HABITAT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM MEETING MINUTES Arkansas River Committee Royal Gorge Field Office, Cañon City, CO May 6 th, 2014

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1 HABITAT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM MEETING MINUTES Arkansas River Committee Royal Gorge Field Office, Cañon City, CO May 6 th, 2014 Committee members present: Ted Grover, ARHPP, Sportsperson Rep, Chair Jim Aragon, ARHPP, Colorado Parks & Wildlife Jeff Williams, ARHPP, BLM Rangeland Management Specialist Stephanie Shively, ARHPP, USFS Aaron Atwood, ARHPP, Livestock Grower Pat Tucker, HPP Program Director Frosty Roe, ARHPP Administrative Assistant Committee members absent: Joe Cogan, ARHPP, Livestock Grower Joe Moore, ARHPP, Livestock Grower Guests present: Kim Woodruff, CPW DWM Salida East Glenda Torres, BLM Aaron Richter, BLM Tom Grette Welcome & Introductions. Meeting called to order by Chairman Ted Grover at 10:21 a.m. General Comments. Jeff Williams opened with a group discussion directed to Pat Tucker concerning numerous recent issues resulting from lowest bidder DNR contract awards in the recent and ongoing HPP/BLM cooperative large scale habitat improvement projects. Glenda Torres, Aaron Richter and Tom Grette related the problems encountered. All sought a way to avoid a similar experience with the next series of contract awards. The BLM is able to consolidate cooperator funding into a single account and utilize performance based contract awards utilizing experienced and proven mechanical equipment contractors. The HPP funding for the large scale project included both ARHPP and significant State Council funding. Currently there is no known process to transfer the HPP funding into the BLM pool, though it is possible with the USFS/HPP Cooperative Agreement. Therefore a separate contract using the HPP funding had to be negotiated via the State/DNR bidding process. DNR insisted on awarding the contract to the lowest bidders.

2 A lengthy list of problems with those contractors was revealed by Jeff, Aaron, Glenda and Tom. These included failure to complete the project, inadequate equipment, insufficient equipment, slow response producing required insurance coverage paperwork, unpredictable appearances and absences, failure to meet slash and stump specifications, etc. The BLM team hoped that a way to pool all the money into a single 7121 account that could be used via the BLM performance based contracting method could be used in the future. Everyone present volunteered ideas that would help avoid these problems in the future including shortening the length of the contract, including penalty provisions, periodic performance evaluations, minimum equipment on site, required equipment, increase pre-bid site inspections, contractor parcel acceptance maps and more. Pat explained that HPP isn t currently required to take the lowest bidder on projects because HPP isn t required to put out projects up to $100,000 out to bids. While this would provide a means of utilizing a proven contractor, it can t become a habit of always awarding the contract to the same contractor. Pat also explained that contractor performance is reviewed at the State level and that a letter containing all the concerns with the individual contractor should be generated by the project manager and sent in so the individual poor performance becomes available statewide. Pat also advised to make sure that the scope of work contains the exact level of performance expected. There are a lot of idle equipment operators as a result of the slowdown in the oil and gas industry and they are hungry and looking for work. Sometimes the initial results aren t always satisfactory but over time experience will be gained, and, with more experienced operators available, competitive bidding may bring the price per acre down significantly. Informing the contractor of the performance evaluation that follows completion could be beneficial. Pat also told the BLM team that there is no way for HPP to make an advanced payment as there is no cooperative agreement in place that provides for this option. He speculated that perhaps this should be given some consideration to make this available in a statewide agreement similar to the one in place with the USFS. Both Jeff and Pat will both explore/pursue this avenue further. Pat also cautioned that such an agreement could prove to be a two-edged sword and the flexibility currently enjoyed in completing HPP projects could become bogged down. The shortened mechanical treatment season and the severity of winter really create problems completing large scale improvements. Out of synch fiscal years and end of fiscal year deadlines create problems with mechanical and weed projects as well. A legislative fix could be coming. Aaron Atwood commented that HPP was a lot easier to use when it first started. Projects & decisions were easier to come by back then with less paperwork and fewer delays. Right now he tire tank inventory has run out and not replenishing them in a timely fashion jeopardizes success. He asked why we couldn t order truckloads and get good prices and keep some on hand. In the discussion that followed Jim pointed out that we can t roll back to the 90 s. Times are changing and we have to do things the current way. Pat explained that stockpiling materials

