annual report 2019 - chaffee common ground · chaffee county common ground annual report 2019 3 e...

Annual Report 2019

Chaffee County Common Ground Annual Report 2019 2

Table of ContentsAdressing Landscape Challenges for the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Protecting Chaffee County’s Unique Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chaffee Common Ground Program Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Forest Health Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Sustainable Agriculture Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Recreation Management Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Investing in Chaffee County’s Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

A Citizen-led Allocation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

An Open, Transparent Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

How to Contact Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20


Every resident of Chaffee County has a story, how they came to this place at some point in their life or how, born here, they chose to stay.

For so many, those narratives have two themes in common: the inspiration taken from the landscape and the sense of a sacrifice that one was willing to make in order to live in the presence of that inspiration.

Our lives inevitably grow more complicated over time, however that core reason for being here persists. It is foundational. And not just as an inspiration. With time comes an understanding of the integral connection between healthy forests and the health of our tourism/recreation economy, the quantity and quality of our water supply, and the safety of our homes and essential infrastructure.

The vast green iconic open spaces that grace our valley floor are recognized, not as natural alpine meadows but as the fruits of tremendous human endeavor, the annual effort of diverting water from our streams to irrigate, built upon the labors of past generations who hand-dug the intricate and ingenious conveyance systems relied upon today. Providing diversity to our economy and a direct tie to the valley’s heritage, successful county agriculture delivers ground water recharge, long-term preservation of our water resources, and critical wildlife habitat in addition to the open space and vistas.

State and federal lands make up about 80% of the county’s area, all of it open to the public and much of it supportive of outdoor recreation. A growing enthusiasm for the many recreational options fuels our tourism economy and helps keep local spirits high. With that increased use, though, has come the recognition that healthy public lands are essential to our quality of life and function as key capital assets supporting our livelihoods. Managing the impacts of outdoor recreation for the long-term has become both a moral imperative and economic commonsense.

Addressing Landscape Challenges for the CommunityOver time, and particularly since 2016, there has been a growing sentiment in Chaffee County that the landscape, that shared foundation of our community, is not a given. Nor is it an entitlement. Rather, its healthy existence and persistence are predicated upon the continued investment and support of the people who benefit from it.

That is the premise of Chaffee Common Ground. Our residents, businesses, and visitors achieve their visions when the forests are healthy, when agriculture is successful and supported, and when the growing interest in recreating in our county is managed to minimize the long-term impacts to our cherished landscape.

This report is the first installment of a commitment to accountability made during the 1-A ballot measure campaign. Another pledge was that the Common Ground program would not simply spend the funds generated, we would invest them. True to our word, the investments made in this first round of funding are leveraged by grants and other support to the tune of 7:1. In other words, the approximately $1 million in revenue generated in 2019 is being matched by about $7 million in grants and other funding!

Chaffee Common Ground is off to a great start, both as an expression of the shared inspiration we receive from the landscape and as a way for all of us to share a small sacrifice in support of that inspiration. Our county has plenty of landscape-scale challenges in its future. Thankfully, this program gives us the means, and the will, to address them.

Greg Felt is the Chaffee Board of County Commission’s liaison to Chaffee Common Ground.


Protecting Chaffee County’s Unique Character

With clean air and water, beautiful landscapes, vibrant small towns, fantastic recreation and friendly people, our community shares a compelling vision for

this place we call home. Chaffee Common Ground enhances quality of life by helping to ensure healthy forests, beautiful rural landscapes, and fantastic recreation opportunities into the future. These community values were identified by the Envision Chaffee County planning initiative that created a vision to achieve as the county grows and changes.

The Common Ground Fund supports locally based, collaborative programs and projects through a transparent grant process that leverages a portion of sales tax revenues to achieve the highest impact. The work supports our local economy and helps protect our community’s unique character — now and for future generations.

In 2019, Common Ground invested $673,599 in projects managed by five nonprofits and a nonprofit/land agency partnership for eight different projects and programs that serve each funding topic. Additional future support of $1,140,230 was indicated for multi-year and future-year grant requests.


