Pawnee Grasslands 10April2018 (Weld)

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Birds of note sensed:

After getting a not so early start, I arrived near where WY-NE-CO come together ne of Grover about 8am.  My target was Sharp-tailed Grouse, which everybody has seemingly found.  I got a few extra hours of sleep but not the birds, these two facts being no doubt related.  However, I could sense their presence.  Can I make a pencil mark on the checklist if I don't push hard?  Also, for what it's worth, I met a nice local rancher named Mr. Klingensmith who has lived in the area 20+ years and said he often sees them while driving e on CR134 between 125 and 129 and also going from 134 n on 125 a few miles to the unmarked State Line.  

Birds of note seen:

Chestnut-collared Longspur (at least 20): mostly near the recently reported S-t Grouse locations, especially on the w side of Weld CR115 n of 134.

Northern Shrike (1a)  117 n of 134

Loggerhead Shrike (1a)  111 just s of the State Line  (not too many days in spring or autumn when both shrikes occur on the northern CO plains).

Long-billed Curlew (4)  in wheat stubble s of 134 just w of 125

                                                         

Rough-legged Hawk (at least 4): in the general area of the S-t Grouse sightings plus one on CR77 near GR96 n of Crow Valley (shown)

                                                                 

Golden Eagle (1) CR90 w of CR49

A&B Res #1 on 124 a few miles w of 77: water is high, no shorebirds, just common duck species.

At Crow Valley late this afternoon into early evening (gate is now open, hosts on site):

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1m)

Townsend's Solitaire (2)

Total of 25 bird species at CVCG/Briggsdale plus my FOY heard western chorus frogs (note, I did NOT see Mountain Plovers e of Briggsdale in the green strips of winter wheat on CR79 just s of SR14 where they were a week or so ago).

Crom Lake on 131 w of Pierce: water high, mostly common ducks and killdeer, no swallows.

[Did NOT see large numbers of sparrows today, did NOT see McCown's Longspur, did NOT see any kingbirds or Burrowing Owls.  Regarding the latter, I did not check any prairie-dog towns, so maybe no surprise they escaped detection.]

Furthermore,  I did NOT drive GR96 ("Murphy's Pasture") out of not wanting to get pissed at all the gun activity on a route supposedly devoted to nature observation. 

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

[Sharon Kay]

Dave, I know your frustration with CR96. I was there a few weeks back and was sickened by what I saw. -sharon kay

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

I have passed these comments (as anonymous reports) to our U. S. Forest Service/Pawnee Ranger District staff asking to investigate.  I'll let you know how they respond and/or act.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/

On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[Rachel]

I was on the Pawnee last week and there was a guy lying on the ground next to his pickup approx. 1/2 mile from his target, shooting ACROSS road 69 near the intersection of 96 & 69 with a semi-automatic assault rifle. I did call the ranger's office and as usual no-one answered. I thought about calling the Weld County Sheriff’s Office but then decided I was gong to get shot so I drove out of the area. Really unbelievable. I would suggest extreme caution when driving the auto tour these days. I will not be going back.

Perhaps CFO & DFO could band together with all of our members and voice a serious complaint to the district. I have left a voicemail with the ranger. Hopefully he will call me back.

-----------------------

Rachel Hopper

Ft. Collins. CO

r-ho...@comcast.net

[linda hodges]

You might consider getting Audubon Rockies involved, as well. 

Linda Hodges

Colorado Springs

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[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

I've passed along these new comments as well (anonymously) to entire Pawnee district staff (includes law enforcement), the Arapaho Forest Recreation manager and Arapaho Forest Communications staff.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/

On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

On bird trip I am leading this weekend out on Pawnee I'll be sure to take plenty of photos of what is going on along Weld CR 96 and beyond to show Pawnee staff.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/


On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

This could be one reason shooting has spread out across Pawnee NG:  https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5163489

Note:  "No Plan" and closures.  Anyone up for Change.org petition to see if we can create change?

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/


On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[Norm Lewis]

Perhaps someone could fix us up with the appropriate contact information for the authorities there, and the birding community could start making its voice heard. It is beyond ridiculous for firearms to be discharged along a route that is touted by the Forest Service as a wildlife viewing area.

Norm Lewis

Lakewood, CO

[Joe Roller]

Yes, we'll put an end to it. Beyond ridiculous.

