Minutes
August 3 , 2005
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Michael Durland, (Alan) Skeet Lowe, David Loyd, Mary Masters, Victoria Parker, Kit Rawson, Joy Sevier, Jim Slocomb, Tina Whitman
Staff : Jody Kennedy, Barbara Rosenkotter, Helen Venada
Absent : Mike Bertrand, Brian Calvert, Terrie Klinger, Dennis Willows
Guests: Joel Breems , Kirsten Evans, Joe Gaydos, Phil Green, Rowann Tallmon, Bob Warinner , Matt Zybas
Guest presenter: Emily Halquist, SeaDoc Society
Chair Kit Rawson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders Bank Annex, Friday Harbor. Copies of the revised MSA laminated map were distributed; Jody said that the Port of Friday Harbor paid for half of the printing costs.
Citizen comments: Rowann Tallmon, Coordinator of the SJC Beachwatchers Program, said that the recruiting drive for Beachwatchers has begun for the March/April trainings; a brochure will be distributed at the County Fair.
Minutes :
Minutes of the 6/15/05 meeting were approved as read. Minutes of the 7/20/05 non-quorum meeting were discussed; they will be posted to the MRC webpage with the correction on page 3, last paragraph that the decision came from the Growth Management Board, not the Supreme Court.
Guest presentation: Emily Halquist said that she is a summer intern with the SeaDoc Society and a high school junior at Foresters School in Bellevue. She said that, prompted by the MRC's MSA project and as an essential first step in the process, SeaDoc has been working on a marine species inventory for San Juan County with local specialists helping to refine the data. She distributed copies of “Marine Species in San Juan County and Puget Sound Georgia Basin: A Species Inventory,” adding that this is an effort to protect our fragile ecosystem. Emily said the inventory can serve as an educational tool for the public on the future of marine life here in the hopes of sparking interest in preserving the marine environment. Joe Gaydos asked that comments and clarifications be sent to him, e.g. that some chum salmon are abundant in the San Juans. The inventory is available on line at www.seadocsociety.org.
Kirsten Evans suggested that there are extensive inventory lists available at UW Friday Harbor Labs that could be helpful to the project. The committee thanked Emily for her work and Kit invited her to attend future MRC meetings.
MSA Anniversary Event Proposal: Victoria suggested that the upcoming January 2006 anniversary of the establishment of the MSA could be a good (annual?) opportunity to celebrate the BOCC decision and the project's achievements for the year; it would also serve to increase public knowledge and understanding of the MSA and to promote more public involvement. She distributed copies of a proposal for a one-week MSA anniversary celebration, noting that costs for such an event could come out of the education budget ($19,000 over 2 years). Goals include engaging San Juan County citizens, agencies, and businesses in the voluntary MSA actions that protect our marine environment; encouraging BOCC approval of MSA report/recommendations due in January 2006; educating/alerting decision makers and citizens of the urgency to act; creating visible new allies for MSA; and developing an atmosphere for acceptance of necessary and potential increase of regulations.
Victoria outlined a strategic plan for the celebration week including the focus points of the five voluntary actions proposed by Jim on the MSA map. The committee discussed the general concept of the proposal and Jim pointed out that educational outreach is the only tool to implement voluntary efforts. Tina suggested house parties on Orcas, Lopez, and Waldron, for instance, as well as boat rides. Other ideas were to use an MSA logo (branding) and to have good press coverage to promote the event. Mary asked if the MSA deliverables were due to the BOCC in January or March. A sub-committee was formed (Barbara, Rowann, Kari, Victoria, Mary, and David) to develop the idea further.
Tina suggested that there should be more frequent press releases in general on MRC work...for example, an article could have been written on the 45 scientists who recently spent a whole day here talking about marine issues. She also pointed out the significance of Terry Williams' visit and his discussion on tribal involvement. Tina suggested presenting a packet and/or photos to the press on future occasions.
MRC Membership:
Kit said that he sent a letter to the BOCC about the open MRC position with these recommendations: (1) that the Community Development and Planning Director be a member (a statutory requirement) as soon as feasible; (2) that the MRC develop a new list of prospective members and start the interview process; and (3) that if the BOCC wants to appoint someone immediately to fill the open position it should be one of the two persons already interviewed. Tina said that Jonathan White was appointed yesterday to fill out David's term.
There were two non-quorum meetings in the last month and Jody pointed out that Commissioner Ranker emphasized at the last MRC meeting the importance of having full attendance to allow for voting. Kit researched member attendance for this year; he applauded the two members who have perfect attendance so far (Laura and Victoria). He also noted that there are several members and non-members who are active in MRC work outside of meetings who should be recognized; also, some members cannot attend all meetings due to other commitments but continue to actively participate in MRC work. Kit reiterated that members need to attend meetings to establish a quorum necessary to take actions, e.g. voting, particularly funding voting.
There was discussion about the Town of Friday Harbor membership. Kit said the MRC charter reads that the Town should be represented to the extent possible. Jim suggested that perhaps Mayor Gary Boothman, an avid sailboater (who is not running for re-election), might be interested in MRC membership. He also noted that the Port of Friday Harbor will likely be appointing a replacement for Brian Calvert when his Port Commissioner role ends in January.
Barbara cautioned that proxy vote requirements are changing for not-for-profit board activity so that electing alternates might be preferable to provide for quorum votes. Jody said that the NWSC has alternates. Kit asked that members communicate with Jody if they won't be attending a meeting; this is particularly important if a member will be absent for three consecutive meetings. The charter business rules say that the MRC will consider three consecutive absences from regularly scheduled monthly meetings of the committee as neglect of duty (unless permission has been granted by the MRC and is so noted in the minutes) and, therefore, subject to removal. Kit recommended informal contacts with those members who fall into this category.