Common Ground Program Goals• Strengthen forest health to protect the community from a large wildfire, protect

water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat through planning and execution of forest treatment activities.

• Conserve and support working ranches, farms and rural landscapes through conservation easements and tools that enhance economic viability and longevity of working lands.

• Protect watershed health from negative impacts of outdoor recreation use through management, hardening, restoration, and education to disperse use and support conservation values.

• Encourage action at scale across the landscape, to include landownership / management boundaries.

• Encourage collaborative thought and action across funding categories.

• Fund successful programs.

• Maximize impact by working to leverage Chaffee Common Ground funds by at least two-to-one through cash and in-kind matches on all programs.


Forest Health Investments

Healthy lands, waters and wildlife are some of the main reasons people live here and visit. They are part of what citizens value most and are vital to the local economy.

Forest health has declined due to insect infestations and years of forest fire suppression, and wildfires now are a serious community threat.

In 2019, Common Ground invested $94,900 to support collaborative implementation of the Chaffee County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Awarded to the Colorado State Forest Service and Envision Chaffee County for technical resources and public outreach, the three-year program goal is to support efforts to decrease overall risk of wildfire and post-fire aftereffects, while empowering citizens to mitigate fuels by creating defensible spaces. The three-year funding recommendation for this project is $258,330.

The plan maps where to treat up to 30,000 acres of public and private lands by 2030. Implementation is led by the Envision Forest Health Council, a group of community leaders and land management agencies from 18 organizations that developed the 2020 CWPP to protect what residents said they value most: firefighter lives, human lives, drinking water supply, essential infrastructure, homes, wildlife habitat and recreation assets that support the local economy. The overall CWPP goal is to reduce risk to the community’s assets by half in ten years through accelerated forest treatments such as prescribed burns and thinning.


2020$94,900

2021 *$85,100

2022 *$78,330

* Future years funding is subject to annual appropriation by BOCC

$100,000

$90,000

$80,000

$70,000

$60,000

$50,000

$40,000

$30,000

$20,000

$10,000

$-

Colorado State Forest Service - Envision Community Wildfire Protection Plan Project Development


Sustainable Agriculture Investments

Working lands provide the green meadows that give our valley its beautiful open spaces. The irrigated meadows recharge the ground water and wetlands, the

cattle drives contribute to our rural character, and the alfalfa fields give the pronghorn, elk and deer critical forage during deep-snow winters.

Nine out of ten local producers say they want to keep their lands in production but they face economic challenges and ever-increasing conflicts with the growing population. Common Ground helps keep working lands working through conservation agreements and programs that support agricultural sustainability to protect rural landscapes for everyone.

In 2019, Common Ground approved $945,000 over two years to support three Central Colorado Conservancy conservation easements that preserve large expanses of open land and the scenic views enjoyed by visitors and locals. The undeveloped hills and open grass parks of these private lands contain irrigated pasture and hay meadows, wetlands with springs and seeps, and habitat for species of concern, including a regionally important migration corridor for elk and mule deer in perpetuity.

The projects total nearly 2,000 acres on the Centerville, Tri-Lazy W and Arrowpoint ranches between Browns Canyon National Monument and the Collegiate Peaks Byway in Chaffee County. Funding is passed through to landowners to purchase development rights and keep water tied to the land. Projects require the Conservancy to raise about $7 million in matching funds and donations from other sources for completion.


Developing New Conservation ToolsCommon Ground will invest $75,000 in 2020 for Community Conservation Connection, a new program designed to support working lands. Offered to agricultural operators with 160 acres or more who agree to limit non-agricultural development and continue basic management practices such as irrigation, the program compensates participating landowners on a per-acre basis for views, water, wildlife habitat and other values conserved by five-year, legally binding agreements.

Managed by Central Colorado Conservancy in partnership with Chaffee County, this pilot program’s funding recommendation is $500,000 through 2024.

