The 2nd Red Rock Canyon Open Space Master Plan Meeting was held last
Wednesday (3/3/4) - around 130 people attended. There were several
informative presentations on archeology & history, wildlife, and land
suitability, followed by a review of the issues submitted by the public on
the response forms from the 1st meeting.

The presentation on archeology and history made several points. Roughly 80%
of the property can be regarded as disturbed. There were very few
prehistoric finds, much lighter than may have been predicted, probably due
to the disturbances. Many different topics were presented as potential
areas of interest for education/preservation/site protection, including
Native American, quarries, ore processing mills, cold war (bomb shelter on
property), etc. Staffing/funding is the primary issue with moving forward
with any of these.

The presentation on wildlife was the results of a simple inventory (a more
detailed one is currently being conducted). The property is of medium to
high quality wildlife habitat with potentially 3 federally threatened
species (bald eagle, Preble's meadow jumping mouse, and Mexican spotted owl)
and 2 state threatened species (Townsend's big-eared bat and peregrine
falcon). Recommendations were to not disturb the pond, do a Preble's
habitat assessment, do a raptor survey, model the habitat suitability, and
contact USFWS and CDOW about any concerns they may have.

The land suitability presentation showed how a composite map showing
sensitivity of the land to change was compiled from various individual
layers. It was fairly complicated, but essentially showed that the landfill
(53 acres) was the most restrictive to change and the parcels progressed
from there to the bulk of the property (parcel A - 653 acres), to the
frontage (parcel E - 43 acres), to parcels B & D (the 31st street (26 acres)
and 26th street (14 acres) parcels), which have the least restrictions to
change. The composite map will be handed out at the next meeting (this
Wednesday, 3/10/4) and the public, split into groups, will offer comments
directly on the map as to what they would like to see in RRC.

After these presentations, the issues listed by the public on the response
forms handed out at the first meeting (or emailed to Parks & Rec) were
briefly summarized. At the end of the meeting the comments were handed out
to those attending (16 pages of comments from ~100 people!). The comments
were separated into individual topics, but were not quantified in any way.
I tried to count the numbers of similar comments - to quickly, but not
comprehensively, summarize:

~12 - for historical/archeological interpretations/signs/programs (1 - no
historical programs/interest) - some want to get specific areas (quarries
for example) on historical registers.
~4 - geological "
~5 - use property for educational/classroom activities
~8 - maybe/yes on visitor center (some said to use Bock house as
visitor/educational center)
~38 - no/minimal development (+ 2 - specifically no on visitor center)
~2 - want ballfields &/or in-line hockey rink
~9 - want picnic grounds/tables
~16 - connects to Intemann/section 16
~14 - sustainable trails
~18 - make sure there are (enough) difficult level trails
~22 - make sure there are enough trails (of all types)
~51 - multiuse trails (there were also ~11 comments each regarding limiting
bike or equestrian use to some degree)
~11 - freeride trails/area
~15 - trail signs
~9 - keep trails narrow singletrack
~18 - allow rock climbing (1 - no on rock climbing)


Also of note from the meeting, since parcel A (bulk of the property) was
purchased with TOPS funds, there can be no vehicular traffic on it
(maintenance would be done from ATVs most likely, not cars/trucks). This
does not include the area around the Bock house or the trailer court area
(part of parcel E - the frontage).

The landfill will be closed to the public for another 17 yrs maximum.

Chris Lieber informed me after the meeting that around 4-5 miles of
additional social trails were added to the City's road/social trails map of
RRC based upon the GPS data I had given to them. The current numbers are
10mi of road and 15.7 mi of social trails. Some of what they are calling
trails I regard as roads and vice versa, but it still gives you an idea of
what currently exists (although not all of the trails are viable as
sustainable trails).

The next meeting is this Wednesday, 3/10/4, @ 5pm - the final meeting of
public input before a draft master plan is written.

Jim Yount
(719) 540-1505
jyount@...