Joe

On Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 4:48 PM, 'Norm Lewis' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Perhaps someone could fix us up with the appropriate contact information for the authorities there, and the birding community could start making its voice heard. It is beyond ridiculous for firearms to be discharged along a route that is touted by the Forest Service as a wildlife viewing area.

Norm Lewis

Lakewood, CO

-----Original Message-----
From: Rachel <r-ho...@comcast.net>
To: coloradobirder <colorad...@yahoo.com>
Cc: COBIRDS <cob...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 11, 2018 11:05 am
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Re: Pawnee Grasslands 10April2018 (Weld)

I was on the Pawnee last week and there was a guy lying on the ground next to his pickup approx. 1/2 mile from his target, shooting ACROSS road 69 near the intersection of 96 & 69 with a semi-automatic assault rifle. I did call the ranger's office and as usual no-one answered. I thought about calling the Weld County Sheriff’s Office but then decided I was gong to get shot so I drove out of the area. Really unbelievable. I would suggest extreme caution when driving the auto tour these days. I will not be going back.

Perhaps CFO & DFO could band together with all of our members and voice a serious complaint to the district. I have left a voicemail with the ranger. Hopefully he will call me back.

-----------------------

Rachel Hopper

Ft. Collins. CO

r-ho...@comcast.net

On Apr 11, 2018, at 10:32 AM, 'The Nunn Guy' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi all

I have passed these comments (as anonymous reports) to our U. S. Forest Service/Pawnee Ranger District staff asking to investigate.  I'll let you know how they respond and/or act.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/

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[Art Hudak]

Hear hear, the ayes have it!
Art Hudak
City of Denver
County of Denver

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

First response from Arapaho National Forest (Pawnee) regadring this thread:

• "Hi Gary, Your email got forwarded to me as I’m the recreation staff for Canyon Lakes and the Pawnee Grassland (though not law enforcement, for better or worse!). I hope you have a good birding trip out there this weekend. I’ll ask some of our folks to patrol on the PNG this weekend. They usually do this time of year. As I’m sure you’re aware, shooting is allowed on the grasslands, but only in compliance with regulations. We can at least try to get those folks shooting illegally. Thanks

I've asked about birding tour maybe being more patrolled or restricted to shooting. Not sure where that will end with regards to comments made.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn

http://coloradobirder.club/

On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

More news ... here is Forest Service (FS) project page for recreation shooting review on the Arapaho National Forest (Pawnee)--you'll notice they are currently looking only at the Ranger Districts in the Forest itself-not the Pawnee (Grassland District).

I suggest folks send their concerns to the Public Comment link to express (1) importance of including the Pawnee Ranger District in this effort and (2) conflicts (multi use terminology) we are seeing on the Pawnee as a result of unmanaged recreational shooting, (3) Safety concerns (big in FS) and anything else we deem important in trying to get Pawnee recreational shooting to have designated shooting areas to avoid multi-use conflicts

https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=46910

Project above has been ongoing three years now.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/


On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

From the Pawnee District Ranger ...

I would suggest calling the Sheriff office, when you see a true and verifiable violation of law on the Pawnee, just like you would anywhere else in the state. Most weekends we have a forest service patrol person out there, looking for violations, but they can’t be everywhere, and unfortunately, the public has no way to call them directly when they see violations. If someone in the public sees a violation and has witnesses or pictures, license plates and other information, and is willing to testify in court, then we can often follow up on that after they contact us when the office opens on the weekdays.

 

As far as roads are concerned. The county maintains a selection of roads for their priority purposes, generally for people to get to their homes, ranches and other commercial uses. The level and timing of maintenance can vary. The Forest Service also only maintains a small number of roads to higher standard mainly bird tour and Pawnee Buttes. Many of the remaining roads are open to public use but they are maintained at different standards for different needs. Sight-seeing and bird watching is a viable use of the roads but not the priority. We have limited resources to maintain roads. The road crew comes from another forest and is not scheduled to be here for a few weeks yet, so early birders may have to contend with roads less groomed. We are not a park. The road network is not intended to be maintained for all vehicle types to use in all places (portions of road 96). We allow folks to use some of them if they wish to, but that does not drive the decisions of which roads we spend limited resources on to maintain at a higher standard.

