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Home My WebLink About20001161.tiff 114 31,-( iin BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PHONE (970) 356-4000, EXT.42OO FAX: (970) 352-0242 P.O. BOX 758 GREELEY, COLORADO 80632 ill C. COLORADO April 3, 2000 Maggie Marston Pawnee National Grassland 660 O Street Greeley, CO 80631 Re: Allotment Management Plan Dear Ms. Marston: The following comments are in response to your request for input concerning the Allotment Management Plan. It would be beneficial for the review committee to be mindful of some of the potential economic impacts to those holding grazing permits. Permittees have an economic interest in their grazing permits. Substantial changes to their right of use may have a significant economic impact on their survivability. Potential impacts include, but are not limited to, loss of natural resource base that may require a reduction in their cow herd numbers, or the purchase of supplemental feed resources. In addition, many producers have invested their own resources and funds to maintain fences, roads, and water sources for their livestock. Limiting use of grazing allotments will increase the per-head day expenditures for their capital improvements. To have a truly balanced committee, it will require having representation from the permittee as well as the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension office to assure potential impacts to producers are properly represented and addressed. Thank you for this opportunity to provide comment on this process. Sincerely, BO/P/2D OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS . , . ; , ,� arbara J. Kirkmeyer, hair (2 pc: Dan Kniffen, Extension _`Y oii, ,ni C 6-jei7{C1" 2000-1161 CORRESPONDENCE RESPONSE DEPARTMENT OF �/X6-44-4Zc aJ tieGc.) * * * PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN THREE DAYS* * * IF RESPONSE WILL BE DELAYED, PLEASE NOTIFY "CTB GROUP" BY E-MAIL RECOMMENDED I�\yA� \y I�11T�O�yF EXPECTED DATE FOR RESPONSE. LL ECOMMEI VJV'ED ACTION: Narrative: I have reviewed some of the proposed suggestions and changes on the Pawnee National Grasslands. I believe the review committee needs to be mindful of some of the potential economic impacts to the current permit users. Permittees have an economic interest in their grazing permits. Substantial changes to their right of use may have a significant economic impact on their survivability. Some of which may include, but not limited to, loss of natural resource base that may require a reduction in their cow herd numbers, or the purchase of supplemental feed resources. In addition, many producers have invested their own resources and funds to maintain fences, roads, and water sources for their livestock. Limiting use will increase the per-head day expenditures for their capital improvements. I believe, to have a truly balanced committee, it will require having representation from permitter as-well-as the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension o`fice to be assured potential impacts to producers are properly represented and addressed. • Thank you for this opportunity to provide comment on this process. METHOD OR RESPONSE: Board Action Work Session .7Za Letter (Attached) Telephone Call No Response (explain) / artment Head Signature GB DH GV BK MG BOARD ACTION: (Initial by Approval) Agree with Recommendation L� / Worksession 14'f .A. EX 14. United States Forest Pawnee 660"O"Street Department of Service National Greeley, CO 80631-3033 0 Agriculture Grassland (970)353-5004 File Code: 1950 Date: February 25, 2000 Dear Interested Party: I would like your input concerning Allotment Management Plan development and subsequent modification of the Pawnee Cooperative Grazing Association Grazing Agreement o:a the east side of the Pawnee National Grassland. This proposed action would provide updated management direction for grazing approximately 3800 cattle on 37 summer and 44 'winter allotments currently administered by the Pawnee Cooperative Grazing Association. These updates will require modification of the Grazing Agreement with the Pawnee Cooperative Grazing Association. Standards and mitigation measures will be added to the Grazing Agreement to meet the requirements of the Arapaho/Roosevelt/Pawnee Forest Plan, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and National Historic Preservation Act. 'The affected area of this planning effort also includes 14 allotments not included under the Grazing Agreement with the Pawnee Cooperative Grazing Association. The average size of these allotments is 160 acres. These small parcels are generally incorporated as part of a larger allotment that is predominantly in private ownership. The Direct Grazing Permits on these allotments will also be modified, if necessary, to reflect any changes set forth by the Allotment Management plan. The Allotment Management Plan will be developed to describe, in detail, how cattle grazing will be conducted on each of the grazing allotments. In addition, this plan will describe for each allotment the objectives, management actions including grazing rotation, and needed range improvements, as well as proper use criteria, monitoring, and evaluation. An interdisciplinary team of resource specialists will conduct an analysis of the proposed action under the guidance of the National Environmental Policy Act. Briefly stated, this team, with involvement from the public, will identify issues that are significant to the proposed action, develop alternatives to meet the proposed action, and analyze the effects of each alternative in an Environmental Assessment (EA). The analysis area of the proposed action involves approximately 91,000 acres on the Pawnee National Grassland (see attached map) currently divided into 95 allotments. The development of the EA will also meet the terms and conditions of the Recision Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-19). Section 504 of this law stipulates that the Forest Service complete an environmental analysis on all of its grazing allotments within 15 years to evaluate the environmental effects of livestock grazing on these allotments. Comments with specific issues and concerns related to the proposed action will be the most helpful. If you have questions, please call Bob Peterson or Maggie Marston at (970)-353-5004. Caring for the Land and Serving People F imee on Recycled= Please send your comments by March 24, 2000 to: Pawnee National Grassland 660 O Street Greeley, CO 80631 Attn. Maggie Marston Thank you for your interest in Grassland Management. Sincerely, STEVEN R. CURREY :District Ranger PAWNEE NATIONAL GRASSLAND EAST SIDE CATTLE GRAZING ALLOTMENTS rH _ o 41 MA E= a I °Q° c3 et; �w o © m _ 1 o 0 New Raymer Highway 14 Hello