$-

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

$350,000

$400,000

2020 2021 * 2022 * 2023 * 2024 *

Sustainable Agriculture Committed Funding

Tri Lazy W RanchConservationEasement

Centerville RanchConservationEasement

Arrowpoint RanchConservationEasement

CommunityConservationConnection

* Future years funding is subject to annual appropriation by BoCC

Sustainable Agriculture Committed Funding

Tri-Lazy W Ranch


Recreation Management Investments

Quality outdoor recreation is an essential part of the Chaffee County lifestyle as well as a key economic driver. Informed by the community-led Envision Recreation in

Balance planning program, Common Ground invests in projects that manage the impacts of growth in recreation to preserve healthy public lands, quality experiences and a sustainable recreation economy.

In 2019, Common Ground allocated $108,699 to three projects that improve visitor education, contain dispersed campsites and manage human waste in rapidly growing areas of use.

The Friends of Fourmile chapter of the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association was awarded $26,899 to create maps, brochures and kiosks for the Fourmile Recreation Area. Project goals are to enhance safety and reduce the risk of human-caused wildfire, reduce user conflicts, and minimize impacts on the natural landscape, wildlife and cattle grazing permits. The project focuses messages on responsible recreation education.

Information about proper campfire practices, fire bans and how to report illegal fires will be included on the new kiosk signs and in brochures, along with suggestions to pack out human waste. New maps will show appropriate camp locations and the newest trails and routes to encourage “stay the trail” behavior and help protect wildlife, their habitats and the area’s limited water sources.

The project involves more than 30 different panels and maps at entry points, major use areas and trailheads, as well as a three-year supply of brochures. Signs address conflicts with agricultural users by explaining cattle gate closure protocols and asking visitors to not harass livestock, drive in grazing grasslands or use water in stock tanks.


Enhanced Fourmile Recreation

Visitor Education Materials & Media

$26,899

SCC Dispersed Camping Containment Crews

$80,000

Salida Mountain Trails - Add porta pottys to 3 trailheads for 2 years

$1,800

Funding for Recreation Impact Management Grants

Addressing the Impacts of Camping & Trail UseThe Southwest Conservation Corps was awarded $80,000 to improve dispersed camping areas defined as high-priority by the U.S. Forest Service Salida Ranger District and Envision Recreation in Balance. Work crews will thin high-density areas of lodgepole pine to create natural fencing to contain expanding campsites. They also will deconstruct inappropriate fire rings and encourage vegetation regrowth.

Chaffee County high school students will be able to apply for youth crews completing some of the work, to include restoration and fence construction. SCC combines physical work projects with education about conservation-field career opportunities, lessons on team building, leadership and civic engagement.

Salida Mountain Trails was awarded $1,800 each year for two years to add and service three portable toilets on the Arkansas Hills/Methodist Mountain trails systems near Salida. The project is intended as a pilot step in developing more permanent infrastructure.


Investing in Chaffee County’s Future

Envision Chaffee County is a community-led visioning effort initiated in 2017 that has engaged 1,500 citizens and more than 70 organizations to create the future the

community wants as the county grows and changes. Through the initial planning phase, citizens with diverse backgrounds and views listened and learned from each other. They found common ground by defining what the community most values and identifying top concerns about the future. The latter includes poor forest health contributing to the threat of severe wildfire and damaging floods that can follow; the threat of losing working agriculture and associated rural landscapes to growth; and impacts to public lands from rapidly growing recreation.

Voters endorsed action in November 2018 by approving a 0.25% sales tax increase to generate about $1 million annually to fund Chaffee Common Ground. About 30% of the

Centerville RanchConservation Easement

$395,000

CSFS - Envision Community Wildfire

Protection Plan ProjectDevelopment

$94,900


$75,000

SCC CampingContainment Crews

$80,000

Enhanced Fourmile Recreation Visitor Education Materials & Media$26,899

Salida Mountain Trails -Add Porta Pottys to 3 Trailheads for 2 years$1,800

Forest Health & Fire Resilience

Recreation Management

Sustainable Agriculture

Funded Programs


$-

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

$500,000

$600,000

ConservationEasements


CSFSEnvision

for CWPP

EnhancedFourmileVisitor

Education

SCC DispersedCamping

ContainmentCrews

Salida Mountain

Trails Porta Potty’s

Matching FundsCommon Ground Funds

Total Funding $1,765,050

Matching Funds

revenues are generated by local spending, costing the average household about $40 a year. The sales tax allows visitors to contribute to healthy forests, clean waters and world class recreation, ensuring that all who use and enjoy the county’s natural resources are also paying to protect them. Common Ground funding can only be used for:

• Strengthening forest health to reduce the risk of severe wildfires by planning and executing forest treatments such as fire breaks, selective thinning and wetland enhancement.

