IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

chapter 5
Chapter 5: Implementation and Monitoring

Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan 119

This chapter addresses a range of topics regarding the

function and direction of the Refuge in future years. It

discusses funding for personnel and equipment as well as

opportunities to partner with local entities. Furthermore,

the chapter outlines an adaptive process of management

that unfolds through monitoring and evaluation. This

process will be facilitated by future revisions to the CCP

and by step-down management plans, which will provide

specific guidance regarding management objectives and

strategies.

5.1. FUNDING AND PERSONNEL

Refuge budgets generally include ongoing operations

funds for staffing, maintenance and utility needs.

Estimated staff is the minimum necessary to accomplish

the goals. Appendix F provides a detailed list of this staff

along with the costs. Maintenance expenses cover

activities necessary to keep facilities and equipment in

good working order. Utilities will include gas, electrical,

phone and cleaning. In addition to ongoing operations

costs, there will be one-time restoration and

implementation costs associated with opening the Refuge.

These expenses are for activities such as restoring habitat,

building facilities and purchasing equipment. Fire

management funds are administered from a different

funding source and are listed separately.

Because the Refuge will be managed as part of a complex

that includes the RMA and Two Ponds, there will be costs

that could be shared between the facilities. Therefore,

both operations and restoration and implementation costs

have been broken out between items that would require

new funding for the Refuge and items that would be

covered from the complex's existing base funding.

Furthermore, large equipment needed for restoration

activities is assumed to be shared with the other refuges

in the complex and is included with existing base funding.

Estimated costs for alternatives are summarized in Table

10. Costs are presented in 2003 dollars. Because the

Refuge will not be established for several years, these

numbers will need to be adjusted for inflation when the

Refuge's funding request is made.

The plan will require the equivalent of four employees

with an annual funding target of $543,000 for operations.

Required restoration and implementation costs will total

$1.2 million, over a third of which is for maintenance

equipment and related storage. Remaining funds

requested are for habitat restoration supplies and visitorrelated facilities. Fire management activities on the

Refuge will require the equivalent of three employees (2

full-time and 2 seasonals) with annual funding of $133,000,

as well as an up-front expenditure of $125,000 for

equipment and supplies. Estimated costs in 2003 dollars

over the 15-year period for this alternative are $8.6

million.

5.2. STEP-DOWN MANAGEMENT PLANS

This CCP describes the desired future conditions of the

Refuge and provides long-range guidance and

management direction. Chapter 4 describes objectives

and strategies that the Service will use to achieve the

desired future conditions. During the 15-year life of this

plan, the Service will prepare additional plans, called stepdown management plans. A step-down management plan

provides specific guidance for the Service to follow to

achieve objectives or implement management strategies

related to specific management topics such as habitat, fire

and public use. Step-down plans will be developed as the

need arises. The preparation of new step-down plans

typically will require further compliance with Service

planning policies and procedures, including opportunities

for public review and comment. The Service anticipates

the following plans will be needed at the Refuge:

• Vegetation and Wildlife Management Plan

• Integrated Pest Management Plan

• Fire Management Plan

Chapter 5. Implementation and Monitoring

Table 10. Estimated Costs

Cost over 

15 Years

(millions 2003$)

Annual 

Operations

(thousands)

Restoration and

Implementation

(millions)

Fire

Management

(millions)

Major Components of Costs

$8.6 $543 $1.2 $1.6 Balances public-use and restoration efforts.
Chapter 5: Implementation and Monitoring

120 Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge 

• Visitor Services Plan

• Health and Safety Plan

• Historic Preservation Plan

A Visitor Services Plan would be an umbrella document

that would include interpretation, environmental

education, hunting management and research protocols. 

5.3. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The Service will pursue opportunities to work with

federal, state and local agencies, conservation groups,

adjacent landowners and other interested parties to

advance the purpose of the Refuge and to benefit

surrounding communities. Many natural resource

management issues such as invasive weed control, wildfire

management, wildlife corridors, recovery of declining

species and impacts to resources caused by visitors will

need to be coordinated across boundaries. Collaboration

with surrounding open space and natural resource entities

such as Jefferson County, City of Boulder, Boulder

County, City and County of Broomfield, City of

Westminster, City of Arvada and CDOW will be

instrumental in achieving the Service's ecosystem

management goals. The Service will also develop and

maintain mutual aid agreements related to fire control

with adjacent jurisdictions. 

