PUMA Newsletter June 1998

Sunday July 26th 2-6 PM
5944 Magnolia (across from fire station)
A fun community event Come meet your neighbors!
Lots of activities for kids!! Nature walks Treasure Hunt Wild Bill Patterson (juggler)
For more information contact: Christa 443-8881

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   Mike Figgs, the environmental consultant PUMA hired to work on the MEPP process, is currently finishing the draft edition of the MEPP document. The document includes information about geology, hydrology, vegetation/ecosystems, wildlife, cultural resources, recreation, scenic resources, noise and transportation in the Magnolia area. This information was collected, compiled and summarized by PUMA volunteers who donated many hours to this process. Copies of the MEPP document will be for sale by mid-summer through Bay Roberts, PUMA president (447-8836).
   The MEPP document contains a section in which policy recommendations are made to PUMA, Boulder County and the U.S. Forest Service. We, as a community, now need to review these recommendations and reach consensus amongst ourselves before sending MEPP out to the agencies. Our final goal is to have MEPP incorporated by reference into the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan. To inform the community of these MEPP policy recommendations and create discussion and dialogue, we plan to host the following events:
   * The June monthly PUMA meeting will be devoted solely to presenting and discussing policy recommendations with any and all interested Magnolia residents. This meeting will be held June 4, 7 PM, at Bob, Emily and Ray Weigel's, 119 Meadowland Court. Please come at 6 PM if you would like some social time with your neighbors. Before the meeting, the policy recommendations will be emailed to all PUMA members, posted at the PUMA web site: http://www.peaknet.org/webpages/puma/ and available as hard copy by calling Bay Roberts at 447-8836.
   * On Thursday, June 18th at 7 PM, there will be a MEPP open house at the Magnolia Firehouse near Forsythe in order to permit more community discussion and to finalize the policy recommendations before taking MEPP to the County and other agencies. PUMA will mail an announcement to all Magnolia residents before the meeting.
   * A summary MEPP brochure, poster board presentation, and people knowledgeable about the MEPP process will be available at the July 26th annual PUMA potluck. Copies of the finished MEPP document will also be available for perusal or purchase.
   Neighbors unable to attend any of these functions can comment on the MEPP policy recommendations by writing Bay Roberts 914 Pine Glade Road Nederland, CO 80466 (bdr@indra.com) or by posting comments at the PUMA web site. We hope to receive all comments by the end of June.
   This is your chance to have important and lasting input concerning what happens to our community. Please plan to attend any or all of these events, give us your two cents, and let us know what you care about!

   Concerned PUMA members have been providing input to both Boulder County and the U.S. Forest Service concerning the Winiger project. Due to fire suppression, our forests have become heavily loaded with fuel, are susceptible to disease and insect infestations and no longer represent the park-like stands present in our area before white settlers arrived. The U.S. Forest Service would like to return our forests to ecological health by promoting prescribed burns and removing small diameter trees. The project would emphasize cooperative work and planning among various agencies, communities and other interested groups.
   PUMA applauds the Forest Service's goals but has reservations about how the plan will be implemented. Given that the Forest Service has not yet been able to demonstrate a compelling market for small diameter trees (e.g. toothpicks, wood furniture, fence posts), PUMA is deeply concerned that large diameter, old growth trees will be felled and sold in order to finance the project. Similar Forest Service projects in other areas of the west have been forced eventually to cut larger trees in order to make the program financially feasible to commercial loggers.
   PUMA members attended a County Commissioner's meeting in March to express our concerns and to request that the Forest Service's plans not be allowed to proceed without assurances that no large old growth trees would be cut. The Commissioners recognized that our concerns were valid and requested that the Forest Service provide them with a more detailed business plan in the future. PUMA plans to continue working with the County and the Forest Service to reach agreement on the specifics of how this project will be implemented.

