Minutes
May 5, 2004
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Peter Fromm, David Hoopes, Terrie Klinger, David Loyd, Mary Masters,
Kevin Ranker, Jim Slocomb
Absent: Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Mike Bertrand, Brian Calvert, Kit Rawson, Dennis Willows
Guests: Ray Bigler, Jody Kennedy, Kari Koski, Commissioner Rhea Miller, DJ Sessner
Chair, David Loyd, called the meeting to order at 8:40 a.m. in the Council Chambers, Town of Friday Harbor. He briefly reported on an ROV study off Skip Jack...where observers from the Samish Nation had anticipated good bottomfish habitat. No adults and lots of under-sized juveniles were identified, the area essentially “cleaned out,” David added. Jim said that editing the video of the trip would be a great student project. David will try to get a copy for the MRC to see and to show fishermen and other stakesholders.
Kevin Ranker discussed the idea of MRC affiliates on other islands. Since, historicaslly, the MRC has not seen much success in finding members from all the various islands (current membership makeup is San Juan, 11 members; Waldron, 1; Orcas,1; Tulalip tribal representation, 1), there could be value in other community formats for discussion of marine issues. Kevin suggested there could be one such affiliated group per community (e.g. Deer Harbor). Discussion followed.
Commissioner Rhea Miller reported that the BOCC will be going to Saturna Island in June to discuss transboundary marine stewardship efforts and land use issues, as well.
Peter distributed copies of a page from the March 2004 issue of National Geographic magazine. He pointed out that the article and accompanying graph compare the current rate of resource consumption by China and the U.S. (e.g. there are 16 vehicles per 1,000 persons in China and 774 per 1,000 Americans; Americans consume 730 pounds of paper per person per year while the Chinese consume one-tenth as much. Peter said this is a touchstone for what is going on in the rest of the world now. Rhea noted that the graph shows that resource consumption is not necessarily dependent on population numbers.
Minutes: Minutes of the April 21, 2004 meeting were approved as read.
David Loyd explained that he would like to present some of his ideas and thoughts related to MRC direction down the road. He said that the current committee makeup has shown that it is highly competent and the group works effectively together...with the simple goal being to restore and maintain marine resources. David said he feels that the MRC is in transition, as a group--from an advisory body to one taking more of an active role (e.g. with MSA outreach programs). One suggestion David made was for the committee to look at other organizational models to re-structure the committee to meet needs of the future. One model, he said, is the Island County MRC with an Executive Director funded by grants. He also suggested that there be a standing sub-committee for membership nominations, to conduct an ongoing drive for new members, nurturing especially people from other islands and stakeholder groups like fishermen. David said that, as a grassroots organization, the MRC has had much success in ongoing outreach, second only to Island County’s MRC (because of outreach through its beachwatchers program.) (Kevin said he will give an update later in the meeting on the prospect of a beachwatchers program in San Juan County.) David encouraged more MRC links with existing groups that are already doing excellent outreach here, such as Sea Doc, which is very actively providing a lecture series and citizen-based programs on Orcas Island. David said he hopes that MRC members will personally do more active outreach; he noted, for example, that outreach efforts at Roche Harbor and at Wescott Bay are going slowly...even though most MRC members live on San Juan Island.
Kevin said that the membership participation rule should be enforced. He noted that Island County’s MRC elected, from their beginning, to not partner with other groups but to do more work in-house, partly because their county
government did not give them the flexibility to do so. San Juan County’s MRC, on the other hand, has done well in partnering with private non-profits. In partnering with the Sea Doc Society or Friends of the San Juans, Kevin said, the committee needs to consider that the non-profits have to, by design, publicize themselves and the MRC’s logo will be spotlighted along with those of the non-profits. He commended Joe Gaydos and the staff of Sea Doc Society for its recent successful projects and it should be MRC’s goal to partner more frequently with them. Mary noted that both Sea Doc and Friends of the San Juans regularly mail out one-page sheets describing their work. Rhea suggested that if the committee wants to recruit more people who are passionate about marine protection and restoration, they should focus on how to get people excited about the work. On Lopez Island, for example, people are working with the SJC Conservation District and the County Extension Office because the work is watershed-based and because those groups came to Lopez.
Kevin pointed out that the MRC looked at the possibility of having an executive director but the BOCC did not support the idea; he said that Jody, as Coordinator, is performing as a manager. He suggested that the MRC should remain an unbiased advisory board, and not adopt an advocacy role. There was further discussion on the issue of MRC’s structure and role. It was agreed that the topic be continued at the MRC retreat.
Elections:
No new nominations were made. The following slate was elected unanimously (with Jim’s abstention in the vote for Chair, Mary’s abstention in the vote for Vice Chair, and with absentee ballots submitted by Dennis and Kit):
Chair: Jim Slocomb
Vice Chair: Mary Masters
NWSC rep: Kevin Ranker
1st NWSC alternate: Dennis Willows
2nd NWSC alternate: Mary Masters
NWSC:
Kevin reported on the beachwatchers meeting in Bellingham. He said that Don Meehan started the program ten years ago through the WSU Extension Office in Island County; it was designed, basically, as a master gardener program for the beach. Committed volunteers, with significant training in beach ecology, act as shore stewards in the incredibly successful outreach effort. The NWSC now has $250,000 in congressional appropriations to hire a beachwatcher coordinator for each of the seven counties through their WSU Extension offices. Kevin said there was discussion at the NWSC meeting on potential overlaps and duplication with work being done by NGO’s, MRCs, and Beachwatchers (e.g. shoreline monitoring and water quality work). Terrie said that Beachwatchers is a great idea but pointed out that beaches in other counties are different from San Juan’s beaches where habitat can be easily trampled and destroyed by people casually walking on rocks; she advised that a beachwatchers program here would need to have a more structured volunteer base. It was agreed that careful training would be required and that work be focused on monitoring restoration sites, for example, rather than data collection to avoid duplication and unintentional trampling of resources. Jim said he hoped that there will be data transportability between groups. David Loyd said that integration of marine-oriented projects should also include COAST (doing a dead seabird count here later this month) and Islands Oil Spill Association.
