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Siuslaw Stewardship Group Meeting Notes January 6, 2011 Attendees: Name Ross Holloway Seth Mead Liz Vollmer-Buhl Johnny Sundstrom Affiliation Facilitator SWCD SWC Siuslaw Institute Name Pam Gardner Dan Segotta Chandra LeGue Affiliation SNF SNF Oregon Wild The meeting began at 1:05 PM. Review Notes and Agenda The participants reviewed the November, 2010 meeting notes and offered two clarifications to the “Outreach Funds Discussion” section of the notes. One to clarify that the group reached agreement on the need for broader outreach, and the other that the group reached agreement on a recommendation for allocating outreach funds equally between SWC and SWCD. The November 4 meeting notes were approved with these two clarifications. Participants then reviewed the December 2, 2010 joint meeting notes and offered two clarifications and one correction. For the section on the Siuslaw Stewardship Group project presentation, verbiage was added to clarify that the project began in 1998 in response to an assessment, and started with donated surplus trees. In the section on Stewardship Reauthorization, it was pointed out that the year for Wyden Authority expiration should be 2012, not 2011. The joint meeting notes were approved with these clarifications and correction. Discussion on Wyden Amendment Authority expiration – Johnny shared a reference discovered by Shiloh Sundstrom that appears to indicate that the authority was made permanent by Congress in 2009. The reference is Public Law 111-11, Section 3001. Ross agreed to explore this further with CPRCD and FS staff and see if this can be confirmed. Discussion on follow-up with Hebo RD after December 2 joint meeting – Ross reported that CPRCD is planning on applying for the new grant funds available to support collaborative groups to help fund start up activities for a Hebo Stewardship Group. SSG members suggested that CPRCD should include the local groups up there as co-applicants or as the primary applicants, to increase the chance of a successful application. It was also suggested that this grant application process might be a good opportunity to pull the key players from Hebo back together and develop a more specific plan for getting the group established. Ross agreed to share this input with Jackie Nichols. Discussion on how long meeting notes should be retained on the FS web page. Dan clarified that all the meeting notes are stored in a FS database, even after they are no longer available on the web page. SSG members believe it is important that all of the documentation for a funding cycle be retained and available if questions arise later in implementing projects. The group agreed that if this documentation is available from the FS database, then making the previous 3-4 meeting’s notes available on the web page would be sufficient. Current Process/Project Updates - FS Status of Current Cycle Project Reviews and Approvals – Dan reported that Mike Daugherty at the Region 6 office had some relatively minor questions about some of the project proposals submitted, but no substantive issues. Jackie is working to address the questions on Wyden projects and FS staff for their projects. Expect to have all answers back to the Region by the end of the coming week. Consultation between USFS and NMFS – Dan reported that the consultations have been “withdrawn” for now. FS has determined that their proposed strategies are very close to the “no effects” threshold. They have decided to modify their proposals to allow a “no effects” determination by the agency, which will eliminate the need for consultation. The modifications will include increasing the width of riparian buffers, additional seasonal hauling restrictions, and additional sediment reduction measures. The science review that is already underway will contribute to a final decision on modifications. Johnny asked if this issue was related in any way to ongoing litigation on the State FPA. No, the State FPA litigation involves the EPA definitions of “point source” versus “non-point source” pollution, and involves state and private forest land. Dan further explained that the riparian proposal modifications could impact the future value of stewardship timber sales due to the increased hauling restrictions. Some of the value of SNF sales to purchasers is the ability to work in this forest during the winter months. Designing and implementing timber sales to adhere to the “no effects” standards will require changes to the sale preparation process. Fish biologists will be involved earlier and more frequently in the process. Staff Updates – Marty Bray is now on board as the new District Wildlife Biologist. The biologist assigned to work on the Five Mile-Bell project (Kathleen) will continue in that role. Five Mile-Bell Project – Work on the project in ongoing. Seth reported that he had made contact with the private landowner downstream, and there may be a possibility of acquiring this property. Johnny reported that they are in the process of applying for WWRI funds through Ecotrust. These funds would be to support the second part of the Phase One work on the project. Seth handed out an initial draft of a communication plan for project outreach, and asked for review and comment by the group. Ross agreed to forward this electronically to all SSG members and ask for comments back to Seth within a couple of weeks. Process/Project Updates - Others North Fork Siuslaw Planning – Liz reported that she had visited with Viva Worthington and Melissa Shelley and established a tentative date in early March for a public outreach meeting. There in some question as to whether a draft EA will be available by early March. Input is still needed from Wildlife and Botany. It was agreed that for now, the group should stay on track for the early March timeframe and reschedule later if necessary. Joint Forestry Team meeting – Johnny reported on this December 16 meeting. He directed people to the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition website for information on key topics, including the status of State assessments. The JFT has also developed a standard management plan template to bring consistency to the variety of plan formats in use by the States and for various federal cost share programs. Multi-Party Monitoring Project Discussion Dan updated the group on discussion with CPRCD. Jackie thinks it is OK to negotiate an extension to IRMs current contract. All have been satisfied with their work to date. Available funds will be less for the coming year, dropping from $32,000 to ~$26,000. After discussing options for what could be reduced or eliminated from the contract work, the group agreed that the priority for continued funding should be focused on plots and data collection, and if reductions are needed, eliminating the field trip requirement would be the place to cut. Ross reported that he is reviewing a draft multi-party monitoring guidebook being developed by Sustainable Northwest. The author (Ann Moote) interviewed Dan and Johnny and the guidebook includes our monitoring program as one of several case studies offered. Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization Discussion Johnny updated the group on recent discussions at the Rural Voices Coalition for Conservation annual meeting in Portland. Since FS employees cannot themselves lobby for reauthorization, it will be necessary for other groups to organize for this purpose. Discussions are underway on how best to organize and fund a national effort that involves collecting information on the success of stewardship and providing that to key decision makers. The strongest opposition to reauthorization could come from Counties, due to competition for limited federal timber receipts. An education effort targeted at local Counties and their national group will be needed. The current authority expires in 2013, and efforts to organize need to happen soon. Johnny proposed that we follow this initial discussion today with a follow-up discussion next month. It was pointed out that there is a newly elected Commissioner in Lane County (Jay Bozievich) and that group members need to start communication with him regarding stewardship and related programs. Future Agenda Items and Meeting Dates • February 3 – regular monthly meeting. Agenda items to include… o Discussion of plans for a 10-year celebration of SSG establishment o Follow-up discussion on stewardship contracting reauthorization o Planning for contacts with new County Commissioners o Review final draft of Five Mile-Bell communication plan • March 3 – regular monthly meeting. Agenda items to include… o Update on North Fork Siuslaw planning • April 7 – regular monthly meeting Good of the Order – Johnny asked the group to review a draft of a chapter on stewardship contracting that he and Shiloh have written for a book to be published by University of Arizona Press. Ross agreed to forward the draft to SSG members with a request to provide comments within two weeks. Meeting adjourned at 3:05 P.M.