3.25.05

Hello, All-

Wildlife Crossing Bill
As many of you know, Colorado House Bill 1043 (to double fines for speeding violations in 12 key wildlife crossing zones) was killed in the Senate Agriculture committee this week. We are very disappointed. Rural senators were, for some reason, bent on killing the bill. The only explanation I can come up with is that the Colorado Cattleman’s Association, the Farm Bureau, and the Colorado Woolgrowers’ Association determined that this legislation was exclusively aimed at improving the lives of animals, and therefore they opposed it. All three organizations testified against the bill. All three organizations yield heavy influence among rural legislators. I think those of us who worked on the bill did a great job. Just getting it through the Colorado House was quite an accomplishment. Special thanks to Rep. Mary Hodge and Sen. Brandon Shaffer, Lynee’ Zajac, and the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project.

Still, we helped raise awareness of the issue of road mortality. The Telluride paper wrote about it (though I can’t yet find the article online). And the Glenwood Springs paper put together an excellent piece (see http://www.postindependent.com/article/200550323017).

North Boulder Prairie Wildlife
Some of the folks in North Boulder continue to resist efforts to humanely manage prairie dogs. The latest word this week is that a group of citizens is calling for lethal control and threatening a citizen’s initiative if city council doesn’t go along. The whole thing’s a bit confusing. After all, we just finished a lengthy process establishing a revised city ordinance. The Daily Camera covered the situation (see appended article). For what it’s worth, my response to the reporter didn’t contain an ounce of anger. Some reporters think they need to heighten tension to make for good reading. The fact of the matter is, RMAD’s role in North Boulder has been one of conciliation and cooperation – sadly, qualities overlooked in today’s competition for readers. But, hey, the story resulted in a letter to the editor calling me a “goober,” and that’s a first.

Fur Demo
Can’t find my notes on this. I believe last Saturday’s demo was yet another success. The word from the front lines is that the store management at Marks-Lloyds is a bit, uh, verklempt about our continued presence.

Outreach and PR
The Daily Camera was kind enough to design and print an official RMAD thank-you to the Boulder community for its support of the turtle/fish rescue. See the attached file. (You’ll find a bonus image of Tim and James and a snapper they’re assisting.)

Just finished another productive meeting with volunteers in preparation for the summer tabling season. We are developing new plans for our best ever presence at festivals and fairs. Right now, we need help with putting together literature and posters. If you want to help, send an email to ChrisJ@rmad.org.

Happy Weekend to you all!

-Dave


Prairie dog fence plan stalls
Consulting firm will monitor park for encroachment by rodents
By Ryan Morgan, Camera Staff WriterMarch 23, 2005
A proposed prairie dog fence in North Foothills Community Park is on hold while wildlife experts watch to see if the burrowing critters encroach on the expensive new playing fields.
Meanwhile, a group of neighbors says it will hire a lawyer to re-draft Boulder's wildlife ordinance and take it directly to voters this fall if the City Council doesn't approve it.


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"We'll let council see if they want to take it up," said park neighbor and fence opponent Leslie Kinder. "If they don't, we'll hire petitioners and make it a ballot issue."
That drew an angry reaction from members of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, who said they want to come up with a way to make neighbors happy without killing any animals.
"We will strongly resist any approach that falls back on the old kill 'em and bury 'em angle," said RMAD co-founder Dave Crawford. "We believe that if those folks want to truly make a difference and be humane about it that they'll work with us on fully exploring humane options."
The fence has been an on-and-off proposal over the past nine months.
In July, parks workers started digging a trench to install the quarter-mile-long barrier. Park administrators worried that prairie dogs on adjacent Open Space and Mountain Parks property would burrow onto the fields of the $12 million park and ruin them.
City Manager Frank Bruno put construction on hold last summer after neighbors complained, saying the fence would be ugly and ineffective. The City Council took the matter up earlier this year, only to deadlock on whether the fence should be built.
At that point, Bruno said he'd proceed with the barrier. But last week, the city changed course again.
The city will spend $24,000 to build fencing to protect a pond and a dog park. The city also will pay the consulting firm Wild Places $7,800 to monitor the park seven days a week.
Jeanne Scholl, a conservation manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, said parks employees are drawing up thresholds — imaginary lines — that prairie dogs can't cross.
If prairie dogs cross those thresholds, she said, the contract with Wild Places will terminate and the city will decide how to deal with the dogs.
Since "lethal control" isn't an option, and relocation is usually prohibitively difficult, that most likely means the fence would be built at that point, Scholl said.
"Obviously, your toolbox is fairly limited," she said. "Barriers are an alternative, and I think that's an issue that we're going to look at."
While parks officials are nearly certain the animals will encroach farther on the field, they could be proven wrong, she said, in which case everyone — animal rights activists and park neighbors alike — would be satisfied. If that scenario doesn't unfold, Scholl said the monitoring program still buys the city some time to discuss the broader issue of how prairie dogs should be managed.
Fence opponent Kinder said she and her neighbors will spend that time trying to find a lawyer. They'll start their drafting in the next six to eight weeks. Their ideal management plan would echo those of cities such as Fort Collins, she said. That policy designates certain parcels of land — those abutting valuable parks, for example — as "removal areas" and allows lethal measures on those areas.
But Crawford, the RMAD member, said neighbors should instead sit down with other "stakeholders" to come up with a policy that avoids killing prairie dogs while satisfying neighbors' concerns.
Just because a solution isn't immediately apparent doesn't mean it's impossible to achieve, he said. Crawford said spaying or neutering prairie dogs or using contraceptives might prove to be viable alternatives.
"We put a man on the moon," he said. "This is a challenge that requires innovative thinking."
Contact Camera Staff Writer Ryan Morgan at (303) 473-1333 or morganr@dailycamera.com.