Regional Ecosystem Office
333 SW 1st P.O. Box 3623
Portland, Oregon 97208-3623
Website: www.reo.gov E-Mail: REOmail@or.blm.gov
Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163

Memorandum

Date:

March 14, 2007

To:

Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (see attached distribution list)

From:

/s/Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Subject:

INTERGOVERNMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING PREWORK FOR MARCH 20, 2007

John Woolley, California State Assn. of Counties
Joan Smith (Alt)
Crawford Tuttle, Resources Agency, State of California
Cathy Bleier (Alt)

Larry Giustina, Oregon State Board of Forestry
Kevin Birch (Alt)
Rocky McVay, Assn. of Oregon & California Counties
Gil Riddell (Alt)

Bridget Moran, Intergovernmental Resource Mgmt. Director’s Office
John Mankowski (Alt)
Don R. "Bud" Hover, Washington Counties
Paul J. Pearce (Alt)

Merv George, Jr., Calif. Indian Forest & Fire Mgmt. Council
Nolan C. Colegrove (Alt)
David Herrera, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
George Smith, Intertribal Timber Council
Donald Motanic (Alt)

Topic: WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

Presenter: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair

Issue: Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Chair Linda Goodman will open the meeting by highlighting some of the presentations and goals for the meeting.

Action Required:

[ x ] Information [ ] Discussion [ ] Decision

Topic: PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

Process: A public comment period of 10 minutes has been set aside as announced in the Federal Register. If multiple speakers request time to speak, the 10 minutes is divided among the speakers. If a large number of speakers request time, the agenda may be adjusted slightly to accommodate the request.

Action Required:

[ x ] Information [ ] Discussion [ ] Decision

Topic: REGIONAL INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (RIEC) DECISIONS

Sponsor: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair

Presenter: Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director

Background: This segment will restate agreements and describe follow-up tasks for decisions made at the December and January RIEC meetings. Anne will summarize the decisions and describe the process used to generate these changes. Decisions were made involving the:

• Regional Interagency Executive Committee (RIEC)
• Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC)
• Provincial Advisory Committees (PACs), and
• Regional Ecosystem Office (REO)

Action Required:

[ x ] Information [ ] Discussion [ ] Decision

Topic: Regional Interagency Executive Committee (RIEC)

Issue Statement: After 12 years of NWFP implementation, the federal agencies are entering a new era. The NWFP amended all of the Forest Service and BLM management plans within the range of the northern spotted owl. Today, the Forest Service and the BLM are revising those individual plans, based upon experience and new information gained over the past 12 years

The RIEC was established in 1994 to ensure interagency coordination, communication and consistent implementation of the NWFP. In the early years of the NWFP, the RIEC met frequently to coordinate activities and resolve implementation issues. Over the years, many implementation issues were resolved, and effective patterns of interagency coordination were established. Consequently, the RIEC began to meet less frequently.

Decisions: The RIEC agreed to a new process of facilitating RIEC review and coordination of proposed plan amendments. This process is currently being tested with a review requested from the 6 Rivers National Forest.

After reviewing the current and anticipated RIEC workload, the agencies decided that an annual meeting would be a more efficient means to accomplish RIEC responsibilities. The next meeting will be in August or September. RIEC agencies may request additional meetings, if necessary, through the RIEC Chair.

Between annual meetings, the Senior Managers’ Group (SMG) will handle NWFP issues as they arise. The SMG includes senior-level managers from each of the RIEC agencies.

Topic: Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC)

Issue Statement: In 1994, a Federally-chartered advisory committee was formed to assist the RIEC with Northwest Forest Plan implementation issues. The IAC has been officially chartered every two years. Its membership consists of individuals nominated by tribes, counties and the States of Washington, Oregon, and California.

The IAC has served a very valuable role in advising the RIEC over the years. Like the RIEC, the IAC has evolved into more of an information sharing and relationship building forum. While these functions are very important, they do not require the time and expense of a Federally-chartered advisory committee.

