Minutes
April 20, 2005
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Brian Calvert, Michael Durland, Terrie Klinger, (Alan) Skeet Lowe, David Loyd, Mary Masters, Victoria Parker, Kit Rawson, Jim Slocomb, Tina Whitman, Dennis Willows
Absent : Mike Bertrand, David Hoopes, Joy Sevier
Guests: Joel Breemsa, Kirsten Evans, Dr. Don Gunderson and 5 students of UW rockfish life history/MPAs class, MRC Coordinator Jody Kennedy, Kari Koski, Commissioner Kevin Ranker,
Tom Schultz, Rowann Tallmon
Chair Kit Rawson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders Bank
Annex, Friday Harbor and invited members and audience to introduce themselves; he added that a large number of community members contribute to the MRCís work. Jody said that she will be sending
members a new email address list. Dr. Gunderson said that half of the class doing marine fish ecology apprenticeships is present today.
Minutes :
Review of the minutes of the 4/6/05 meeting was held over to next meeting.
New MRC Member Orientation :
Jody distributed binders for new members that include such documents as the MRC Charter, Vision and Goals statement, 2005 workplan, etc., which are also available on the MRC webpage at www.sjmrc.org.
She briefly outlined MRC's mission, funding sources and some of its projects, particularly the MSA.
Jody reported that the BOCC adopted the MRC's 2005 workplan yesterday; it now incorporates the new role of Citizens' Committee working with the Shared Strategy and the Salmon Recovery Fund Board.
Jody said that another inclusion in the binder is a form used to track volunteer hours (meetings, travel time, fuel, etc.) for grants reporting; Brian pointed out that expenses associated with volunteering are tax deductible. Laura suggested that the binders include all that was in the press packets on the MSA issue
(e.g. work book and other background materials).
Kit explained that MRC regular meetings are held the first and third Wednesdays of each month, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.; he said that the very full agendas are set by himself, Mary (Vice Chair), and Coordinator Jody with others input. He said they are trying to schedule presentations over the next several months and requested that members suggest future presenters and other agenda items to Jody. Kit explained the importance of using email for significant discussion (but not for voting). Jody distributed the list of subcommittees and their current membership, inviting new members to sign up. Kit noted that subcommittee work is often done outside of meeting time and participation is also open to non-members of the MRC.
Actions:
Motion: Jim moved, and Dennis seconded, that the letter from the MRC to Senator Maria Cantwell supporting the passage of SB262 (marine debris prevention and reduction legislation) be sent as drafted. The motion passed with Skeet Lowe opposing it since he believes the letter overstates the derelict gear out there.
Jody said that the new Beach Watcher Program that will be administered through the WSU Coop Extension Office here will be valuable to MRC work. Rowann Tollman, the coordinator of the program, explained that an advisory committee is being created and is seeking a member from the MRC; the Whale Museum, state and national parks, are some of the representatives on the advisory committee. She said that the Beach Watchers Program is patterned after the Master Gardeners Program (which has been in San Juan County for 12 years) in that 100 hours of free training will be provided with the requirement that 100 hours of volunteer time be given back to the community by each participant. The training will qualify participants to do on the beach stewardship and the intent is to make the Beach Watchers effective without duplicating other groups' work here. Tom Schultz, Director of the WSU Coop Extension Office, added that, like the 4-H, the committee operates in an advisory capacity only, is not formal and is not mandated by law; it will act as a sounding board and the aim is to tap the creative energy here. Tom said that the MRC representative's role on the advisory board will be significant and that a goal is to work in partnership with all the stakeholders. He said that although San Juan County is small, there is a huge need here for natural resources education. Tom added that two years of funding is guaranteed from the EPA and a third year is likely. Seven counties around Puget Sound now have Beach Watchers Programs and regional coordination of the Northwest District is done through the Extension Office.
David Loyd pointed out that such training and stewardship qualifies as a major part of MRC outreach and he offered to be the MRC representative on the advisory committee (Victoria and Tina are already on the committee in their different roles). Brian asked if the Port would be represented on the committee.
Kit said that the relationship with the Beach Watchers will be really important for MSA and other MRC work; he thanked David for volunteering.
Briefings:
Kit reported on the Management and Policy Subcommittee work; he said there is now a working version of the checklist, which was based on numerous other documents and is a tool to use, for instance, to evaluate MSA management measures (e.g. zoning schemes, regulatory revision requests, voluntary actions requests). The checklist has been tested on the Bottomfish Recovery Program and the whale watch exclusion zone, the Samish native oyster reintroduction project, the eelgrass mapping project, and no-wake zones; Kit pointed out that the checklist for some projects is not complete.
Kit thanked those MRC members who attended yesterday's BOCC briefing on the MRC's new salmon recovery plan responsibilities. Mary presented the full MRC workplan to the BOCC (Kit's notes for the discussion were distributed to members). A proposed timeline for the SRF Board proposal review was also distributed. Kit said that state law set up the Salmon Recovery Act and the County is taking over the lead entity role. The County Community Development and Planning Department (CD&P) and the MRC will carry out the task of reviewing and submitting a list of ranked proposals to SRF Board and will also seek other funds for salmon recovery work. Kit said that the Shared Salmon Strategy is a unique approach in that the federal government is not left to write recovery plans for the salmon listed as endangered species by the ESA.
