Minutes
July 21, 2004
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Brian Calvert, Peter Fromm, David Hoopes, Terrie Klinger, David Loyd,
Mary Masters, Kevin Ranker, DJ Sessner, Jim Slocomb, Dennis Willows
Absent: Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Mike Bertrand, Kit Rawson
Guests: Ray Bigler, Shannon Davis, Lisa Kaufman, Jody Kennedy, Claudia Mills, 11 students from
Dr. Terrie Klinger’s UW Friday Harbor Labs class
Guest presenters: Jessemine Fung and Keeley O’Connell, People for Puget Sound
Chair Jim Slocomb called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the conference room in Islanders Bank Annex,
Friday Harbor.
Minutes: Minutes of the 6/16/04 meeting were approved as amended by email. Minutes of the 7/7/04 meeting were approved with the following spelling corrections: page 1, last ¶, lst line, “educational” and page 2, next to last ¶, “siting.”
Terrie Klinger introduced students from her Labs class, noting that they represented several countries, including Peru, Portugal, Ecuador, Canada, and the U.S. She explained that the five-weeks course is focused on marine conservation biology, with particular interest in MPA’s in the area.
Membership:
Brian presented the subcommittee’s report that recommends outreach to organizations currently under-represented in MRC membership makeup in order to diversify the membership. The report also suggests re-examination of the current meeting schedule and attendance requirements that could be revised to facilitate more diversity; more use of subcommittee work in lieu of twice-monthly meetings could also be considered. Brian identified target groups to include, for example, the Chamber of Commerce, The Economic Development Committee, Visitors’ Bureau, recreational divers, Puget Sound Anglers, barge operators, the five yacht clubs in the Islands, and the Board of Realtors. He suggested a letter be sent to these user groups and to the industries that support such user groups. Jim said that the letter should come from the BOCC, noting that events taking place now could affect the users’ future and economics.
There was discussion about re-structuring the meeting schedule (e.g. more subcommittee work could result in fewer monthly meetings) and about the complication that many people wear multiple hats. Mary added that Commissioner Miller’s suggestion was to add alternates for members. There are 2 or 3 membership openings at this time. Mary said that such a letter could double as an effective MRC / MSA outreach tool and Kevin agreed that this would be an opportunity to increase non-San Juan Island group membership. There was consensus that Brian and Jody draft a letter for review at the next meeting, as well as the beginnings of a mailing list; the letter could also be published in newspapers as well.
NWSC Retreat:
Jody, Kevin and Jim will be the official MRC representation to the Retreat; other members are encouraged to attend and travel expenses will be covered by the MRC.
Jim said that he talked with the BOCC yesterday about the MRC getting more involved in watershed and upland impacts to the nearshore environment because of relevance to the recent federal Ruckelshaus report. Kevin said that the issue, as noted in the Ruckelshaus report recommendations, is the land / sea connectedness, with ultimate impacts on marine ecosystems (e.g. runoff impacts from upland development to the nearshore environment). He added that he will provide more clarification on the issue to the BOCC before the NWSC Retreat.
Jim asked members for suggestions for other Retreat agenda items. Laura requested a discussion from the NWSC to clarify the upland impacts issue. DJ said that, as the county land use person, she recognizes that there is a gaping hole between science coming from the MRC, for instance, and developing county policy and possible related regulation. She said the MRC could be making recommendations on how to turn such science into needed to best implement recentlly-collected scientific data (i.e. providing the methodology to get there). Kevin said that, for example, the forage fish data will be used in the shoreline master program’s critical areas update. There was further discussion on the issue of coordination and development of the right relationships. Kevin said that, on a regional basis, the MRCs may be better prepared with some having direct connection to their citizens’ committees. Dennis said that existing law made the forage fish data application possible; he proposed direction to Terrie’s class that they research where science can be attached to existing law and policy.
Jim noted that one glaring gap is that there is no data on non-commercial species, as big a gap as human use in the county.
Guest presentation: “Skagit Estuary Restoration Assessment, Creating a Sound-wide blueprint for the restoration of shorelines and estuaries:”
Jim said he was first exposed to this topic at the MRC conference in Everett recently; he said this is an exquisitely done tool for application in shoreline master program development.