Decision: In light of these factors, the RIEC decided not to re-charter the IAC when the current charter expires in April. The final meeting of the IAC is scheduled for March 20, 2007

Topic: Provincial Advisory Committee (PACs)

Issue Statement: The NWFP delineated 12 geographical provinces, each with a Provincial Interagency Executive Committee (PIEC) with representatives from the local Federal agencies involved in NWFP implementation. Provincial Advisory Committees (PACs) were chartered to advise each of the PIECs. The PACs are under one charter which is renewed every two years. The current charter expires in October 2007.

In December 2006, evaluation forms were transmitted to the Designated Federal Officials (DFO’s) for the PACs to obtain information regarding the effectiveness of the PACs in Federal decision-making. DFO responses varied, indicating differences among the PACs. For example:

• Some DFOs noted a lack of participation and interest in PAC meetings
• Federal and non-Federal attendance is unbalanced in some PACs
• Some PACs are more active than others
• PACs vary in the issues they address

Decision: Based upon the information received from DFO’s and PIEC members from this inquiry, the RIEC decided to re-charter six of the PACs. A decision regarding another PAC is on hold pending additional input from the PIEC. Five of the PAC charters will not be renewed at this time. After considering the array of DFO responses, the decision to not re-charter these PACs was based largely on two key factors:

• Agenda topics have been mostly information sharing rather than advisory
• Other venues are available for stakeholder involvement
  

PACs not re-chartered in this cycle can be reconsidered for re-chartering in two years. All PACs will remain chartered through initial distribution of the Draft BLM Western Oregon Plan Revisions in 2007. Provincial Interagency Executive Committees (PIECs) remain as organizational entities regardless of whether their PAC is re-chartered.

Topic: Regional Ecosystem Office

Issue Statement: As the RIEC workload has reduced over the years, so has the staff workload for REO. In FY 2008, the REO will evolve to a "virtual" organization which will convene as needed to support RIEC business and execute REO responsibilities.

Decision: After September 30, 2007, the REO will no longer occupy common office space or operate with an interagency budget. REO representatives and staff will be located at their agency headquarters.

Topic: Northwest Natural Resource Forum

Issue Statement: The regional executives value the relationships they developed as RIEC members through implementation of the NWFP, and they want to ensure that those relationships are maintained in the future.

Decisions: The members formed another group to discuss a broader range of natural resource issues not specific to the NWFP. The working title for this group is "The Northwest Natural Resources Forum" (Forum). Members of the Forum will be Federal regional executives. Invitations to participate will be extended to additional Federal agency executives, such as BPA, Bureau of Reclamation, and NOAA-Fisheries Research.

The first meeting will be hosted by USGS and the National Park Service in the fall of 2007. NRCS and EPA have offered to host the second meeting in 2008.

Topic: UPDATES – Federal Members

Sponsor: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair

Presenters: Varies as to topic (as noted below)

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, Executive Director, REO

Issue Statement: There will be several quick informational updates on various projects of interest to the IAC. These include:

• Monitoring/Tribal Monitoring Program
• BLM Western Oregon Plan Revision
• Region 6 Forest Plan Revisions
• Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan Status and Critical Habitat
• Marbeled Murrelet Status and Critical Habitat
• Salmon Recovery Plan

Action Required:

[ x ] Information

Topic: Monitoring/Tribal Monitoring

Presenter: Joyce Casey, FS

Issue Statement: Joyce Casey, Appeals Manager, Region 6 Resource Planning and Monitoring staff, will provide an overview of the status of the Northwest Forest Plan Monitoring program including the recent Senior Managers Group (SMG) decision on Tribal Monitoring.

Topic: BLM Western Oregon Plan Revision

Presenter: Dick Prather, BLM

Issue Statement: Dick Prather, Western Oregon Plan Revision Manager, will provide an update on the status of the plan revision process and upcoming opportunities for involvement.