   They may not come from outer space, but noxious, exotic weeds such as knapweed, thistles, cheatgrass and leafy spurge have indeed invaded the Magnolia Area. And it is precisely their alien nature that makes the invasion potentially devastating. Most of the invading exotics are from Eurasia where natural predators such as insects and diseases evolved along with them, keeping them in check. When transported to vastly different ecosystems the natural balances of nature that have kept them from dominating their environment are no longer present, and these weeds can literally spread like wildfire. Native plants stand little chance against exotics, losing ground year after year.
   The major starting point for many noxious weeds is soil disturbance, a common occurrence in the Magnolia Area. This activity introduces an ideal place for introduction of weed seeds. The circumstances of alien plants in a defenseless environment results in these infestations progressing from a small, manageable problem to an almost unmanageable economic and environmental disaster.
One of the most serious of these exotic weeds is knapweed. Believe it or not, a whole state can be devastated by knapweed in a matter of a few years, if the problem is not attacked early and thoroughly. Western Montana is a prime example of this. In many areas every field, every roadside, every forest glade is full of ugly knapweed. Unless science can come up with a “miracle solution”, the situation there is considered virtually hopeless.
   There is no question that Colorado already has a knapweed problem. And PUMA members have spotted several infestations of Diffuse Knapweed (Acosta diffusa) in the Magnolia Area. Control of noxious weeds like knapweed can be very difficult. Early eradication, when infestations are small, will save enormous time and effort and will be much more effective than attempts to control noxious weeds once they have become widespread.
   For this reason PUMA will sponsor a number of “weed pulls” this summer. Despite the seriousness of the problem, these pulls are sure to be enjoyable events, with refreshments and plenty of good company provided, free of charge. We hope you will join us in this effort and help to save our beautiful mountain environment from these noxious weeds. Please let us know if you are interested in joining in. Contact Dan at 442-7460 or email (puma@magnoliaroad.net). Watch our web site (www.peaknet.org/webpages/puma) for more information. about weeds and PUMA weed pulls.

  Breeding Bird Survey ---Summary:
   Last summer’s breeding bird survey, done for the MEPP project revealed 97 species of birds breeding in our area (possible, probable, or confirmed nesters). Our area was divided into twelve sections which were visited by volunteers three or four times during the summer. Volunteers made a point of spending time in every habitat type in their section. The list of potential breeding birds within the study area includes 16 Boulder County Avian Species of Special Concern. Due to their rarity or their dependence on isolated or endangered habitats, these species may be particularly vulnerable to environmental disturbance. These individual species are as follows:
   RING-NECKED DUCK, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, COOPER’S HAWK, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, GOLDEN EAGLE, PEREGRINE FALCON, FLAMMULATED OWL, THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, PYGMY NUTHATCH, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, VEERY, SAVANNAH SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, EVENING GROSBEAK.
   When combined with our ongoing monthly wildlife inventory, it appears that our area is either home, hunting ground, or winter refuge for some 140 species of birds. ----This is a significant number of birds!
   Our thanks to the volunteers who did the work, to the landowners who provided access, and to the members of the wildlife committee who helped coordinate the project.
   This coming summer we hope to begin a long term (years) bird population study in which we will choose transects in each of our habitat types , to record the birds according to a protocol that will be replicable over future years. We may not have all of the transects delineated in time to do them this summer, but we will make a beginning. If you are a good (or getting better) birder and are interested in working on this or if you would like a copy of the report, please contact Cherie Long (447-0922) e-mail: cherielong@seqnet.net.

Thanks to our Volunteers! Barbara Beall, Maggie Boswell, Ann Cooper, Tom Delaney, Marty Dick, Rob Ellis, Mike Figgs, Dave Hallock, Paula Hansley, Dave Hill, Elaine Hill, Joel Hurmence, Steve Jones ( co-compiler, 3543 Smuggler Way, Boulder CO 80303), Bill Kaempfer, Cherie Long (co-compiler, 1289 Pine Glade Road, Nederland CO 80466), John McClellan, Naseem Munshi, Pam Piombino, Joan Redmann, Bay Roberts, Scott Severs, Ann Skarkvedt, Jennifer Stewart, Marianne Stilson, Mike Tupper, Jim Wolf.

Dear Editor,
Having just witnessed a near accident along Magnolia Road involving one of our older residents and a speeding car, I am wondering what can be done to reduce speeding along our "super" highway. I recently was asked to move my mailbox by our friends in the Nederland post office because the delivery woman feared that her vehicle could be hit by approaching cars. I use a "hidden drive" to get to my house and have had a number of close calls entering the road at the top of a small hill. Would the posting of signs with lower speed limits in critical spots help prevent accidents, perhaps even save lives??

Barbara Werner 6768 Magnolia Rd.

Fourth Annual PUMA POTLUCK	Magnolia Birds
Magnolia Environmental Preservation Plan Update	Letters to the Editor
Winiger Ridge Forest Health Restoration Project Update
Noxious Weeds	January 1998 Newsletter