At Oxbow Preserve, it won’t be all about the birds next year.
In addition to funding a bird study, the city also will gather baseline data about the surrounding human activities – including construction and traffic – following the Natural Land Preservation Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday.
The city will spend about $5,000 on the second year of a study on nesting birds. The total cost of the study will be about $10,990. But, Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be splitting the cost with the city.
In 2014, the first year of the study, researchers and volunteers netted about 300 birds representing 43 species, according the official report. The Durango Bird Club has doubled the species count through observation.
To help researchers gather consistent data, the preserve is closed again this year through June 30.
Expanding the scope of the observation was important to the board to help prepare for future park-management decisions.
Board member Ed Zink asked the city to look at the area extending about 2,000 feet in every direction from the center of the preserve. This is about the distance from the center of the preserve to the edge of potential parking lot of the planned boat ramp.
“I think we need to do a baseline of the activities that’s going around the birds,” he said.
The information also will help city officials address questions about how activity near the boat ramp might fit into the larger picture of human activities around the park, he said.
The board will revisit whether or not to seasonally close the park next fall, based on data collected. If it was kept open year round in 2016, that might be an opportunity to do a comparison study about how human recreation impacts nesting birds, Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Metz said.
Board member Steve Whiteman voiced concerns about opening up the park year round.
It is well established that human activity negatively impacts nesting birds, and closing it back down if human recreation proved to be a problem could be difficult, he said.
“Politically, it could be a nightmare,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
