Joint Boulder County Commissioners/Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee Public Hearing Oct. 19

Boulder County, Colo. - Parks & Open Space staff will be presenting policy update recommendations at the 2021 Annual Boulder County Cropland Policy to the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee (POSAC) at a joint virtual public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Detailed staff recommendations and the online public comment form are posted at boco.org/CroplandPolicy.

Summary of Recommendations
Staff is recommending the following updates to the Cropland Policy regarding Genetically Engineered (GE) Crops based on field experience since adopting the Cropland Policy in 2012 and its revision in 2017:

1. Neonicotinoid Phaseout: The county will phase out neonicotinoid pesticides, effective Dec. 31, 2021.
2. Soil Health: Boulder County will expand work with tenants to focus on improving soil health including carbon sequestration.
3. GE Crops: The GE sugar beet and corn varieties authorized in Section 6 of the 2012 Cropland Policy can be grown on BCPOS agricultural land.
4. Update to the Cropland Policy: Incorporate BOCC direction on any policy changes and streamline language to remove inconsistent or conflicting language and to remove non-policy information from the body of the document.

Public Comment Opportunities

Joint POSAC and BOCC Virtual Public Hearing

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 3 p.m.
Virtual Meeting link will be posted on the webpage one week before the meeting.

Online Form

• Public comments will be accepted through Thursday, Oct. 14, midnight, to be included in the BOCC/POSAC Oct. 19 meeting packet.
• Online comments will continue to be accepted and displayed through Nov. 2 for consideration by POSAC (Oct. 28) and the BOCC (Nov. 4).

Deliberation and Decision Meeting Dates

• POSAC: Thursday, Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m.
  Member deliberation and recommendations on amendments to CP (no staff presentation or public hearing).
• BOCC Business Meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m.
  Decision to adopt or direct staff on changes to recommendations (no staff presentation or public hearing)
• BOCC Public Meeting: December date to be determined.
  The updated Cropland Policy will be presented at a public meeting with amendments approved by the BOCC.

For more information about the Cropland Policy and this process, please visit boco.org/CroplandPolicy or contact Mike Foster, Agricultural Resources manager at mfoster@bouldercounty.org or (303) 678-6234.

Sugarbeets on county open space agricultural property.