BOARD01476

• Board Meeting Date: 3/16/2004
• Description: ISF Section - Final Report to the Board re: Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison National Forests - Pathfinder Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

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Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
WWW.cwcb.state.co.lls

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

Russell George
Executive Director

To:

CWCB Members

Rod Kuharich
eWeB Director

From: Dan Merriman

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

Date: March 8, 2004

Re: Agenda Item 6. March 16-17, 2004, Board Meeting. Stream and Lake Protection Section-
Final Report to the Board re: Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison National Forests-
Pathfinder Project.

. Backl!round

It was reported in the January 2004 Director's Report that the Steering Committee for the Pathfinder Project
had held what was believed to be its final meeting in early January and that its final report was in the process
of being drafted. I had hoped to provide the Board with a copy of this report at its March 2004 meeting.
However, at this time the Pathfinder Steering Committee is still considering some final edits to the report and
it is not yet ready for release. As previously reported, the document is expected to include the following:

I. A summary of the Pathfinder process;
2. Strategies for instream flow management:
3. A list of "tools" that generally exist within the framework of federal and state statutes,
regulations, laws and policies that, when utilized, can provide for instream flow
protection or enhancement;
4. An interpretation of the application of Pathfinder "tools";
5. A matrix depicting application of the "tools" in various settings.

Following the Steering Committee's acceptance of the completed project report, the committee will transmit
the report to the Forest Supervisor for consideration in the on-going Forest Plan Revision process. It is the
expectation of the Steering Committee that the concepts and strategies depicted in the Committee's report will
be incorporated into the revised Forest Plan.

Forest Service Presentation

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In anticipation of the finalization of the Pathfinder Project, Bob Storch, Supervisor for the GMUG National
Forests, and Gary Shellhorn, Staff Coordinator for the Pathfinder Project, were invited to present the results
of the project at the Board's March 2004 meeting. Even though the Steering Committee has not completely
Colorado Water Conservation Board
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Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning