Centennial Wetlands Native Aquatice Species Prospective Recovery Satellite Facility

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L, Because the price of this property is too much for most single entity buyers, quite a few partners are needed. The most likely participants at this time are DOW, LOCO, North American Wetlands Conservation Act Fund, Colorado Open Lands, The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (private not federal), and several Colorado foundations (Boettcher, Gates, El Pomar, General Services). Interestingly, many of these are just now getting acquainted with each other through this project. And they could become natural colleagues in future projects. A chronic problem for DOW land acquisitions has been funding for annual operating expenses because revenues from each ,property can't be retained to defray expenses. The result is that DOW has lost good opportunities and has ended up with low maintenance property which also have commensurately lower wildlife and people benefits. For Centennial we would endeavor to raise from the private partners an endowment fund of say $500,000 to earn interest to cover the net operating expenses (it could be administered by the Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation). The gross operating expenses might be kept down by a managements agreement with Parks Dept. Which runs the adjacent Jackson Reservoir. And daily user fees might be charged both for wildlife viewers and hunters/anglers by either Parks or DOW. This procedure could get a precedent for future projects. Payment in lieu of property taxes (PELT) protects counties revenue and weed control per county regs makes DOW a good neighbor. Time is of the essence for the Centennial Wetlands because the several prospective funding partners are waiting for DOW to start the funding sequence on a "I will if you will ",basis. A late status bill authorizing DOW funds subject to county approval and other funding sources is possible with the right leadership. To wait another year jeopardizes the availability of the properties because one is in foreclosure with a bank and the other is listed with Ross Investment (one of the biggest real estate firms in Denver) and is being marketed as a water rights investment for augmentation and mitigation banking along the Northern Front Range). At some point quality ranchettes overlooking these ponds only one hour from DIA will sell to home office/PC /fax people (tertiary treatment, transevaporative leech fields and holding tanks can probably meet septic requirements). We have a window of opportunity now. If we can obtain legislative support during this session, I believe the other funding sources will join in this project. Best regards.