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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-27-28 Public Comment - A. Breuer, Center for Large Landscape Conservation - UDO comments on streams and wetlandsFrom:abigail@largelandscapes.org To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDO comments on streams and wetlands Date:Tuesday, August 26, 2025 4:00:27 PM Attachments:image001.png image002.png image003.png image004.png image005.png image006.png image007.png image008.png CLLC_UDO Comments_Aug 2025.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear City of Bozeman, Attached, please find comments by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation in support of UDO recommendations and specific provisions in Appendix A to elevate attention to streams, wetlands and floodplains provided to the City on May 20, 2025, by the Gallatin Watershed Council. We appreciate the opportunity to offer the information attached. Thank you, Abigail Breuer Abigail Breuer Conservation Project Specialist 406.586.8082 Bozeman, MT | August 26, 2025 Dear City Commission, We write to provide unreserved support for the UDO recommendations and specific provisions in Appendix A to elevate attention to streams, wetlands and floodplains, offered by the Gallatin Watershed Council in its memo to the City Commission dated May 20th, 2025. In the arid West, water is life and greater stewardship of streams and wetlands within Bozeman city limits has ramifications for every natural resource consideration and every City resident. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation serves to address the complexity of landscape conservation such that ecosystem function and the critical ecosystem services on which all life depends remain intact. Given its topographic location, within the limits of the City of Bozeman, strengthening protection for streams and their floodplains, along with wetlands, is the primary opportunity to conserve natural resources within our rapidly growing community. Conserving ecological resiliency by maintaining intact streams, floodplains and wetlands would benefit City residents in multiple ways. So doing: • Increases resiliency to a changing climate by improving carbon sequestration and mitigating heat islands and droughts. • Enhances ecosystem services like aquifer recharge and buffering of flood events. • Maintains air and water quality from which people benefit. • Facilitates parks and greenways with accessible nature, an amenity that benefits human health. Further, several cost-benefit analyses highlight increased property values and associated financial benefits to towns and counties that maintain connected open space. We hope the City will ensure Bozeman residents are able to enjoy the benefits of functioning water systems as development continues. Thank you for your attention. Abigail Breuer Program Specialist