Salmon Recovery Funding Board Proposals:
Barbara reported that five proposals were received for review, all of which are assessment proposals. She distributed the list which includes proposals from Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, Friends of the San Juans (2), Center for the Study of Coast Salish Environments (2); she briefly discussed each. The STAG is trying to schedule their technical reviews the last week of August; Barbara will notify MRC members of the date and time so that they can attend. SRF Board will do a technical review (i.e. site visits) on August 22nd in Friday Harbor. A strategy review will be held in Olympia on August 24th; Kit will attend and others are encouraged to go as well. The STAG will report to the MRC at its September 7th meeting on the proposals review. On September 21st, the MRC as the citizens advisory group for the SRF Board will do the final ranking of proposals; Barbara emphasized that the local ranking is important and it is critical for there to be an MRC quorum at this meeting. Proposals will be formally submitted to SRF Board on September 30th and in January 2006 SRF Board will submit its funding decision. Kit pointed out that he and Jim will both be gone for the September 30th meeting so that other members are asked to make a special effort to attend; Tina and Jim both have conflicts in voting on the proposals.
There was discussion on the ranking process, scoring criteria and documentation. Joel Breems , Habitat Restoration Assistant for the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, said that even though the Group has submitted a proposal and is embedded in the SRF Board process, they would like to be involved in the planning aspect and strategy development for the future and will help with any needed resources. Tina said a strategy group is forming and Skagit Fisheries as well as the other proponents will be asked to participate. Joel suggested that the MRC set the ongoing makeup of the strategy group for continuity, establishing a framework for the future. David suggested that the press be invited to the meetings.
MSA Report:
Kit said that Terry Williams from the Tulalip tribe visited San Juan Island yesterday and took a tour of the Island. Terry is the tribal representative to NWSC and, Kit said, he has had global involvement in indigenous people and fisheries issues. He said he is grateful that Terry took time to come to San Juan County. In session with the BOCC, Terry expressed support for the MSA moving forward and had some cautionary comments as well on some of the specific ideas the MRC has put out; he had strong support for the positive way the county has been working with the tribes in the last several years. Terry talked about the Salmon Recovery plan and supported more funding for administrating the Plan. He also discussed the orca as a symbol for the Tulalip tribes, suggesting that there was some commonality between the tribes and San Juan County in that. Terry had a good discussion at the MSA/5-S Core Group meeting about the tribes' involvement in the process; Kit said there was good progress on coming up with a process to establish targets and ecological attributes. The human use workshop will be held on October 7th and Kit suggested that a list of participants will need to be developed.
Jody said that Terry expressed the tribes' distrust of local government and has focused more on state policy development. She said the MSA workshops may be the opportunity for us to get over that hurdle in a positive effort for everyone. Kit said that such things take time and Jody said that MRC visits to the tribes may be the best approach. Laura observed that former Commissioner Rhea Miller had worked diligently to establish a good relationship with the tribes; she suggested that the MRC highlight the importance of the BOCC continuing that relationship. Laura also suggested that records of the work sessions and informal contacts with the tribes be shared in outreach efforts. Jim said that visits with the tribes needed to be with the willingness to have discussion.
Tina suggested that phone calls in addition to email invitations may need to be made for the human use workshop. Jody said the MOU is moving forward and attorneys have reviewed it; Kit said the MOU Scope of Work could be pulled out as a contract. Kirsten said that an experienced TNC facilitator from Texas will be sending out examples of other similar community workshops. Terry suggested that that there be adequate public outreach before so that the BOCC could bring forth the plan with public support. Dave reiterated that good press coverage throughout the process is critical.
NWSC Report:
Jody said that the NWSC met last Friday at the Padilla Bay Reserve, which is trying to get LEED-certification for its new facility (LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green building rating system). There was a presentation on a creosote removal project in Skagit County and Ginny Broadhurst is working with DNR to leverage funds for MRCs to do similar projects; there was discussion on policies to address the fact that creosote is still being legally manufactured and sold. Jody said that Tom Cowan has done a presentation to the UN on derelict fishing gear; a copy of the well-done video on the subject will be distributed to MRCs. The NWSC “training” conference will be held the first weekend in November in Bow; Jody will send out the agenda. She said that there will be a conference session on NWSC's data coordination project for input from attendees. NWSC is pulling together a list of existing data as is People for Puget Sound and the Puget Sound Action Team, with slightly different focuses. Jim suggested sending them the MSA report appendix (data layers).
USSEE Conference Report:
Jody attended the US Society for Ecological Economics last week. The USSEE is looking at our current economic system which is focused on maximizing capital and the Society is trying to identify ways to bring ecological (natural) capital into the system. Jody said that there is no sustainability in maximizing our capital while depleting our fish stocks, for example and the Society is looking for ways to define economic growth by factoring in the value of natural resources. She said she particularly found valuable discussions on restoration/reclamation projects that can provide jobs and positive actions for the environment, ecotourism and sustainable agriculture as ways of enhancing local economies; and, local currency (e.g. from Burlington VT) to promote locally-produced goods and local trade systems. Jody said there are people looking at how to determine the value of marine ecosystem services of Puget Sound. Kit said the one obvious ecosystem service with value is the harvestable marine resources of Puget Sound, which, if they can continue to thrive here, have export value. Jim said that recreational boating attracts many people and their money to the area.
Jody will write a summary of the conference. A disc copy of the abstracts will be linked on the MRC webpage.
Citizen Comments:
Jim said that the Pierce County Hearings Board determined that the use of best available science in the County's critical areas ordinance was lame. He said this was the first time he's heard of a Hearings Board using nearshore habitat for salmon as critical area.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Helen Venada
