home including three from Jeffco League of Women Voters (LWV). Carol went to Boulder to study their open space plan, liked their idea of a group called “PLAN Boulder,” and adapted it for Jefferson County. PLAN Jeffco was formed and went to the County Commissioners (CC) with the idea. The question of open space acquisition was put on the ballot as a resolution in 1972. The citizens voted both for the resolution and a sales tax of 0.5%. PLAN Jeffco insisted that a citizen committee be formed to work with the Department of Open Space. This would assure that the right land acquisitions would be made. A formal resolution making this request, including the formation of the citizen committee, was accepted by the CC, which set up the Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC).
The following are players involved in the Jefferson County Open Space program.
· PLAN Jeffco
· Jeffco Department of Open Space (JCOS)
· Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC)
· Jeffco Open Space Foundation
· State of Colorado
PLAN Jeffco is still operating as a volunteer group. It provides comment on projects, reviews plans, recommends acquisition of properties, and sometimes hears the proposals of businesses looking to purchase or exchange open space lands. PLAN Jeffco is known as the “watchdog” for open space.
PLAN Jeffco is an organization with a current membership of 70. Dues are $25.00 annually. More members are needed to carry out their goals. Contact Wanda Blackburn, 1708 W. 17th Drive, Golden 80401, for membership information. The board is made up of 13 members.
Board members of OSAC are also volunteers appointed by the CC. There is an application process requiring letters of recommendation from City Council and Parks and Recreation District depending on the position available. The CC then makes the appointments. Openings are posted during the month of February. Call Janice Fredricksen at 303-271-8508 for more information about applying for a position. There are 10 voting members and two alternates. OSAC hears input from individual citizens and citizen groups including PLAN Jeffco and reviews project plans before making recommendations to the CC.
Jeffco Open Space Foundation was established in 1998. As a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, the Foundation assists the Open Space program in the “protection, enhancement, and enjoyment of the natural resources and wildlife throughout Jefferson County” (Jeffco Open Space Foundation, Inc.). It accepts various types of donations including monetary donations, equipment, historical artifacts, and real property. The Foundation also accepts gifts via wills and charitable or living trusts. It applies for and receives grants as well as originates and administers fundraising programs. The Foundation consists of 20 members most of whom are also OSAC members. It receives anywhere from $25,000 to $800,000 per year, which is passed on to JCOS.
The State of Colorado impacts how open space is maintained regarding noxious weed control in Jefferson County. The Colorado Noxious Weed Advisory Committee was established in 2003 following changes to the Colorado Noxious Weed Act. The members serve two-year terms and are limited to two full terms each. The committee meets quarterly and makes recommendations concerning the designation of state noxious weeds; classification of state noxious weeds; development and implementation of state weed management plans, and prescribed techniques for eradication, containment, and suppression of state noxious weeds.
B. Funding Sources
Sources of funds for open space projects can come from any of the following:
· Sales Tax
· Save Open Space Bonds (SOS)
· Conservation Trust Funds (CTF) – Lottery Dollars
· Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) – Lottery Dollars
· State Funds
· Joint Ventures Grants (JVP)
· Jefferson County Open Space Foundation
Each year the JCOS develops a budget within the parameters set by the CC. The CC rarely finds faults within the budget and approves it. In 1998, a bond issue was passed, Save Open Space, in the amount of $160 million to be spent solely on acquisition of property. About $25 million is left to be spent. This bond package has significant debt service amounting to about $13,150,000 annually for at least the next 5 years. Many of the newly purchased parcels have not been developed, so there is minimal maintenance cost associated with them at this time.
The Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) consists of lottery dollars available for open space projects. The CTF receives 40% of all net lottery proceeds. There are over 425 local governments eligible for these funds, and they can be used in a variety of ways including acquisition, development, and maintenance on any public site. JCOS does not receive these funds as they are distributed by the CC through a competitive grant process or used on the fairgrounds.
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) is another funding source consisting of 50% of lottery dollars. (The remaining 10% goes to Colorado State Parks.) This is also a competitive grant program awarding funds to “non-profit land conservation organizations, local governments, Colorado State Parks and the Colorado Division of Wildlife for projects that protect land and natural areas such as urban open space, riparian corridors, wildlife habitat, agricultural land and community separators.” (GOCO Homepage) JCOS has received funding through this resource in the past including $5 million, a part of which was used toward the preservation of South Table Mountain.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture has disbursed $1,255,000 in the form of grants for noxious weed management, education, and mapping. Approximately $5 in private, local or other state and federal resources matched every dollar of the State’s investment. In 2003, the Fund was discontinued owing to the financial crisis. It is uncertain whether the program will be reinstated. At the time of this report, it had not yet been reinstated.
A source of funding provided by JCOS is the Joint Ventures Program (JVP). A portion of the Jeffco sales tax earmarked for Open Space, about $2 million, is set aside each year for the JVP. These funds are available to cities and recreation districts for park and recreation capital improvements. This is a grant program.
