Board of County Commissioners to accept public testimony in written form (in advance) and orally (in-person) at a public hearing on Tuesday, June 20

Boulder County, Colo. – The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will
hold a public hearing on the revised draft elk management plan for Rabbit
Mountain Open Space beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. The draft Rabbit Mountain Elk & Vegetation Management Plan can be viewed at: www.BoulderCountyOpenSpace.org/elkmanagement.

In
order to protect the significant natural biodiversity of Rabbit Mountain, Parks
& Open Space staff recommends a combination of limited public hunting,
fencing, and hazing to encourage the herd to migrate and reduce overall elk
numbers on Rabbit Mountain. In its staff memo to the BOCC, Parks & Open Space proposes
using an adaptive management approach including continued elk and vegetation
monitoring to determine the effects of this management throughout plan
implementation.

Since
the draft plan was first circulated for public consideration, public comments have been accepted and posted to the elk management plan website for
review by the Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee (POSAC) and the BOCC.
Revisions to the draft have been made as the plan has circulated through
various public forums.

• What: Board of County Commissioners’ Public Hearing on the Rabbit Mountain Elk & Vegetation Management Plan
• When: Tuesday, June 20, beginning at 3 p.m.
• Where: Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Third Floor, Boulder (map)

Public Comments

Public comments may be submitted in written form (in
advance) or delivered orally (in-person) at the public hearing on June 20. Online
sign-ups are available for anyone seeking to secure a time slot in advance to
speak in-person at the hearing.

Written Comments:
Written comments may be submitted through a public
comment form on the elk management plan
website. (Note: To be considered by the
county commissioners ahead of the public hearing, comments should be submitted by
4 p.m. on Monday, June 19.)

Online
Speaker Sign-ups: A sign-up form for Individual Speakers
and Pool Time Speakers is available at www.BoulderCountyOpenSpace.org/elkmanagement.
All signups will be placed in order based on the time they are received. Those
wishing to sign up for Pooled Time will need to include the names and addresses
for anyone donating time to the Pool. In-person sign-ups on the day of the
hearing will also be accepted. Anyone signing up at the time of the hearing
will be added to the bottom of the existing list in the order received.

For more information, contact Therese Glowacki, Resource
Management Division Manager, at 303-678-6206.