Topics: R6 Forest Plan Revisions

Presenter: Tom Hussey, FS

Issue Statement: In 2003, Forest Service (FS) Region 6 (R6) initiated a schedule for revising National Forest Plans. Two of the six Forest plans currently under revision were amended by the 1994 NWFP Record of Decision (ROD). These Forests include the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests in Washington.

Discussion: As part of a national plan revision schedule and budget, Forest plans in R6 will be revised on a staged schedule beginning in 2003. Forest plans will be revised in groups, the first involving the Wenatchee, Okanogan, and Colville National Forests in northeastern Washington. In Eastern Oregon, the Blue Mountain Forests are undergoing plan revisions. These include the Umatilla, the Wallowa-Whitman, and the Malheur National Forests. An update on the regional plan revision schedule will be presented to the RIEC. A final RIEC review of the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests plan revisions will occur at the RIEC meeting in late summer.

Topic: Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan Status and Critical Habitat

Presenter: Dave Wesley, FWS

Issue Statement: Dave Wesley, Deputy Regional Director and Team Leader for the Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Team, will provide an update on the status of the recovery plan and the critical habitat designation. The Recovery Team provided assistance to the FWS in completing a draft Recovery Plan. The draft Plan, which presents two options for recovering the owl, was forwarded to Washington, D.C. on March 4. The FWS expects to make both options available to the public for review within the next few months. The revised proposed critical habitat designation is scheduled to be published later this summer.

Topic: Marbled Murrelet Status and Critical Habitat

Presenter: Terry Rabot, FWS

Issue Statement: Terry Rabot, Assistant Regional Director, will provide an update on the marbled murrelet range-wide status review and critical habitat designation. The FWS and Department of Interior are reviewing a recent report published by the USGS on the status of the marbled murrelet in Alaska and Canada. The Department has yet to make a final decision about the status of the listed population in Washington, Oregon, and California. Meanwhile, the FWS is moving forward with revising the murrelet critical habitat designation. Revised critical habitat was proposed on August 30, 2006. A final designation is expected to be made by August 30, 2007.

Topic: Salmon Recovery Plans

Presenter: Mike Crouse, NOAA

Issue Statement: Mike Crouse will provide an update on the ongoing Salmon Recovery Planning efforts.

Topic: UPDATES – Non-Federal Members

Sponsor: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair

Issue Statement: This segment provides an opportunity for the non-Federal members to share information related to the Northwest Forest Plan from their organization.

Action Required:

[ x ] Information

Topic: AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Sponsor: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair

Presenters: Linda Goodman, IAC Chair, and Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director

Issue Statement: We will recognize the long-term contributions of the committee members and celebrate more than a decade of accomplishments of our member agencies and staff.

Action Required:

[ x ] Information

Topic: WHAT’S NEW ON THE WEB? NWFP 10-Year Report Publications

REO Contact: Becky Gravenmier, PNW Station

Status: All of the 10-Year Monitoring reports are available with the exception of the Summary document which is in the final editing stages. The completed reports are available on the Northwest Forest Plan, Regional Ecosystem Office website:

-Northwest Forest Plan—The First 10 Years (1994-2003): Synthesis of monitoring and research results (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/pnw_gtr651)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Preliminary assessment of the condition of watersheds (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/pnw_gtr647/)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Status and trends of northern spotted owl populations and habitat (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/pnw_gtr648/)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Status and trends of populations and nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/pnw_gtr650/)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Late-successional and old growth forests (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/pnw_gtr646)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Socioeconomic results (http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/gtr649)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Effectiveness of Federal- tribal relationships (http://www.reo.gov/monitoring/10yr-report/tribal/documents/Tribal_Draft.pdf)

- Northwest Forest Plan—The first 10 years (1994–2003): Implementation monitoring: summary of regional implementation monitoring results (http://www.reo.gov/monitoring/10yr-report/implementation/documents/CPImpleMoniFirstTenYears1-23-06.pdf)