The plan is due June 30, 2005. Kit said that an immediate task for SJC now is to complete the WRIA2 chapter. Shared Strategy took on the responsibility of finishing the plan and has hired Laura Arnold to write it. Laura will lead a discussion at the MRC meeting on May 18th on the particular actions that fall out of all the watershed analyses. Laura said she wants members to understand how the Shared Strategy salmon recovery part of the MRC workplan relates to the MSA work. Kit is on the Technical Recovery Team. He reviewed the proposed timeline and there was discussion on the impacts of the recovery plan, for instance, its possible downstream effects. Terrie pointed out that these are untested waters. Kit said this plan will be important, for among other things, setting strategy and priorities for projects to be funded; projects are not the only part of salmon recovery. Tina said the projects can be defined as habitat protection.
The MRC's role as the citizens committee is to inform the BOCC of the draft chapter for the recovery plan that will be submitted to Shared Strategy by May 18th. Jim suggested that the BOCC be asked to provide their comments on the draft. Kit said the SRF Board has geographic scope that covers the entire state of Washington whereas Shared Strategy covers just the Puget Sound area. SRF Board wants each WRIA to have a strategy; in terms of the salmon recovery process, Round 6 funding requires a ranked list of project proposals by 9/30/05. Kit said that with the lead entity responsibilities comes the resources for hiring a full-time lead entity coordinator to help with the work. Tina said that San Juan County right now has one planner and, at the Planning Commission meeting last Friday, Assistant Director of the CD&P, Francine Shaw, said that CD&P might re-scope the second planner position to include a half-time lead entity coordinator. Kit said his understanding from the discussion with the BOCC yesterday was different...that the MRC needs a full-time lead entity coordinator beginning May 1st; the BOCC said this would be a contracted employee. Jim suggested that MRC members comment to the BOCC on the need for a full-time coordinator since they have to approve any new job position description. Victoria suggested that Kit send a letter to the BOCC, with copies to the Director and Assistant Director of CD&P, recapping the proceedings of yesterday's meeting.
Kit said that he, Mary, and Jody came up with the proposed timeline, which he reviewed. He suggested that a Technical Advisory Group be designated to review proposals based on criteria set by the MRC. To distinguish this group from the MRC's other technical advisory work, Kit suggested it be termed the Salmon Technical Advisory Group (STAG). STAG will review and score proposals and the MRC will do the final ranking. The comment was made, with regards to nearshore habitat issues, that salmon don't just swim by the San Juans...they stop here for lunch, or for a few years or longer, or they are lunch!
There was discussion on dealing with possible conflicts if an MRC or STAG member were to submit a project proposal. Jim suggested that participants should not vote on funding for projects. There was discussion on the criteria for ranking, including the objectives/evaluation of non-technical considerations, such as economic impacts. Jody will pull together existing examples of ranking processes and invited members to submit others to her. Jim referred to the municipal research website that provides generic training for government officials. Kari suggested the PSAT liaison to the MRC could perhaps advise. Brian said it was important to have the significant amount of money that the recovery plan could bring into the county best serve salmon and people; with these economic considerations and others, he suggested asking the Prosecuting Attorney's office for guidance on policy. Kit said that the challenge is to have a transparent process before the June 22nd meeting that addresses the policy vs technical issue, the project proponents being MRC or STAG members, the examples from other similar processes, the question of the MRC receiving funds that are accrued by the MRC, and several other policy issues.
Tina suggested that people who were on the now-disbanded citizens advisory group should receive formal acknowledgment of their service from the MRC and notice of whether they are being invited to participate in the new process; select people could also be invited to join STAG. Kit said that he has solicited some help from people to review Laura's work to date.
Motion: Brian moved, and Terrie seconded, that Jody draft a letter from the BOCC thanking members of the former citizens advisory group and informing them of the current situation. A second letter will be sent inviting participation in the MRC process. After discussion, Brian amended the motion to first review the full list from the SJCCD and then take action with invitation letters. The motion passed unanimously.
There was further discussion on the proposed timeline, taking into consideration that Jim, Tina, Terrie and others will be on-the-water and not available during the extreme low tide days (6/19-25).
Motion: Jim moved, and David seconded, that the schedule be adopted as written, adding an MRC regular meeting on June 15th. After discussion, the motion was withdrawn.
There was general consensus that the June 22nd meeting be changed to June 15th, with the understanding that if more time was needed there could still be a meeting on the 22nd.
Citizens' Comments:
Jody reminded everyone to re-convene at 11:00 am at Vics in honor of Jim's 6 years of service as MRC chair. She also announced that the science/technology subcommittee would be meeting at the MRC office at 12:30 today; she said that everyone was welcome to attend.
Jody added that the subcommittee has been looking at how to work with the Nature Conservancy, using its Five-S planning approach, to identify and address threats to the marine ecosystem here; a second topic is the convening of a technical panel of scientists for MSA guidance.
Kari reminded everyone that the conservation plans for the killer whale are available online for both the U.S. (NOAA.gov) and Canada (Fisheries and Oceans site). For the U.S., public comments are due by May 15th. Kari noted that efforts to protect the whales are paired with salmon recovery work. She was invited to present to the next MRC meeting on the issue.
Jody announced that two MSA outreach meetings have been scheduled...one at Eastsound on April 27th and the other at Shaw Island on May 10th. Dennis will be doing an MSA presentation to a large citizens group on Whidbey Island the first week of May.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