• Conserving and supporting working ranches and farms with tools such as conservation easements and programs developed with the agricultural community that will enhance long-term longevity of working lands.

• Managing the impacts of increased growth on recreation areas by investing in maintenance, clean-up, and better education.


Revenue Commitments and Available Funds

Revenues are earmarked as follows: Strengthening forest health – 25%; Conserving and supporting working ranches and farms and rural landscapes – 25%; Managing the impacts of recreation growth – 5%. The remaining 45% is allocated among the three categories, minus administrative expenses that are capped at 5%. Administrative costs in 2019 were about $26,000 or 2.7%.

In 2019, funding was recommended for multi-year and future-year grant requests, and unanimously approved by the BoCC in a public meeting. Common Ground strives to leverage revenues to the highest extent. Funded programs to-date will bring $7 million worth of investments to Chaffee County, predominantly due to matching funds from conservation easement projects.


A Citizen-led Allocation System

The Citizens Advisory Committee oversees the Common Ground program and recommends grant awards to local governments, nonprofit organizations and

groups to complete work that supports the funding topics. Seven members serve one- to three-year terms. One-third of the terms expire each year. Committee seat openings are publicly noticed and County Commissioners conduct applicant interviews before making appointments. Members agree to sign and abide by Guiding Principles:

• Follow spirit and letter of the Colorado Open Public Meetings Act

• Encourage public input

• Disclose personal and professional relationships with grant applicants; fellow members determine if the conflicted member will refrain from discussion and voting

• Fully support majority-vote decisions and not publicly express individual opposing views

• Work for the best interest of the program and not act as a representative of one of the funding areas or region of the county

• Not represent interests of any nonprofit, government agency or contractor


Rick Hum, Vice-chairRick is a former deputy director of Great Outdoors Colorado. As a former Summit County Commissioner, he is experienced in land use, planning and community development, and wrote that county’s trails plan.

He served as a member of the Marijuana Excise Tax Advisory Board (METAB). His experience in water quantity and quality management is employed as a member of the Water Quality Control Commission and president of the Mesa Antero Water Association.

Cindy Williams, ChairCindy is Co-lead of Envision Chaffee County and was instrumental in funding, planning and advancing Envision’s community outreach that led to the passage of Ballot Issue 1A, which generates revenues for the Chaffee Common Ground Fund.

She currently facilitates and leads three community convener programs for Envision that address quality-of-life concerns identified by residents. She also serves as Board President of the Central Colorado Conservancy. Cindy was named Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year in 2019 and previously served as the Vice President of Global Exploration at Newmont Mining Corp.

Patti Arthur, SecretaryPatti has practiced law for 30 years. Her practice emphasizes services for nonprofit and tax-exempt entities nationwide.

She has been extensively involved in the Chaffee County community, serving as Chair of the Salida Airport Board, member of the Chaffee County Visitors Bureau Board and member of the Board of the Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce.

She is currently involved in numerous projects using Unmanned Aerial Systems in outdoor recreation; search and rescue; and wildfire management.

Greg Felt, Liaison for the Citizens Advisory Committee

Greg Felt is Chairman of the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners and liaison to the Citizens Advisory Committee. He also serves as Co-Lead of Envision Chaffee County and was a driving force behind the 1-A ballot measure. A fly-fishing guide and outfitter for over 30 years (co-owner of ArkAnglers, LLC), Greg has had lasting involvement regarding natural resource issues and water. He serves as a director of Upper Arkansas and Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy Districts and in 2020 was appointed by the Governor to serve as the Arkansas Basin Representative to the Colorado Water Conservation Board.


