Minutes
January 5, 2005
Members Present: Laura Arnold, David Hoopes, Jim Slocomb
Absent: Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Mike Bertrand, Brian Calvert, Peter Fromm, Terrie Klinger, David Loyd, Mary Masters, Kevin Ranker, Kit Rawson, Dennis Willows
Guests: Mark Billington, Phil Green, Jody Kennedy, Kari Koski, Victoria Parker, Rowann Tallmon
Chair Jim Slocomb called the non-quorum meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders Bank Annex, Friday Harbor.
Citizens’ Comments:
Mark Billington asked about the scheduling for review of the county’s Shoreline Master Program and of the Critical Areas ordinance. Jim Slocomb said that, due to the county’s current state of disarray and to the best of his knowledge, the county is not planning to review the Shoreline Master Program until the statutory date seven years out; the statutory responsibility for the Critical Areas update is December 2005. Jim said that he and Jody received an email from Commissioner Rhea Miller noting that the recently-held marine managers’ conference did not seem entirely complimentary of the implementation of the Shoreline Master Program in San Juan County; Rhea recommended that the BOCC take up the issue more formally with the MRC. Laura added that there was some discussion about putting the Critical Areas update together with an update of the Shoreline Master Program, even though the latter is not required at this time. Jim pointed out that this issue is up for further discussion on today’s agenda.
Phil Green, who attended the recent MRC outreach meeting at Deer Harbor. addressed the issue of illegal fishing around Yellow Island, a protected area. He distributed copies of a form used by citizen volunteers that is filled out when boats are seen in the protected area; it records date and other information related to the observation, including comments when personal contacts are possible. Phil asked for suggested edits to the form. He explained that range finders were used from shore to record distances and pointed out that there were recently 15 to 20 boats inside the protected zone; after contact and explanation on the reason for the protection, boaters voluntarily left the area, he said. Traffic counts on the water, he said, are statistically large. Kari Koski agreed and said that she will send out the form that is used by Soundwatch observers. Kari said it would useful, in terms of stewardship, if MRC members and other citizens kept an eye on things all the time.
Minutes:
Review of minutes of the 12/1/04 and 12/15/04 meetings was held over to the next meeting.
JEMS Letter of Support:
There was consensus, among members present and by email, to approve and send out MRC’s revised letter of support for JEMS (Joint Effort to Monitor the Strait).
Anti-MPA legislation:
Jim said that he has tried over the years to contact representatives from sportfishing advocacy groups to invite them to speak in the community but has had no return email to date. He said he has learned that these groups are active in state capitals and Washington D.C. but don’t seem to talk to locals. Jim sent off a letter to Representative Jeff Morris yesterday, asking for an update on proposed anti-MPA legislation, saying that any such legislation would erode whatever accomplishments local voluntary efforts had worked hard to achieve, including good relations with regional tribes. Jim said that Kit suggested that the Tulalips are very interested in the issue and are opposed to the anti-MPA legislation under discussion. There was further member discussion; Kari expressed interest in the perspective of recreational boaters and fishermen. Jody said there is the possibility that the legislation may be targeted to this area and its MSA initiative. She said the NWSC will keep an eye on the issue.
NWSC Retreat:
Jody said the NWSC Retreat is planned for January 12th and 13th and she asked for member suggestions for the retreat agenda; she will continue the discussion by email to include today’s absent members. Jim said that one idea he heard was to make the entire focus of the retreat the MSA issue, specifically its development and implementation, noting that this was the flagship future work plan topic of the recent MRC Retreat. Jody said that NWSC’s new budget holds high interest, particularly future fundraising support (grant matching and seed money for other grants). Laura suggested that monitoring be targeted as a means to measure success (e.g. deliverables); Kari agreed that restoration requires that monitoring be recognized as a heightened priority. Other ideas for NWSC Retreat topics, along with monitoring and NWSC budget, were: existing protection of marine resources, long-term projects, well-coordinated regional projects with other MRC’s (e.g. outreach), funding priorities, adoption of a philosophy of more local control, not a regional one-size-fits-all approach.
Sub-committee membership:
Jody said there was agreement at the MRC Retreat that there would be five sub-committees; membership, to date, is as follows:
Science/Technical Kit, Terrie, David Hoopes
Management/Policy Kit
Outreach David Loyd, David Hoopes, Kari Koski
Executive
Fundraising Dennis
Jody will provide an outline of responsibilities for each sub-committee to use in recruitment efforts.
MSA Outreach:
Jody asked about ways to improve outreach meeting structure. There have been two such pilot meetings--on Waldron and at Deer Harbor, each with different audience expectations. Jody distributed the few meeting evaluation forms for review. Jim will do a presentation at the Power Squadron meeting tomorrow night.
There was discussion about scheduling future meetings (taking into account different seasonal populations) and on clarifying the outreach message. Laura said there needs to be more of an introductory, educational component on the status of marine resources. Kari suggested that the BFRP slide show and narrative be used, with its good images and statements. Jim said the Power Point presentation will be shown to the BOCC at the end of this month, as part of the MRC annual report; he asked that members attend in numbers. Included in the presentation will be the annual report, the 2005 Work Plan, the status report on the MSA, and an update on the derelict vessels project.
There will be a Sea Doc Society meeting on Orcas on February 8th. Jody will be do a presentation on the MSA to the San Juan Nature Institute at Camp Orkila on Orcas. There was discussion on scheduling regular MRC meetings on other islands, perhaps using the first meeting of the month for business and the second meeting for outreach meetings. It was suggested that meeting schedules be publicized in the community events calendars of all local newspapers.
There was some confusion on reports from the Marine Managers conference about shoreline issues, such as code compliance and enforcement; Jody will get clarification from Ginnie Broadhurst. Jim said that there have been suggestions from the BOCC and NWSC that the MRC get closer to the beach and watersheds issues but the shape and form of future MRC approaches on the issues has not been explored.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
