VII. THE STATE ROLE IN WILDLIFE HABITAT PROTECTION

State government plays a role in habitat protection that differs fundamentally from the role of local governments. As described earlier, the Local Government Land Use Control Enabling Act (House Bill 1034) provides broad authority to counties and municipalities to regulate the use of land within their jurisdictions. This bill specifically recognized the importance of protecting habitat from land uses that would threaten a wildlife species. In addition, the Colorado Land Use Act encourages local governments to identify and regulate land uses in "Areas of State Interest" including significant wildlife habitat. Thus, the state has specifically delegated responsibility and authority for protecting wildlife habitat on private land to local governments.

However, the state does support local government in their efforts to protect habitat by providing information and financial help. Here, we offer a brief overview of state programs offering these kinds of support. Our intent is not to offer an exhaustive treatment of such programs, but instead is to provide an entry point for gaining further information. Appendix 1 lists contacts for each of the programs that we describe in more detail below.

A. WILDLIFE RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (WRIS)

The Colorado Division of Wildlife initiated the Wildlife Resource Information System (also known as "WRIS", rhymes with "miss") to support implementation of House Bill 1041. The objective of WRIS is the systematic collection and communication of data to support natural resource planning, particularly planning by local governments. WRIS uses a species mapping process to identify and delineate habitat for species that are economically important (e.g., deer, elk), as well as for species that are threatened, endangered, or are valuable as indicators of habitat health. Once these species have been identified, their known patterns of habitat use are digitized into geographic information systems, and are used to compile composite maps of sensitivity to impact. Composite maps show areas within a county that have high, moderate, and low sensitivity to impact from development. These maps are used by planners to decide which development proposals should be reviewed by field personnel from the Division of Wildlife. Currently, there are 13 counties that use WRIS maps in a formal planning process and an additional 17 counties that use them informally. Local governments can contact the local Division of Wildlife office to find out about how to obtain help from the WRIS program. A variety of types of cooperation between the Division and local governments are possible.

B. A SYSTEM FOR CONSERVATION PLANNING (SCOP)

A System for Conservation Planning (SCoP, pronounced "scope") is a Division of Wildlife project designed to help local communities set goals for conservation of wildlife diversity and to inform those communities of the economic and regulatory mechanisms available to achieve those goals. The SCoP project is

• Developing a collaborative process to help decision makers, planners, and citizens work together to set conservation priorities.

• Producing accessible information systems that will help citizens and decision makers foresee large scale, cumulative effects of changes in land use on wildlife diversity.

Support for SCoP is provided by the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund with a match from the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Collaborators include Clarion Associates, the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory of Colorado State University, the Geography Department of the University of Colorado, Summit County government, and Larimer County government.

This handbook is one of the products of the SCoP project. In addition, computerized information systems being developed by SCoP map potentially suitable habitat for all species of vertebrates in two Colorado counties, Summit and Larimer. These systems identify the areas of the county that offer the most valuable habitats for wildlife, including areas of unusually large number of species, areas that are likely to be used as corridors, and areas that offer the largest, intact patches of habitat. In addition, the information systems allow a user to specify a site that might be developed in the future, and to learn about potential impacts of the development on wildlife habitat at that site. In addition, these systems forecast how impacts of development will accumulate by predicting the spatial distribution of development in the future. The user can evaluate how different approaches to landscape management might affect where development occurs. These evaluations can be used to choose management approaches that best suit local habitat protection goals.

C. GREAT OUTDOORS COLORADO

In 1992, the Colorado state constitution was amended to create the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund ("GOCO") and phase out the capital construction fund by 1998⁽¹⁸⁸⁾. The constitutional amendment creating GOCO directs the board of the trust fund to make investments that are substantially equal over the long term for (1) wildlife programs through the Colorado Division of Wildlife, (2) outdoor recreation through the Colorado division of parks and outdoor recreation, (3) competitive grants to the state parks division, counties, municipalities, other political subdivisions, and non-profit and conservation organizations for the purpose of acquiring and managing open space and natural areas of statewide significance, and (4) competitive matching grants to local governments to acquire, develop, or manage open lands and parks.