3 presents additional problems tracking inventory. Pat also indicated that keeping a 4 year supply isn t condoned, but that a reasonable amount on hand is OK. Tom Grette has obtained an insurance quote for the general liability policy naming the State of Colorado as an additional insured. This policy is required in order to obtain a PO that will allow him to continue supervision and flagging of parcels. FY 2014 Budget Report. The Committee reviewed the current Committee Funds & Payments spreadsheets and identified remaining funds within the budget that can be put to good use by the end of the year. Nearly $15,000 can be pooled from the Committee Expenses, Fencing, North Howard Hand Thinning, Parcel Layouts and Water Development Materials Projects. Kim pointed out that the $ for seed assigned to the Sand Gulch Large Scale Habitat Project is an additional expense that was not included in the $25,000 allocation for this project. The $25,000 has been paid out through DNR contracting. Kim will forward Frosty a copy of the invoice and he will enter the $25,000 into the Actuals for this project. Kim will submit a new proposal for the Sand Gulch State Trust Land Water Development & Seeding Project for the $ amount. Frosty will enter the project and get the amounts corrected. The Committee agreed to use the remainders to fund the Weldon Creek Water Project & truckload of tire tanks. Pat Tucker said the State Council will fund any shortage for the tire tank order. Any remainder beyond that will be used to acquire 1320 rolls of high visibility white vinyl wire. Frosty will initiate a PO to American Drilling for the Weldon Creek Water Development Project [ Admin. note: PO approved]. Old Business. [ ARHPP Committee Lunch Chili s] The minutes from the February 12 th meeting were ultimately reviewed and approved. Project Updates. Stephanie Shively showed a PowerPoint presentation on the O Haver Lake Burn Project that took place on April 25 th. Parcels P2, P3 and P6 were lit. The 3 units combined to a total of 230 acres. The Colorado Dept. of Corrections S.W.I.F.T. Crew held fire lines & spot fires in unit P3. The parcels are above the O Haver Lake Campground off Marshall Pass. The East & North Kaufman Ridge Water Development electrical power still has to be hooked up to the pump. Sangre de Cristo Electric Association finally brought the power wires across the road to a pole at the well. Albert Eggleston will begin plowing in the plastic pipe and setting the tanks as soon as the ground thaws. The recent moisture should make that easier. Sean Shake will hook up the pump.

4 Fencing Reimbursement Program has had 7 participants thus far. The spinning jenny for unspooling high visibility wire is being stored in Salida. North Howard Hand Thinning. The funding for this project will be used to obtain replacement chain saws. Hand Thinning Supplies leftovers will be used to replace worn out safety equipment Limestone Ridge II Big Game Habitat Improvement has wrapped up for the season. Prescribed burn should take place this fall. Parcel Layouts will continue in preparation for the return of inmate hand thinning crews. Some mapping of the partial work done by the contractor will be carried out to determine what will be included in the rebidding of the contract this summer. Sand Gulch Large Scale Habitat Project. Not reported. Trail Gulch Habitat Enhancement Project. Completed. Final reporting maps, photoppoint photos and hydro-axe operations videos were shown on the big screen. New Business. Frosty handed out a draft Project Proposal Scoring Sheet. This sheet was requested at the February meeting and is intended to rate project proposals on 10 different topics in order to assign a priority list when multiple project proposals are presented at a single meeting. Rather than using a first come first serve format as has been used in the past, the Committee will hold off allocating funding for projects until after all proposals have been presented. The scoring sheets may be used to assign priorities and allocations. The scoring sheets will be given to DWM s and the Landowners in advance so they can prepare themselves to answer committee member questions on these topics. The scoring sheets will be given a test drive when the next proposal is presented in July. FY2015 Budget. Pat said next year s FY2015 budget will remain at $70,000. The Committee allocated annual funding for FY2015 for the Committee Operating Expenses ($2,000) and Administrative Assistant ($5,000) Projects. Frosty said he would return next year as the administrative assistant and continue with the flat rate monthly billing. State Council Update. Pat said the State Council has opted to wait another year to submit their proposal for the renewal of HPP which expires in This year is an election year and the timing of the renewal is better suited in an off year. The renewal will seek to continue the 5% license fees revenue that supports the program. There s been some discussion of adding an NRCS Representative position to HPP committees but that probably won t be included in the renewal. There have been some conversations wondering if the focus on HPP should be shifting towards good improvements rather than the current emphasis on big game conflict resolution. HPP is

5 gaining support and receiving acknowledgement and recognition for its efforts so the focus on conflict resolution will likely remain. An attempt to resolve some of the quirks in the present system will be included in the legislative renewal language. Increasing the P.O. limit to $10,000 would relieve a huge amount of paperwork. Relieving contract bidding requirements will also be on the table. Pat also thanked Aaron for bringing up the issues with the tire tanks issues. Meeting Adjourned at The Biannual HPP Conference will be held in Grand Junction at the DoubleTree Hotel January 14, 15, The next meeting will be held in Cañon City at the Royal Gorge Field Office beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday July 1 st, Frosty Roe, ARHPP AIC P.O. Box 283 Buena Vista, CO Office answering machine ArkRiverHPP@gmail.com