<br />COLORADO
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<br />DEPARTMENT OF
<br />NATURAL
<br />RESOURCES
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<br />DEPARTMENT INITIATIVES
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<br />Platte River recovery program under way. The effort
<br />to recover endangered species in the Central Platte River Valley
<br />in Nebraska is up and running.
<br />Governor Roy Romer has appointed Department of Natural
<br />Resonrces Executive Director James S. Lochhead to represent
<br />Colorado on the lO-member Platte River Governance
<br />Committee. The committee met Sept. 12.
<br />The committee will oversee recovery efforts of four endan-
<br />gered species: three bird species - interior least tern, whoop-
<br />ing crane, piping plover - and the pallid sturgeon, a fish
<br />species.
<br />On July I, the governors of Colorado, Nebraska and
<br />Wyoming signed an agreement creating a partnership to protect
<br />the species and existing and future water developments. The
<br />agreement specifies that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will
<br />streamline its review of existing and some new water projects.
<br />"The agreement allows us to use a basin-wide approach to
<br />comply with federal environmental regulations instead of con-
<br />ducting individual reviews of each water project and its impacts
<br />on the wildlife habita!," Lochhead said.
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<br />Alan Berryman, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy
<br />District, represents Colorado water users on the committee.
<br />Dan Lueke, director of the Environmental Defense Fund's
<br />Boulder office, is one of three environmental gronp representa-
<br />tives. Eric Wilkinson of the NCWCD and Dave Little of the
<br />Denver Water Board will serve as alternates to Berryman.
<br />The agreement outlines an environmental restoration plan
<br />estimated to cost $75 million from federal and state sources
<br />over approximately 15 years, to offset the impacts of existing
<br />water facilities on the species and their habitat. Colorado's
<br />share of these costs would be $15 million. Each state will!ncur
<br />additional costs to offset the effects of future water develop-
<br />ment-for Colorado, estimated at $5 million.
<br />Each state is responsible for meeting specific milestones
<br />during the next three years while the proposed plan undergoes
<br />public review in compliance with the National Environmental
<br />Policy Act.
<br />Colorado's commitments during the three-year review peri-
<br />od include $300,000 per year, for a total of $900,000, to help
<br />(continued on page 5)
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<br />STATE LAND BOARD
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<br />Stewardship Trust rules drafted. At its Sept.23 meeting in
<br />Greeley, the Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners
<br />approved a draft set of rules governing implementation of the
<br />Stewardship Trust provision of Amendment 16. The commis-
<br />sioners also scheduled 'a formal hearing on these draft rules at
<br />8:30 a.m., Oct. 31, at the Division of Wildlife's Hunter
<br />Education Building, 6060 Broadway, Denver.
<br />The rule-making follows a three-month process that has
<br />included work by board staff and a group of subject-matter
<br />experts, as well as input from tmst beneficiaries, stakeholder
<br />groups and the public. The draft rules will be published in the
<br />Oct. 10 issue of the Colorado Register. Board staff will mail
<br />copies of the draft rules to beneficiary and stakeholder groups
<br />and people who attended the public meetings or asked to be
<br />kept informed about the Stewardship Trust process.
<br />To receive a copy of the draft rules and other updates, con-
<br />tact the board by writing 1313 Sherman, Room 620, Denver,
<br />CO 80203, attention Stewardship Trust Mailing List. Or, call
<br />303/866-3454, x319, or fax a request to 303/866-3152. The
<br />draft rules will also be posted on the Land Board's Internet
<br />home page at <www.dnr.state.co.usllands>.
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<br />The board has until Jan. 15 to create and distribute a nomi-
<br />nation packet for the Stewardship Trust. The public nomination
<br />period will rnn from Jan. l5to March 31. Any person or group
<br />is eligible to nominate State Trnst Land for the Stewardship
<br />Trust. The board has until Jan. I, 1999, to enroIl the first
<br />200,000 acres in the trust, and until Jan. 1,2001, to enroll the
<br />remaining 95,000-100,000 acres.
<br />Amendment 16, passed by Colorado voters last November,
<br />directed the board to designate 295,000-300,000 acres of its 3-
<br />million-acre surface land asset into a Stewardship Trust. The
<br />board must detennine that the land is valuable primarily "to pre-
<br />serve long-term benefits and returns to the state." The board
<br />manages all its assets for the benefit of eight trusts, the largest
<br />of which provides income for kindergarten-12th-grade educa-
<br />tion. In 1996, Land Board income totaled around $23 million
<br />- most of which went to support public education.
<br />The amendment states that land within the trust will be
<br />managed to "maximize options for continued stewardship, pub-
<br />lic use or further disposition" by allowing only those uses that
<br />protect and enhance "the beauty, natural values, open space and
<br />wildlife habitat" on the lands.
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