C.R.S.
Section 24-33-111
Conservation of native species
- fund created
(1)
Legislative declaration.(2)
Species conservation trust fund - creation.(B)
On July 1, 2017, the state treasurer shall transfer four million ninety thousand nine hundred nine dollars from the general fund to the species conservation trust fund. On July 1, 2018, the state treasurer shall transfer three million dollars from the general fund to the species conservation trust fund.(C)
Notwithstanding subsection (2)(a)(I)(A) of this section, on April 30, 2021, the state treasurer shall transfer one million nine hundred ninety-eight thousand two hundred five dollars from the species conservation trust fund to the severance tax operational fund created in section 39-29-109 (2)(b)(I).(II)
Beginning with the state fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2009, the general assembly shall appropriate an amount not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars from the species conservation trust fund to the department of natural resources for the purpose of acquiring water for instream flows. Moneys appropriated for this purpose shall be used to preserve or improve the natural environment of species that have been listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal law, or are candidate species or are likely to become candidate species. The executive director of the department of natural resources, in preparing the species conservation eligibility list pursuant to this section, shall provide a list of the specific instream flow acquisitions that would be financed pursuant to this subparagraph (II). Such list shall include the species that would benefit from each proposed instream flow acquisition. Prior to obligating revenues from the fund, the list of specific instream flow acquisitions is subject to modification and adoption by the general assembly through passage of a bill.(III)
Repealed.(b)
to (e) Repealed.(3)
Species conservation eligibility list and annual report.(a)
The executive director of the department of natural resources, after consultation with the Colorado water conservation board and its director, the parks and wildlife commission, and the director of the division of parks and wildlife, shall annually prepare a species conservation eligibility list describing programs and associated costs that are eligible to receive funding pursuant to this section. The species conservation eligibility list is subject to modification and adoption through passage of a bill. Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), at the same time as the species conservation eligibility list is submitted, the director of the department of natural resources, after consultation with the Colorado water conservation board and its director, the parks and wildlife commission, and the director of the division of parks and wildlife, shall also provide a detailed report to the general assembly on the progress and status of activities to date and their effectiveness in the recovery of the species and identify proposed future activities. The report shall include an assessment of habitat benefits, both public and private, attributable to such activities.(b)
Funding shall be distributed by the executive director of the department of natural resources among projects included in the species conservation eligibility list for the following purposes:(I)
Cooperative agreements, recovery programs, and other programs that are designed to meet obligations arising under the federal “Endangered Species Act of 1973”, 16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq., and that provide regulatory certainty in accordance with subsection (4) of this section;(II)
Studies and programs established or approved by the division of parks and wildlife and the executive director of the department of natural resources regarding:(A)
Species placed on the state endangered or threatened list in accordance with section 33-2-105, C.R.S.;(B)
Candidate species in order to assist in the recovery or protection of the species to avoid listing of the species;(C)
Scientific research relating to listing or delisting any species; or(D)
If a species that is not on the federal endangered or threatened species list is proposed to be added to the state endangered or threatened species list, the evaluation of the species pursuant to this sub-subparagraph (D) shall include: Scientific evaluation of genetic data that proves the species is a separate and distinct species in the ecosystem; evaluation of the species habitat that encompasses the entire geographic area of the species habitat not just portions of such habitat; and the reliable scientific baseline data used to ascertain that the number of the species in the habitat is rapidly declining over time.(c)
In no event shall moneys from the species conservation trust fund, created in subsection (2) of this section, be used to acquire any property through the exercise of eminent domain.(4)
Agreement requirements.(5)
Maximization of funds.
Source:
Section 24-33-111 — Conservation of native species - fund created, https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-title-24.pdf
(accessed Oct. 20, 2023).