Minutes - 20050428 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Call to Order and Introductions 1. Discussion of Common Issues (written documents provided where necessary) A. OWASA Issues 1) Update on Hunting on OWASA-owned Lands and Wildlife Resources Commission Current Position Pat Davis was representing OWASA and was available to answer questions. Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil made reference to a letter from Chair Carey to the Chair of the OWASA board related to this item that was transmitted within the last few days. He made reference to Attachment 1-A-1a and said that this is a comprehensive topic that has 25 years of history behind it. It dates all the way back to 1980, when the permitting for the Cane Creek Reservoir was underway. The permit requirements included some provisions to address the mitigation for wildlife habitat that needed to be created when the Cane Creek Reservoir became filled to offset the land resources that were taken away by the flooding of the lake. The OWASA board is meeting tonight to talk about this topic. He made reference to the memo dated April 22"d from Ed Kerwin, which provides some history. One of the things that is not in the memo is that, in 2002 and 2003, the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group did a report on the OWASA Mitigation Tract to look at the possibilities far low-impact recreation or other recreational opportunities. The OWASA Mitigation Tract is a 500-acre parcel of land located off Buckhorn Road and is a few miles north of the Cane Creek Reservoir in Bingham Township. At that time, the staff became aware of some possible need to revisit same of the original permitting requirement related to the compatibility between the hunting provisions and the possibility of public recreation activities. In September 2004, the OWASA board discussed a proposal to allow limited permit controlled deer hunting on the mitigation tract. Initially, there appeared to be concurrence of limited deer hunting and the possibility of conjunctive low-impact recreation use. In February of this year, a public meeting was held, and on April 8t", the Wildlife Resources Commission Executive Director sent a letter to OWASA stating that the commission was no longer satisfied that OWASA had met the mitigation provisions for the permit dating back to 1980, and that they intended to initiate hunting programs on the mitigation tract and the Cane Creek Reservoir in the fall of 2005. There have been subsequent discussions since this April 10t" memorandum between OWASA staff and the Wildlife Resources Commission. The issue facing OWASA now is whether or not and to what degree to allow hunting provisions on the mitigation tract or the reservoir itself. Jacquelyn Gist said that she appreciated the letter from the Board of County Commissioners and she agrees with this letter, in that the idea of people hunting while people are out hiking is a bad idea. She asked if opening up the lands for low impact recreation would satisfy the State. Dave Stancil said that he believed that it would not satisfy the State because the WRC is saying that some provision for hunting needs to be made. Mayor Foy asked why this is taming up now. Pat Davis said that back in 1980 when the 404 permit was issued by the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers for the Cane Creek Reservoir project, it did include provisions for allowing hunting on the reservoir and it also required the implementation of other wildlife habitat mitigation measures. One approach that was agreed to was that OWASA would purchase 500 acres of land in the northern part of the watershed and set it aside in perpetuity as wildlife habitat. The conditions of approval far the project included that there would be hunting allowed on the mitigation tract. When the permit was accepted, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that confirmed the conditions of the permit. OWASA did not aggressively pursue following through on allowing hunting on the mitigation lands or on