Jessemine introduced herself as the Habitat Restoration Manager for PPS and Keeley is the Habitat Restoration Coordinator in the PPS Mount Vernon office. They are co-authors of the “Northern Skagit Bays and Shoreline Habitat Conservation and Restoration Blueprint,” prepared for the Skagit County MRC. Goals of the study were to assist the MRC in compiling existing datasets that characterize nearshore habitat and to identify restoration and conservation targets over the northern bays of Skagit County. The analysis was based on data from Fidalgo, Padilla, Samish Bays and Guemes Channel, using WADOE’s oblique photographs and GIS datasets. The approach included inventory, analysis, prioritization of the 343 sites, and a feasibility study of possible actions. The MRC provided input on what data needed to be captured and key datasets came from WDNR, WDFW, DOE, PPS, and Skagit County. Trained interns and volunteers examined the data and excerpted information from the DOE photos.
Data on aquatic vegetation, feeder bluffs, forage fish habitat and restoration, juvenile salmonid use of habitat, and sediment supply restoration were analyzed and rated.
Keeley said the Skagit County MRC assigned a subcommittee to do prioritization of the 343 sites; 21 sites were identified for further study and feasibility analysis for future project development. Local knowledge played a large part in adding to information on existing maps so that specifics on priority sites for restoration could be identified. This was followed by PPS’ identification of potential projects, 1 to 7 or 8 at a single site. The MRC subcommittee then reviewed this selection for feasibility. The feasibility analysis included ranking priority projects for conservation, restoration, or stewardship through education efforts.
Keeley said that restoration projects are easier on public property but education efforts have more impact on private property owners. She recommended looking at Island County beachwatchers as a good example of stewardship education (see www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu). Another example is the neighborhood “Septic Socials” held by Shorewatch in King County. PPS also has a downloadable document, “Coastal Living,” that explains the do’s and don’ts of living on the beach (e.g. native shrubs can be planted to augment overhanging vegetation along a shoreline that won’t reduce the view).
Keeley said the Skagit MRC is now ready to move on three of their projects, all around March’s Point; these will be included in the next round of NWSC grants for funding. The MRC will be working with Tesoro which has money for restoration projects. The projects identified were: (1) along the west side of March’s Point (which, since 9/11, is not used as often for camping): the shoulder will be widened, trees will be planted in the reduced parking area, rip rap will be cleaned up and the beach will be nourished; (2) Crandall Spit: a dike will be removed to restore flow under a pier that’s being expanded; (3) the Tesoro emergency boat launch will be re-designed and retrofitted, rather
than being removed.
Keeley said the next steps for the Blueprint include updating datasets and oblique photos (DOE photos are taken every 5 years and CD’s are available), spreading the word (e.g. through other MRC citizen groups), and expanding the Blueprint around Puget Sound. She said the Blueprint is a planning tool for use by citizens, managers, and agencies.
Jim said he was impressed with the project selection mechanism and with the workable basic methodology for applying standard templates for stewardship areas along shorelines. Keeley said that the cost for analyzing the 60 miles of shoreline in this Blueprint analysis was $20-25,000, which was matched by internal PPS funds. The effort took 14 months but a second iteration could take less time applying lessons learned, Keeley said.
Coordinator’s update:
Jody relayed Kit’s request that all members fill out the Political Compass he emailed to everyone; he will then chart the results.
Dates for the Managers’ Workshop will be November 9th and 10th, to be held at the UW Labs; she suggested as much MRC participation as possible.
Citizens’ comments:
Lisa Kaufman of DNR said that there is a strong possibility for funding in the 2005-07 cycle for MRC’s to do on-the-ground restoration projects (e.g. creosote removal, bank/beach softening) on state-owned lands. There will be $100,000 total for all seven MRC’s. Lisa added that the Blueprint is a key funding tool for Puget Sound right now.
Shannon Davis said that 3 to 5 canoes of the Canoe Journey will be landing at Odlin Park, Lopez on Tuesday; they will land at Roche Harbor on Wednesday around 4 p.m. She said that Lopez is planning a community potluck and a welcoming ceremony is planned for Roche Harbor; Peter and Jim will provide support boats.
Island County needs volunteers for its restoration events, including Spartina Dig Days in August at Camano Island, Iverson Spit and other locations; check www.pugetsound.org for details.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