C. Park Services
Since each Open Space Park has different attributes and teams, each of the 29 Open Space Parks has its own “Vision Statement” within its Park Management Plan. The Vision Statement is the guiding principle and gives a sense of what areas of management are important for that park. These plans and statements are shared with OSAC and the CC. The Management Plans are reviewed quarterly and revised as necessary. A report is then put together outlining the priorities for the park for the following year. (See Report)
JCOS has 10 full time park rangers including a supervisor. There are also four seasonal rangers. Three of these full time park rangers live on the property at White Ranch Park, Elk Meadow Park, and Pine Valley Ranch Park. In addition, a caretaker lives at Reynolds Park. Rangers provide a daily presence in JCOS parks and/or respond to incidents as needed. In addition, they also provide the following services:
· Foot, mountain bike, and vehicle patrols of JCOS parks, properties, and trails
· Emergency response including emergency medical services and disaster coordination
· Public education and programs on land stewardship, wildlife, and natural resources
· Enforcement of park rules and regulations
· Recreation management and resource protection
· Light maintenance
JCOS spends about $100,000 in labor and equipment each year and an additional $15,000 per year on chemicals to fight noxious weeds. A noxious weed is any plant growing outside its natural habitat. They have the ability to spread very rapidly and are extremely invasive. Most originated in Europe or Asia and arrived here without bringing their natural controls, insects and pathogens, that might have kept them in check and thus have an incredible advantage over our native species. They have been introduced by accident or have been used by people as ornamental plants that have escaped their intended area. These non-native species are devastating thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and natural areas.
Noxious weeds need to be controlled for two reasons: they will form dense monocultures and displace native and desirable plants, and they will affect wildlife that depends on the natural, native vegetation for survival. It should also be noted that many species of these non-native plants are poisonous to wildlife and livestock. An increase in these non-native plants translates to a decrease in wildlife and livestock.
Colorado is using a model developed by Dr. Steven Dewey, a professor of weed science at Utah State University. Adapting Dr. Dewey’s principles of coordinated eradication and containment
actions to the weed management strategy, Colorado’s established noxious weed species will be managed according to their distribution throughout the state and the threat they pose to valued resources. For every place in Colorado, an appropriate and specific management objective for any established noxious weed species can be determined. Choosing an appropriate management objective for each targeted weed species at a particular site will be based entirely upon the resources that are threatened by the species and its known distribution relative to the site. For any given noxious weed species, the possible management objectives are: (Strategic Plan to Stop the Spread of Noxious Weeds)
· Eradication: The implementation of a short-term but intensive control effort (often 3-10 years depending upon seed longevity and recruitment of the targeted species) to eliminate a targeted infestation permanently from a given area.
· Containment: The creation and enforcement of appropriate containment perimeters via 1. eradication of plants on the exterior of the infestation’s designated perimeter; and 2. eradication of plants within the boundaries of the perimeter along vector corridors (e.g., roads, streams, and trails) that may facilitate spread of the infestation beyond the perimeter.
· Suppression: The use of a wide variety of weed management techniques that reduce the density and severity of infestations within the boundaries of containment perimeters in order to mitigate the harm to agriculture, the environment and other values caused by widespread and well-established populations of noxious weeds.
Techniques used include:
· Biological Control – releasing natural predators to feed on and reduce the number of weeds in the area
· Cultural – mulching, re-vegetation, grazing, fertilization
· Chemical – use of herbicides to kill weeds
· Mechanical – hand pulling, mowing, weed whipping
JCOS has staff specifically trained in weed identification, as well as in spraying and/or weed removal. Some of the permanent rangers have also been trained to identify and report noxious weeds. Each year, as the state target list changes, JCOS may continue to treat the targets from the previous year in addition to the newly targeted species. The weeds that seem to remain in the crosshairs year after year include knapweed, leafy spurge, and Canada thistle.
D. Role of the Public
The Colorado Noxious Weed Act (CRS 35-5.5) was passed in 1990. This law requires all public and private landowners in the State of Colorado to maintain control over certain noxious weeds. If a landowner has noxious weeds on their property, they are required to prevent their spread.
We must all try to avoid aiding these non-native species in their quest to take over our Open Space lands. Clean your shoes before entering any Open Space park. This may prevent the transport of seeds into the park. The same is true for tires on bicycles and equestrians should feed their horses weed-free hay. Park visitors and their pets should stay on the trails. Travelling off the trail for any reason can not only increase damage to surrounding natural resources, but also increase the chance of transporting seeds. It is essential for all Colorado communities and landowners to work toward common weed control objectives if we are to succeed at our individual and collective goals.
Support Jeffco Open Space…buy Jeffco!
To learn more about weed identification, visit http://www.ag.state.co.us/CSD/Weeds/mapping/CWMProgram.html
for the following links:
· Weed Inventory Basics
· Noxious Weed Lists
· Weed Images Page
· Weed ID Tour
Browse the various weed mapping protocols and see which one suits your interests and needs.
· Sketch Mapping
· GPS Mapping
· GIS Mapping
· Reporting Weeds