Michael Hannigan

Michael is a 4th-generation Colorado native who served for 18 years as CEO of the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, where he oversaw grant distributions totaling nearly $100 million. He has nearly 40 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and served as the interim executive director of the new Chaffee County Community Foundation.

He managed the Emergency Relief Fund that aided the Pikes Peak Region after the Waldo Canyon and Black Canyon fires.

Ben LenthBen has worked in the field of land conservation for nearly 20 years, including 10 years with nonprofit land trusts including his current role with Colorado Open Lands. Ben has worked with hundreds of landowners on conservation planning, and has managed more than $7 million for land protection, forest and stream restoration projects across the state.

Ben has a master’s degree in ecology from Colorado State University, has worked as a wildlife biologist for the US Forest Service and served in the Peace Corps in Mexico.

Brink Messick

Brink has been employed in the outdoor recreation and conservation fields since 2003. His experience includes positions with Volunteers for Outdoors Colorado and Colorado Mountain Club. He has worked to expand trail-based recreation in Chaffee County and he also participated in the Envision Recreation in Balance Task Force.

He lived in several small rural agricultural communities in Honduras while working as an intern for the United Communities Organization. He has lived in Chaffee County since 2006.

Andrew Richardson

Andrew is an agricultural operator and 5th-generation Colorado rancher who has served as president of the Chaffee County Cattleman’s Association and Farm Bureau Chaffee County Mid-Mountain District.

He and his family have been farming and ranching in Chaffee County for nearly 20 years, producing hay and running a cow/calf operation and a grass-fed beef program.

Andrew holds a degree in landscape architecture from Colorado State University, is a former commercial rafting guide, and an avid hunter, fisherman, and whitewater boater.


Developing Important Partnerships

Common Ground Citizens Advisory Committee members are supported by Subject Matter Expert (SME) boards under each funding topic. Comprised of up to nine

members each, the SMEs provide advice and input to the Committee in regards to grant rating criteria and partnerships that serve each part of the program. The boards include ex-officio professionals and county residents that offer experience in one of the funding topics.

In 2019, the Committee solicited applications and conducted in-person interviews before seating SME boards in June. Together, the Committee and corresponding SME board members developed grant rating criteria and a scoring rubric for each grant program. They met bi-weekly to create an allocation system that directly ties spending decisions to the values outlined in the ballot measure that funds the Common Ground program. SME board members in 2019:

Forest Health: Agriculture: Recreation:Marcus Selig Buffy Lenth Buffy LenthBernard Post Nancy Roberts Tom SobalKent Maxwell Lucy Waldo Alan RobinsonRob White Jim LaRue Lisa VornholtJim Aragon Brady Everett Kevin PilgrimJim Pitts Karin Adams Brady Everett Damon Lange Ben Lara Rob While


An Open, Transparent Process

Chaffee Common Ground promises transparency so the community is aware how public funds are distributed to achieve program goals. All meetings are noticed and

open, and they include an invitation for public comment. Grant cycles also are publicly announced and supported by information sessions for potential applicants to ask questions and receive feedback about their proposals.

Common Ground is modeled after similar programs around Colorado. Committee and SME members studied criteria used in open space, trails and recreation programs in Boulder, Summit, Grand and Eagle counties, among others. Grant criteria is shared with applicants and proposals are scored using a rubric so that spending decisions are not subjective. The rubric assigns points for specific community values outlined in the ballot measure. Grant criteria include all conservation values, so that funded projects are more likely to include multiple community values incorporated into the project plans.

The Committee recommends grant awards to the Board of County Commissioners, which makes final decisions. Awards are administered by the County of Chaffee through written agreements with each recipient. The Committee periodically reviews reports and contacts grant recipients to monitor and evaluate progress and spending.

Photography Generously Provided by:Mark Fox, Taf McMurray, Scott Peterson/Chaffee County Visitors Bureau.

How to Contact Us

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annual report 2019 - chaffee common ground · chaffee county common ground annual report 2019 3 e...

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