The mission of the GOCO program is to help the people of Colorado preserve, enhance, appreciate, and enjoy the state's parks, wildlife, trails, rivers, open space, and views. These goals are to be accomplished by making strategic investments, fostering partnerships among diverse interests, and supporting education about the outdoor environment. One of the specific programs currently being developed is nongame habitat protection grants. These grants could become an invaluable tool in Colorado for protection of wildlife habitat in urban areas. GOCO receives funding from state lottery proceeds and uses them to accomplish a variety of objectives for preserving, protecting and enhancing the state's wildlife, parks, rivers, trails and open space. Grants from GOCO support habitat protection through

• Acquisition, leases, or easements of critical wildlife habitat;

• Development of state parks and recreation areas;

• Acquisition and maintenance of trails and river green ways; and

• Identification, acquisition, and management of unique open space and natural areas.

The establishment of GOCO has created a number of opportunities for local governments and state agencies. The GOCO board of directors has developed a funding process with the Division of Wildlife and the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation to annually review funding requests from these agencies. The funding requests are to provide a base level of funding to projects that meet the objectives of GOCO and the Divisions. In addition, funding of grants in the areas of Open Space, Local Government, Trails, and Capacity Building/Planning are awarded annually or more frequently. Finally, GOCO has developed the Legacy Projects program to provide grants of between two and ten million for a few projects that integrate two or more of the funding areas to projects of statewide or regional significance.

Through 1994, proceeds totaled $46.9 million for the state parks, $188.0 million for the Conservation Trust Fund, and $22.1 million for GOCO. The $7.7 million in grants awarded in 1994 were leveraged by an additional $40.6 million in partner contributions. Since 1994, the results have been even more impressive. GOCO has awarded $30 million in grants for over 400 projects, including 55 Division of Wildlife grants for 11 habitat protection projects, 20 species protection projects, 6 watchable wildlife projects, and 18 wildlife education projects. Recent grants have helped to protect almost 10,000 acres of open space and to construct more than 56 miles of trails. Among other parcels, GOCO funds have helped acquire:

• a 50 acre natural area in the Aurora Jewell Wetland (Arapahoe County);

• a 320 acre natural area buffer in Bear Creek Canyon (San Miguel County);

• a 957 acre natural area on the Carpenter Ranch (Routt County);

• a 80 acre buffer to existing natural area in Cathy Fromme Park (Larimer County);

• a 40 acre chain of parks and open space known as Commons Park (City and County of Denver); and

• a 1,050 acre enlargement of the Roxborough Park Buffer (Douglas County).

D. NATURAL AREAS PROGRAM

The goal of the Colorado Natural Areas Program ("CNAP") is to help private landowners and public land agencies identify and conserve areas of land that contain special values--habitat for animals and plants, or paleontological, geological, or other natural features. Natural areas are protected by voluntary cooperative agreements; land owners keep all rights and management responsibilities. Since 1977, when the program began, it has developed voluntary cooperative agreements for protecting natural areas at 81 sites around the state. The CNAP staff is available to help identify natural areas and to advise on managing them to persevere their special value. The program offers some small grants to encourage research on natural areas.

E. PROTECTION OF INSTREAM FLOWS AND NATURAL LAKE LEVELS

One of the most important characteristics determining the quality of aquatic habitats is the amount of water in streams (the "instream flow") and lakes (the "natural lake level"). In 1973, Senate Bill 97 created a mechanism for protecting these characteristics. Unlike all other private and government entities, the Colorado Water Conservation Board ("CWCB") was empowered to hold rights to water that remained in streams or lakes. All other parties must divert and use water to maintain their beneficial use rights. The CWCB can obtain rights to water by purchase, donation, lease, contract etc., from private parties or local governments. This offers an important opportunity to counties and municipalities seeking to protect aquatic habitats. Unused water rights can be donated to the CWCB to assure adequate water levels in streams and lakes. For example, the city of Boulder gave its rights to water in Boulder Creek and North Boulder Creek to protect instream flows there.

