Full Text
1 RESOLUTION NUMBER A RESOLUTION OF THE MISSOULA CITY COUNCIL TO EXPEND $25,000 OF 2006 OPEN SPACE BOND PROCEEDS TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF A CONSERVATION EASEMENT ON THE 207 ACRES OF ANDERSON FAMILY PROPERTY KNOWN AS THE SPOONER CREEK RANCH LOCATED IN THE UPPER MILLER CREEK VALLEY, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MISSOULA COUNTY AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK FOUNDATION. WHEREAS, the City of Missoula has adopted the Missoula Urban Area Open Space Plan 2006 Update (“Open Space Plan”), which envisions an open space system for the greater Missoula area; and WHEREAS, a vote of Missoula County citizens in November 2006 authorized the Missoula County Commissioners to issue $10 million dollars of Open Space Bonds to acquire open space land, $5,000,000 of which is allocated for lands in or near the City, as guided by the Open Space Plan; and WHEREAS, the November 2006 open space bond election ballot lists conserving family farms and ranches as one of the allowed types of bond expenditures and the Open Space Plan encourages the preservation of agricultural land as part of the open space system; and WHEREAS, the November 2006 open space bond election ballot also lists protecting wildlife habitat and scenic landscapes as two other allowed types of bond expenditures and the Open Space Plan places a high priority on protecting these values as well; and WHEREAS, the Anderson family ranch consists of 207 acres, about 25% of which is located within the boundaries of the Missoula Planning Region; and WHEREAS, the Anderson family ranch meets the goals listed in the Open Space Plan regarding worthy agricultural lands due to their historical, aesthetic, scenic and wildlife values, including critical elk winter range; and WHEREAS, the property is part of an important wildlife linkage zone that connects the Sapphire Mountains with the Bitterroot Valley and Spooner and Millers Creeks run through the property, both of which support native Westslope cutthroat trout; and WHEREAS, the ranch is adjacent to land owned by USFS, The Nature Conservancy (part of the Montana Legacy project), and the 1082 acre Wegener ranch and the large majority of land in the Upper Miller Creek Valley is owned by USFS, TNC, and State Lands; and ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 WHEREAS, on September 10, 2009 the Open Space Advisory Committee unanimously recommended an appropriation of $25,000 towards purchase of a conservation easement on the Anderson family property in partnership with Missoula County and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; and WHEREAS Missoula County will be contributing $175,000 from its portion of the 2006 Open Space Bond to help purchase the easement, and the Anderson family is donating approximately 89% of the value of the conservation easement; and WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition furthers the conservation partnership between the City of Missoula, Missoula County, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; and NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Missoula City Council appropriates $25,000 of open space bond proceeds towards the purchase of a conservation easement on 207 acres of Anderson family property in partnership with Missoula County and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Missoula City Council thanks the Anderson family for their generous contribution towards preserving Missoula’s open spaces and thanks to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for their dedicated work on making this project happen. PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of October, 2009. ATTEST: APPROVED: Martha L. Rehbein John Engen City Clerk Mayor (SEAL)