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<br />C. Opportunity: U~gency/Jeopardy <br /> <br />1) What is the overall urgency of the project? What is th,~ opportunity lost if this project does not <br />proceed immediately? What is lost if the project proceeds incrementany over a longer period of <br />time? <br /> <br />It will be important to achieve some on-the-ground successes with local project partners quickly <br />to sustain the DOW's new WP effort, <br /> <br />The urgency to conserve wetlands is a resuh of the rapid ,;onversion of the Colorado landscape, <br />including wetlands, to intensive agriculture or to housing! commercia1lindustrialltransportation <br />uses. Furthermore, urgency is also a resuh of the increasingly rapid growth of Colorado' s <br />population which results in demands ,~n the landscape that affect wetlands; e.g., demand for <br />additional highways, increased water supply and treatment, and recreatilonal opportunity. <br /> <br />Urgency to do this project now is a rc:suh of donars being available, primarily from the DOW - <br />they are available now because of the recent LRP and management review and a new Director and <br />direction. In other words, because of Legacy, DOW funds have been put aside at this point in <br />~, for a cooperative effort with GOCO to conserve a v1ery valuable wildlife habitat type - <br />wetlands. These funds may not be available in the future if the opportunity is not seized now to <br />demonstrate what a WI approach can accomplish. <br /> <br />Furthermore, a coalition - a partnership - has been forged, centered around the challenge of <br />conserving wetlands, that would quickly evaporate if funds were not available "to make things <br />happen" to actually conserve wetlands. <br /> <br />2) What is the urgency of each distim:t element of the project? <br /> <br />The urgency to conserve wetlands WIIS descn"bed above. The same analysis can be applied to the <br />individual elements of the project which, in the case of the WI, are the individual project <br />proposals. <br /> <br />Additionally, the phrase "the parts lIllIike the whole" is most appropriat,: in descn"bing many <br />aspects of the WI, including urgency of each distinct element. The WI approach has divided the <br />challenge of conserving wetlands into smaller, more manageable pieces - Focus Areas <br />(ATTACHMENT C). Each of the pil~ces, regionally and locally, with guidance from the lead <br />Partners, is addressing the task of identifYing wetlands in need of prote(mon at their level Thus, a <br />mechanism exists for identifYing a wetlands in urgent need of conservation due to an immediate <br />and real threat from "development." <br /> <br />9 <br />