 

Again, thanks for the info. I will pass it on to our patrol person so that they can make sure they are spending some time in other areas and especially along the bird tour route. Sometimes it is easy to get focused around the shooting range when that many people are showing up.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/


On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[The "Nunn Guy"]

Hi all

The Pawnee Disitrct Ranger responded a bit more today ...

Sorry it’s taken me a couple days to respond to your email. I’ve been out of town.

 

We went down an extensive public involvement process centered around the increased sports shooting uses a couple years back before the rest of the forest was experiencing the same pressure and the decision outcome from that process was to build the developed shooting range at Baker Draw.

Much of the shooting pressure/issues on the other forest districts evolves around homes being built in areas historically used for target shooting. The grassland does not dovetail into much of those scenarios and we had already led the process in developing a shooting range to reduce the number of dispersed shooters, so we have not been directly involved with that additional forest process. I know for some folks it doesn’t seem like much, but in reality, the developed shooting range has greatly reduced the numbers of shooters along the roadways. In 2014 everyone who uses the Baker Draw facility today, was simply lined up with everyone else along road 96.

The idea of establishing large shooting area bans is not really an option I have readily available at my level. That really always becomes a Washington Office affair along with numerous other state and local partners and other interests. National forests and grasslands and most public lands aside from national parks are open to hunting and recreational sport shooting.

I would be more inclined to discuss moving the bird tour route at this time than trying to eliminate a large area from hunting and shooting. There are numerous places on the grassland that see very little or no pressure from hunting and shooting sports.

Shooters favor the road 96 area because they are familiar with it and it is the first access point to the grassland along highway 14. We now have a developed shooting range in that same area, so for shooters, that is the area that most of them are familiar with. I realize similar feeling exists for the bird tour, and that it was established there before the increased popularity of sports shooting, but whether we like it or not , sport shooting has increased in popularity as a recreational activity and numbers have risen sharply, which prove that point.

I believe there are easy access routes to areas with far less shooting pressure, having good birding opportunities, so I am more incline to see that as a more readily doable fix and discussion right now in order to accommodate the desires of all recreational users on the Pawnee National Grassland.

Stop in and talk with me some more.

Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn
http://coloradobirder.club/


On Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 8:36:44 PM UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:

[Marie Hoerner]

Hi everyone,

That response seems outrageous to me for several reasons:

• The bird tour was there before the area was used for shooting, as he points out in his email.
• Birders are not putting the physical safety and lives of other people at risk, while recreational shooters are.  I have also viewed sports shooters shooting across the road on the auto tour.  In one instance, even as our car approached, the sports shooter kept firing across the road and refused to put his gun down to allow us to safely pass.  We stopped and waited, then gave up and turned around and took a different route.  I don't understand how that can be considered acceptable anywhere.  They are begging to have somebody killed.
• Bird nesting grounds cannot simply be relocated to a different road, so moving a bird auto tour is not actually as straightforward as he makes it sound.
• The area is supposed to be at least partially devoted to preserving natural resources such as the ever-decreasing amount of natural prairie, and so it seems that the numerous threatened and declining bird and other species using that area for nesting, migration, overwintering, etc. should have some value and priority when these decisions are being made.  The last time I was on the route (last summer), you could not get out of hearing range of one sports shooter before you started hearing another.  That kind of widespread, constant use of loud guns can't be helping the wildlife maintain healthy, normal behaviors and routines.  

I recognize that I am biased on this issue as someone with a lifelong love of birds and nature with no interest in sports shooting, but I do try to recognize the rights and needs of people with different values than I have.  My dad's entire side of the family in North Dakota engages in sports shooting and hunting, and I respect their right to do so.  However, I think any of them would be appalled at people taking assault rifles and shooting across a public road.  That is reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous. I lived by Cherry Creek State Park last year.  They have done an excellent job of arranging a shooting range, a model airport field, a dog park, campgrounds, a marina, and hiking trails that allow a wide variety of people to use a densely populated park for many uses without anybody feeling that they are in danger.  Meanwhile, the park supports a variety of birds and wildlife successfully.  Pawnee National Grasslands has a far greater area with a much lower density of people, so I see no reason that a similar balance of interests and needs (including those of the wildlife) should not be possible.

Those are my thoughts at least.  

Marie Hoerner, Colorado Springs, El Paso County

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