F. STATE WILDLIFE AREAS AND CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

The Colorado Division of Wildlife holds properties for habitat protection and wildlife recreation. There are 307,000 acres held in fee title across the state; about 30,000 acres are held through leases; and 70,000 additional acres are held under easements. These lands contain important habitat for a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic species.

G. HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS

The Colorado Division of Wildlife sponsors or collaborates in several programs to improve habitat for wildlife in Colorado.⁽¹⁸⁹⁾ These program include:

1. COOPERATIVE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

The Cooperative Habitat Improvement Program (CHIP) offers funds to share costs of habitat improvement for wildlife on private land. The program is flexible and intended to improve wildlife habitat without affecting agricultural production. Landowners determine the types of projects and where they will be implemented and are not obligated to allow public access to their land. Since 1993, the Habitat Improvement Program has contributed over $80,000 to help share the cost of establishing 1,325 acres of wildlife habitat.

2. PHEASANT HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

The Pheasant Habitat Improvement Program is sponsored by the Division of Wildlife and involves landowners and eight chapters of Pheasants Forever within the state. The primary limitation on pheasant populations in eastern Colorado is the absence of areas with sufficient vegetation to allow pheasants to escape predators, and the goal of the program is to develop survival cover to increase pheasant survival through the winter and during nesting season. Pheasants Forever chapters develop plans that are implemented by landowners, including planting sorghum and switchgrass plots, establishing plum thickets, and payments to maintain tall wheat stubble to provide both food and cover. The Division of Wildlife provides funding and technical guidance for these habitat improvement projects. Expenditures under the program in 1994 were about $300,000.

3. HABITAT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

The Habitat Partnership Program develops partnerships between landowners, land managers, sportsmen, the public, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife to reduce forage and fence conflicts between big game animals (primarily deer, elk, and antelope) and livestock on both public and private lands. The program includes improving big game habitat to attract animals away from conflict areas, improving forage conditions to reduce competition between big game and livestock, redistribution of concentrations of big game, fence improvement or repair, leasing private land for winter range, monitoring vegetation and animals, and occasional direct payment if conflicts cannot be managed in other ways and the party is eligible for damage payments. There are 14 local HPP committees throughout the state that develop management plans within their regions, including landowner surveys, community meetings, and coordination with other resource agencies.

4. COLORADO WATERFOWL STAMP PROGRAM AND PARTNERS FOR WILDLIFE.

The Colorado Waterfowl Stamp Program was initiated in 1990 by establishing a $5.00 stamp requirement for waterfowl hunters and by initiating the sale of art prints with the stamp image. Funds from stamp sales have cooperatively funded the creation and enhancement of over 27,000 wetland and upland acres on 300 projects, including high-altitude ponds, eastern plains reservoirs, and western slope river bottoms. To date, funds from print sales have been spent outside the state in a designated North American Waterfowl Management Plan. A multi-agency project review committee serves as the technical advisory group for the selection of habitat projects on both public and private lands. Funding partnerships involving other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, private individuals, and industry are used to leverage the stamp funds for maximum effectiveness. When projects are implemented on private land, landowners retains complete control of their property, and there is no obligation to allow public access.

H. STATE TRUST LANDS FISH AND WILDLIFE ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS

The Colorado State Land Board manages about 3 million acres of land in Colorado. Recently the State Land Board and the Colorado Division of Wildlife entered into a memorandum of agreement to allow wildlife-related activities on some of the state trust lands. Lands are identified that have the highest values for wildlife watching, hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-related recreational uses. The program includes 74 properties totaling over 150,000 acres. Another 350,000 acres are currently targeted for enrollment in the program. The state land board has adopted a multiple-use policy for the use of the opened areas. The Division of Wildlife contributes funds for the program. A portion of the funds are used for property restoration and natural resource enhancement projects. These projects consist of water-related developments, fencing riparian corridors and other sensitive wildlife areas, replacement of fenced gates with cattle guards, wildlife habitat plantings, control of noxious weeds, repair of property damage caused by recreationists, and removal of trash and other clean-up activities.

ENDNOTES TO CHAPTER VII

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