Kevin said that People for Puget Sound has a Skagit County Northern “Bays (Conservation and Restoration) Blueprint Program,” which maps the entire county shoreline, identifying areas for restoration. Datasets are available to county resource managers and the MRC. He said the methodology of the Program is fantastic and he would like to have the group present to the MRC.
Kevin reminded members that DNR has funding for either creosoted logs removal or bank softening remediation; applications must be submitted by next week. Rhea suggested that Kevin speak to Jon Shannon, Public Works Director, about the Agate Beach and Obstruction Pass situations.
Kevin talked about the prospect of regional ocean councils, noting that our region includes northern California,
Oregon and Washington. He said that Mark Hershman received NOAA funding to pilot a regional oceans council.
New/Old Business:
Jim said that he discussed opportunities with Paul Dossett for using the county’s Internet Map Server, ARC, as a county-wide support platform, if it proves to be successful. This would allow for, for example, better distribution of maps that are on the MRC webpage. Jim noted that responses to questions about published data can be problematic to an organization; e.g. Tina Whitman said that since Friends of the San Juans released its forage fish data there have been 30 detailed requests for more information. Laura suggested that this function should not rest with committees or volunteer staff but could be done within county departments who provide accessibility to all interested parties. DJ Sessner reported that the issue was discussed at the county’s GIS meeting yesterday. She noted that King County spent the last two years undoing errors in their system and have now consolidated all departments’ data together into one interactive mapping site. DJ said it is inexpensive to add components to the user-friendly “iMAP” once it is easily set up on one server. Jim proposed that $2,000 from the administration grant be used to set up such a system; Kevin suggested that this could be included in next year’s NWSC action grant proposal.
David Loyd said that the MRC and The Whale Museum received a letter from Rick Galer, the County’s Fire Marshall, about possible impacts on marine resources from the proposed private FIREWORKS display off the west side of San Juan Island planned for June 23rd. The committee discussed impacts on the environment, marine mammals, and on the neighboring community; permit requirements (MMPA, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers?) are also an issue; existing county policy and other agencies require that public fireworks displays are heavily regulated.
Motion: Jim moved, and Laura seconded, that Jody circulate to members a list of
basic questions, based on information collated from today’s meeting, for editing and additions,
so that a letter can be drafted in response to Rick Galer’s letter and indicating the committee’s concerns. Terrie added the amendment that the committee is in the position to recommend denial. The motion passed unanimously.
Peter volunteered to participate in a newly-created MRC retreat sub-committee.
David Loyd encouraged members to participate in the COAST training later this month (dead bird count).
Jim distributed copies of a draft MSA map, a first attempt to synthesize layered information; the second purpose, he said, is that the MSA grant process says that outreach will include maps of what we know as well as a graphed zone of interest scheme. The four-color map will arouse public interest and stimulate interaction, Jim said. David Loyd commented that this is the first “hotspot” map he’s see and Jim was thanked for his work. Terrie pointed out that the “oysters” category is potentially confusing to the public because most oysters here are not of the native species, which is more uncommon.
Membership: Jody said there is currently one opening on the committee. David Hoopes said that he has learned that Terry D’Amico is moving out of the country and, therefore, declines membership; he added that Dr. Jim Schumacher (aka Two Crow), who has an impressive resume (retired oceanographer), expressed his interest in membership; David will advise him to submit his letter of interest to the BOCC.
Peter pointed out the photograph on the wall of the Port of Friday Harbor as it was in the 1960’s. He suggested that old photos, such as this, be used in MRC outreach material to show the changes that have occurred here over the years.
Kari recommended that members visit the fabulous UW Labs’ 100-year celebratory exhibit at the Museum of the San Juan Historical Society; she said the exhibit includes several excellent old photos.
Mary thanked Kari for inviting the MRC to the Whale Museum’s recent naturalist training; about 30 volunteers MRC
attended and were presented with MSA outreach material and a history of the MRC. Kari said she also appreciated that Jody attended the whalewatch operators meeting and made the MSA maps available to the executive committee.
Kari said that People for Puget Sound is doing a recreational boater education workshop in Bellingham on June 11th. Soundwatch will attend and the MRC is also invited. Marine stewardship and ecology will be presented.
Kevin announced that PPS, Surfrider Foundation, and the Seattle Aquarium are hosting a panel discussion on
May 13th at the Aquarium in response to the US Commission on Oceans Policy. He suggested that MRC members attend to present local information for federal record.
Jody said there will a transboundary meeting on June 7th and 8th on Saturna Island. She’ll email more information.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
