Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 12 13

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes November 8, 2023 Page 3 of 5 process about this. Michiko asked about the recently -passed Boulder County sales tax ballot measure to fund their open space. Helen said that their open space budget is separate from Louisville's but that those funds sometimes are used to buy and manage properties and projects jointly with Louisville and other cities. Helen recommended that in a few years there should be a ballot measure recommending to eliminate the sunset on the Open Space and Parks sales tax, the way Lafayette did. • There will be a meeting between OSAB and City Council on February 13th. The evening will be shared with three other boards, so each board will get about 30 minutes with Council. David thought this didn't seem like enough time. Helen said that these meetings used to involve two boards on a night, not four. • David attended a South Boulder Rd. transportation corridor steering meeting studying multi -modes of transportation, safety, etc. The planning is for 2040-2050. They meet every other month. This committee is under the auspices of DRCOG. • The board discussed the cover letter for the acquisition memo. Laura will finish it. She hadn't realized people wanted the longer document. Susan shared that there was a pine marten in her yard this afternoon. 8. Discussion Item: 2023 Open Space Regenerative Cattle Grazing. Presented by Andy Breiter and Emily Gallagher of Grama Grass and Livestock, LLC. Mr. Breiter and Ms. Gallagher reported on the three cattle grazes they did on the City of Louisville open space during 2023, two on Davidson Mesa and one on North Open Space. The goal is to build ecosystem resiliency and to reduce fire fuel load. They try to mimic the action of native bison by frequently moving the cattle through an area, followed by long periods of rest and recovery for the grass and soil. Mr. Breiter emphasized that this sort of active management requires being responsive to the weather conditions. For example, in May there was so much rainfall that the cattle were pugging the soil, which is undesirable, so they moved the cows around twice a day to minimize this impact. They monitored their impact with photo points and soil sampling using PLFA soil diversity surveys. The soil sampling revealed a lack of soil organism diversity: the soils were heavily bacterial -dominant. He shared pictures from the grazes and shared some of the highlights. He shared images showing fuel reduction in the grass, saying that the goal is to create a landscape with heterogeneous grass length. Staff and Grama Grass did an education event for the City this season, when they herded the cattle across Davidson Mesa. Mr. Breiter recommended a higher grazing density in the spring for next year to stimulate grass cover diversity. Susan asked how grazing would help foster diversity on North Open Space, which is mostly a smooth brome monoculture. Mr. Breiter replied that there is probably a good native seed bed under all that cover, but that smooth brome is a very fierce competitor, so this transition would take time; grazing can help open up places for other grasses to get established, but it is no magic bullet. He emphasized that there is a certain amount of trial and error in the process. He thanked City staff and KCM Photography, a private citizen who took pictures and shared them. Helen asked if the grazing contract had been renewed. Ember replied that the contract needed the sales tax to pass, but now they would be able to consider renewal. Ember emphasized that this grazing effort is trying to both reduce fuel load and foster shortgrass prairie