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Home My WebLink About20023043.tiff CORRESPONDENCE RESPONSE DEPARTMENT OF C�et 745:14 /Z 4 6' * * * PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN THREE DAYS.* * * IF RESPONSE WILL BE DELAYED, PLEASE NOTIFY"CTB GROUP" BY E-MAIL OF EXPECTED DATE FOR RESPONSE. RECOMMENDED MENDED ACTION: Narrative: Li. j MG RM BJ DL GV BOARD ACTION: (Initial by Approval) \,/ VAgree with Recommendation Worksession — METHOD OF RESPONSE: - Board Action Work Session X' Letter (Attached) !o� - Telephone Call - No Response (explain) Department Head Signature M:\CAROL\OPMAN\RDCOM P2 ((2456,1/ C14cm/4i / 2002-3043 • rs t icir;;� WELD COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE _" 915 TENTH STREET P.O. BOX 758 GREELEY, CO 80632 ipe WEBSITE: www.co.weld.co.us PHONE: (970) 336-7235 FAX: (970) 352-0242 COLORADO November 12, 2002 Mr. George Baugh 5286 WCR 3 Erie,CO 80516 Re: Prairie Dogs Dear Mr. Baugh: The Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, has shared with me the copy of a letter you sent to Colorado Governor Bill Owens regarding your concerns about the existence of prairie dogs on property owned by you and on property apparently adjacent to yours. The copy of the letter was received by the Board on November 5, 2002. As you are probably aware, Colorado Revised Statute § 35-7-203 prohibits the "inter-county" relocation of prairie dogs without the consent of the board of county commissioners of the county to which the prairie dogs are being received. A copy of that statute is enclosed. The only request for such an "inter- county"relocation to Weld County was denied by the Board of County Commissioners in July, 1999. Since that time, the Board has received only one other request to approve a prairie dog relocation. That request was made in 2000 by the Colorado Division of Wildlife for the"intra-county" transfer of prairie dogs from Evans, Colorado,to a site in the northern part of Weld County. The Division legally did not need the Commissioners' approval prior to an "intra-county" relocation, but the Division sought such approval anyway. The Board of County Commissioners rejected the Division's request. Weld County has not received any request for approval a prairie dog relocation, either"inter-county" or "intra-county," since 2000. No information other than your letter has been submitted regarding the possible relocation of prairie dogs into your area. Given the Board of County Commissioners' previous position regarding the relocation of prairie dogs in Weld County,I doubt the Board would be likely to approve any such request if one is received. Please feel free to call me at(970) 356-4000, ext. 4390, if you have any questions or comments regarding this letter. Si,ncerely, Bruce T. Barker `` �, Weld County Attorney Enc. pc: Clerk to the Board Page 1 CO ST § 35-7-203 C.R.S.A. § 35-7-203 WEST'S COLORADO REVISED STATUTES ANNOTATED TITLE 35.AGRICULTURE PEST AND WEED CONTROL ARTICLE 7.RODENTS AND PREDATORY ANIMALS--CONTROL PART 2.RODENTS AND PREDATORY ANIMALS Copr. ©West Group 2002. All rights reserved. Current through the end of the 2002 Second Regular and Third Extraordinary Sessions of the 63rd General Assembly and S.C.R. 02-1,02-2 and 02-6 35-7-203.Release of destructive rodent pests--defmitions (1)No person shall release destructive rodent pests into a county unless such person has complied with all requirements for such release imposed by the wildlife commission and obtained both the prior approval of the commission and the prior approval,by resolution duly adopted,of the board of county commissioners of such county. A person need not obtain such prior approval before: (a)Transporting destructive rodent pests through a county without releasing such destructive rodent pests; or (b)Confining destructive rodent pests indoors or in cages or similar enclosures and using such destructive rodent pests for scientific purposes or as food for human or animal consumption; or (c)Keeping destructive rodent pests indoors or in cages or similar enclosures as pets; or (d)Releasing destructive rodent pests into the county in which such destructive rodent pests were originally taken into captivity. (2) For purposes of this section, "destructive rodent pests" means one or more rodents, including but not limited to prairie dogs,ground squirrels,pocket gophers,jackrabbits,and rats,that pose a threat to agricultural,horticultural,or livestock concerns or to human health. (3)The board of county commissioners of any county into which a person releases destructive rodent pests without the prior approval of such board may,at its discretion: (a)Require the person who released the destructive rodent pests to eradicate the destructive rodent pests or remove the destructive rodent pests from the county; or (b)Impose a fine upon the person who released the destructive rodent pests in an amount sufficient to compensate the county for the cost of eradicating the destructive rodent pests or removing the destructive rodent pests from the county. CREDIT(S) 2001 Electronic Update Added by Laws 1999,Ch.55, § 1, eff. March 25, 1999. C. R. S.A. § 35-7-203 Copr.©West 2002 No Claim to Orig.U.S. Govt. Works Governor Bill Owens 136 State Capitol Bldg.. Denver CO. 80201 £0? ! —5 "' n: 29 Dear Sir, �E- I am a small rancher of 6 acres, 1 mile east oI'Ba idei Count'in un-incorporated Weld County. My neighbors to the west have 80 and 75 acres. We are trying to eliminate the prairie dogs to keep our horses safe. We are spending a small fortune in poisons and many hours of labor we need to use more effectively in dealing with this problem. Not to mention the time spent on the phone trying to resolve the problem. There are 32 prairie dog holes on my small ranch and hundreds more on the other two properties. Very recently, I have become aware that you have signed a Bill regarding the moving of prairie dogs to other counties. It is my belief that you may be able to deal with this problem more effectively than I. I am not going to give up on this as I believe some people are violating the law and my horses are at stake. One of the neighbors I mentioned has close to 100 horses that could step in some of these holes and break their legs. We have been constantly poisoning them to no avail as we have seen un-marked vehicles stop and unload prairie dogs from cages and drive off before we could get close enough to get a license number. My wife and I have personally seen a Longmont Public Works pickup truck with cages on the back and prairie dogs inside. It was traveling south on Sunset, crossed Ken Pratt and turned into the Longmont city yard. When you combine these instances, it makes us believe they are closely related. We believe the prairie dogs are being transferred to private un-marked vehicles and unloaded on lunch hours or on the way home. I have called Channel 7 and Channel 9 TV stations to see if they would investigate. They obviously didn't want to get involved as we cannot prove the unmarked vehicles came from boulder county. I have made a call to Longmonts Mayor and was only able to leave a message on her recorder. She will not return my call. I have tried to contact various other boulder county departments and they keep directing me to other departments (passing the buck). No one wants to deal with this problem. I am going to copy this letter to Weld County board of commissioners, the Mayor of Longmont, the Boulder County board of commissioners, The Mayor of the Town of Erie and Channel 7 and Channel 9 TV stations as I intend to stir up everyone I can think of. Thank you in advance for your speedy attention to this matter. Sincerely George Baugh 5286 W.C. Rd. 3 Erie CO 80516 Phone: 303-828-4907 E-mail: bruinthor@earthlink.net CC: Mayor Julia Pirnack 350 Kimbark St.. Longmont, CO 80516 Office 303-651-8601 home 303-776-8018 Boulder County commissioner Boulder County commissioner 529 Coffman St.. 2020 13 th St.. Longmont, CO 80501 Boulder, CO 80203 Mayor Barbara Connors % Town of Erie P.O. Box 750 Erie, CO 80516 Weld County Board of Commissioners P.O. BOX 758 Greeley, Co 80632 Hello