The Service will encourage and support research and

management studies on Refuge lands that inform natural

resource management decisions. Scientific research

partnerships will give the Service opportunities to analyze

independently collected data and use research results to

develop adaptive management strategies. As data-sharing

partners, university faculty, staff and students as well as

independent scientists will be instrumental in helping the

Service develop baseline biological data. 

The Service will also collaborate with interested

organizations such as the Cold War Museum to interpret

the history of the Rocky Flats site and communicate its

story to Refuge visitors. Other potential partnerships

related to hunting, environmental education, trail use and

interpretation may involve local universities, school

districts, conservation and/or historical organizations,

open space agencies, recreation user groups and the

CDOW. 

Volunteer partnerships will be cultivated with individuals

interested in learning more about the Refuge and

assisting staff with various aspects of Refuge operations.

The Service also will support the development of a

"Friends" group for the new Refuge. Such a group will

play an important role in leveraging private resources and

public support for Refuge programming. 

5.4. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The Service will adopt an adaptive management approach

to the implementation of the proposed management

objectives. Adaptive management is "The rigorous

application of management, research and monitoring to

gain information and experience necessary to assess and

modify management activities... A process that uses

feedback from Refuge research and monitoring and

evaluation of management actions to support or modify

objectives and strategies at all planning levels" (U.S Fish

& Wildlife Service 2000). Because the Refuge is new,

ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of habitat

restoration and conservation and public use is essential for

adapting and refining objectives and strategies to ensure

management goals are achieved. Monitoring and

evaluation has been integrated into many resource

management and public use objectives. 

The Service will establish biological monitoring programs

to assess the effect of restoration and conservation

measures on habitat condition. The Service will monitor

certain habitat conditions to determine if the management

strategies are serving the needs of native wildlife species.

For example, periodic Preble's surveys will help determine

the effects of riparian habitat protection and enhancement

efforts. To assist in the control of invasive species such as

Dalmatian toadflax and diffuse knapweed and to restore

native plant communities, the Service will evaluate the use

of different treatments and control mechanisms, including

an IPM approach, prescribed fire, managed grazing, and a

combination of these techniques, for the most efficient

forms of weed suppression. The monitoring of vegetation

transects will help gauge the long-term effects of weed

management and restoration efforts in the xeric tallgrass

community. 

Visitor use surveys will measure the extent to which

visitors feel welcome, safe and comfortable at the Refuge

and the extent to which they learned about the Refuge

system, safety issues and the Service's stewardship role

during their visits. In addition to measuring visitor

satisfaction, the surveys will indicate the effectiveness of

public use programming in increasing visitors'

understanding and appreciation of natural resources and

promoting environmentally responsible behavior. 

This CCP is designed to be effective for 15 years. It will

undergo periodic review to evaluate whether the

established strategies are being implemented. Throughout

the life of the CCP, the Service will monitor Refuge

Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge 
Chapter 5: Implementation and Monitoring

Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan 121

resources, assess whether the goals and objectives for the

Refuge are being achieved and if necessary, adjust specific

management prescriptions to better respond to the longterm needs of the Refuge.

5.5. PLAN AMENDMENT AND REVISION

The CCP will be adjusted to include new and improved

information as it becomes available over the course of the

CCP's 15-year duration. Implementation of the CCP will

be monitored and reviewed regularly during inspections

and programmatic evaluations. Budget requests and

annual work plans will be tied directly to the CCP.

Fifteen years after the Refuge has been established, the

CCP will be formally revised, following the process used

on this CCP. Any substantive changes to the CCP before

the 15-year period will involve a public process. However,

under Title 50 CFR, the Refuge Manager has the

authority to take immediate actions outside this plan as

necessary to respond to emergencies and protect wildlife

and public safety.

5.6. REFERENCES

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 2000. Final Refuge

Planning Policy. FWM 355. Part 602 National

Wildlife Refuge System Planning.