Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2016 10 05

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes September 14th 2016 Page 3 of 5 B) Diane Shepherd (817 St. Andrews Lane)— Ms. Shepherd reported seeing an increase in applications of herbicides on public land. Her opinion is that there is too much herbicide use within the City. She would like to have an announced schedule of herbicide application at the very least, so neighbors can plan accordingly. She would also like to see a re-evaluation of weed control and specific chemicals being used, and would like to see organic alternatives used whenever possible. She would like a cogent City-wide policy. She reported that both Boulder and Lafayette have recently done City- wide re-evaluations of herbicide use. Ember directed her to the City of Louisville Integrative Weed Management plan on the Open Space website that outlines how weeds are being addressed on City land. Laura asked whether HOAs are beholden to the Integrative Weed Management plan, since Ms. Shepherd is particularly concerned about herbicide use on the HOA land adjacent to her house. Ember answered that they are not. Helen commented that with so many different land managers within the City (e.g. Open Space vs. Parks, City vs. County, HOA land, irrigation ditches) it can be difficult to know who is doing weed control and whom to talk to about concerns. VIII. Discussion Item: Result of 2016 Bird Surveys Presented by: Paula Hansley, ESCO Associates, INC. Ms. Hansley has been doing bird surveys on Louisville Properties since 2008, specifically Aquarius, Walnut Park Open Space, and Davidson Mesa. One general change she has seen is that Swainson hawks (which winter in Argentina) used to nest east of town, but they are suddenly nesting in town. She does her surveys in late June when birds are nesting. She uses a standard transect methods (-200m) using visual and auditory counts of adults only. Each transect takes 45-60 minutes to perform. 2016 was one of the wettest and coolest springs on record, so vegetation was Tush during this year's survey. Walnut Park Open Space is a 6.6 acre parcel surrounded by residential areas. Great horned owls nest adjacent to Walnut every year. She has two transects on the property. She reported her bird counts at each transect and whether they were breeding. Aquarius is larger (34.5 acres), a grassland with a few trees that includes a prairie dog town. Her transects don't include Coal Creek itself but when she saw creek species fly up she would include them. Davidson Mesa (248 acres) is all grassland. She observed lark buntings, but didn't see them nest, which would be a rare event. She has documented an increase in grasshopper sparrows from 2012; they are considered a keystone species. Most of the birds she saw were visitors rather than breeders/nesters. She contrasted her data from 2012 and 2016. 2016 was more lush. She had the same number of total species, but observed more grassland birds. She also saw almost twice the number of individuals in 2016. She concluded that Davidson Mesa and Aquarius are both excellent foraging habitat for birds, but Walnut is quite good for nesting since it has so many trees. She suggested that Coyote Run Open Space would be an excellent additional place to do surveys due to its diverse nesting sites. Spencer thanked Ms. Hansley for her work and emphasized the importance of this sort of data - driven approach. He asked her for suggestions on how Open Space could invest in doing bird surveys. Ms. Hansley suggested that surveys aren't necessary needed every year, but done every 3-4 years, and done on every property. Laura noted that Paula's work suggests that Walnut Park Open Space is actually quite valuable bird habitat despite its small size, a point to remember as OSAB discusses designation and management. 4