Rio Grande - Rio Grande Initiative_Application_2008

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. Greg Kernohan, Colorado Director, Ducks Unlimited . Aaron Welch (see above) . Ducks Unlimited legal counsel, grants administration, and other staff resources as needed The Nature Conservancy: . Paul Robertson, San Luis Valley Director, The Nature Conservancy . David Gann, Western Slope Director, The Nature Conservancy . Peter Ericson, Assistant Western Slope Director, The Nature Conservancy . Stephanie Gripne, Land Transactions, The Nature Conservancy . The Nature Conservancy's legal counsel, grants administration, and other staff resources as needed Resumes and qualifications of professional staff can be provided upon request. In addition, the Boards of Directors of these organizations will review and approve all respective transactions. Also, the staff, legal counsel and Board of GOCO, CDOW and other funders will be reviewing and approving transactions which they are funding. Professional Services: Depending upon the requirements and selection of the landowners and conservation organizations and funders, additional outside professional services will be used as needed for the completion of the conservation easements including: . attorneys . professional biologists . professional geologists . qualified appraisers . title companies . surveyors . Phase I Environmental Site Assessment professionals III. Bud2:et See Attachment I for budgets. The WSRA funds are to be used exclusively for the purchase of conservation easements and the associated water rights only. Transaction and staff costs will be covered by other sources. This application anticipates applying WSRA funds towards four of the ranches and their important water rights that received GOCO Legacy funding, including two that the CDOW is partnering on through their GOCO quadrant funding. Due to the variability of funding opportunities and the complex process and negotiations of conservation easements, we request a degree of flexibility for the WSRA funds, that will allow us to optimize and implement the transactions that can be achieved in the most timely manner and with the maximum benefit and leveraging of funds. All transactions will be developed with full GOCO due diligence requirements (and CDOW as needed) and relevant documents delivered to and project development reported to CWCB staff as they proceed towards closing. We also request that, similar to GOCO funds, all WSRA funds awarded to the Rio Grande Initiative be available to further match other federal funding sources, again in order to leverage all funds to maximum degree possible. Per discussions with Rick Brown and Todd Doherty in advance of preparing this application, we confirmed Page 26 of 32 Rio Grande Initiative Janual'Y 2008