Regional Ecosystem Office
333 SW 1st
P.O. Box 3623
Portland, Oregon 97208-3623
Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163

                 Memorandum

Date:       February 9, 2000

To:           Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Members (See Distribution List)

From:       Curtis A. Loop, Acting Executive Director

Subject:    February 2000 Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Meeting Notes

Enclosed are the notes from the February Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting. The November 1999 meeting notes were certified as written.

Issue Summaries are included for:

• Briefing on the Survey and Manage Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and IAC Subcommittee Review of the Survey and Manage Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

Agenda Item rescheduled for a future IAC meeting:

• President's Roadless Area Initiative

Reports, Hot Topics, and Updates covered:

• ONRC Action Litigation and Settlement Agreement
• Forest Service Proposed New National Forest Management Act Regulations
• IAC Meeting with a Provincial Advisory Committee
• Aquatic/Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Plan Development
• Annual Accomplishment Report
• Litigation Update - Judge Rothstein's Ruling
• New Developments in Late-Successional Reserves
• Tribal Effectiveness Monitoring Plan Development

Public Comment:

• Chris West, National Forestry Association

The next IAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, in Portland, Oregon. Logistical information will be sent out in April. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Curt Loop at 503-808-2172, Linda Kucera at 503-808-2179, or your agency representative.

Enclosure

cc: REO Representatives, RCERT, PAC DFOs 

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Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Distribution List

California
Mary Nichols, California Resource Agency, State Representative
Maria Rea, California Resource Agency (Alternate)
Francie Sullivan, Representative of California Counties

Oregon
Paula Burgess, Assistant to the Governor for Natural Resources, Office of the Governor
Peter Green, Forest Policy Advisor, Office of the Governor (Alternate)
Rocky McVay, Representative of Oregon Counties

Washington
Craig Partridge, Federal Agency Liaison, State Representative
Karin Berkholtz, State Representative
Harvey Wolden, Representative of Washington Counties

Tribes
Greg Blomstrom, Planning Forester, CA Indian Forest & Fire Management Council
Mel Moon, Commissioner, NW Indian Fisheries Commission
Jim Anderson, Executive Director, NW Indian Fisheries Commission (Alternate)
Katie Krueger, Environmental Policy Analyst, Quileute Tribe
Gary Morishima, Technical Advisor, Intertribal Timber Council
Guy McMinds, Executive Office Advisor, Quinault Indian Nation (Alternate)
Eric Hanson, Associate Director, Wildlife Department, Yakama Indian Nation (Alternate)

Federal Agencies
Anne Badgley, Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Michael Spear, California/Nevada Operations Office Manager, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Roger Blair, Branch Chief, Western Ecology Division, Environmental Protection Agency
Robert Lackey, Assoc. Director, Western Ecology Division, Environmental Protection Agency (Alternate)
John D. Buffington, Western Region Chief Biologist, BRD, U.S. Geological Survey
Michael Collopy, Center Director, Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey (Alternate)
Col. Randall J. Butler, District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Davis Moriuchi, Deputy District Commander, U.S. Corps of Engineers
Ken Feigner, Director, Forest and Salmon Group, Environmental Protection Agency
Harv Forsgren, Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service, R-6
Nancy Graybeal, Deputy Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service, R-6
Brad Powell, Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service, R-5
Roberta Moltzen, Deputy Regional Forester, USDA Forest Service, R-5
Bob Graham, State Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Thomas J. Mills, Station Director, Forest Service, PNW
Stan Speaks, Area Director, Portland Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Dave Renwald, Wildlife Biologist, Portland Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs (Alternate)
Ron Jaeger, Area Director, Sacramento Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs
William Stelle, Jr., Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service
William Hogarth, Acting Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service (Alternate)
John Volkman, Acting Assistant Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service (Alternate)
William Walters, Deputy Regional Director, National Park Service
Kathy Jope, Natural Resources Team Leader, National Park Service
Jim Shevock, Associate Regional Director, National Park Service (Alternate)
Elaine Zielinski, State Director, Oregon/Washington, Bureau of Land Management
Alfred Wright, Acting State Director, California, Bureau of Land Management (Alternate)
Paul Roush, Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Land Management, Arcata, CA

RCERT Ex Officio
Don Motanic, Technical Specialist, Intertribal Timber Council Updated 1/6/2000

Summary Notes for Reports, Hot Topics, and Updates from the February 3, 2000 IAC Meeting

ONRC Action Litigation and Settlement Agreement - Sue Zike
Judge Dwyer approved a stipulation for dismissal on the ONRC Action lawsuit January 17, pertaining to Survey and Manage (S&M). The agreement includes that the agencies will survey all enjoined awarded timber sales plus four additional sales that were included as part of the settlement. Additionally, any timber sales that the plaintiffs had appealed on S&M will also adhere to the settlement agreement. The plaintiff and counsel will have 30 days to review information reports filed by the agencies on progress of the surveys. If there is a lack of agreement on how agencies are proceeding with implementing the agreement, the plaintiff can file a motion to reinstate the case. The agreement expires upon signing a Record of Decision on the new Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for S&M species, unless suit is brought against the Record of Decision. The agencies have set the following priorities for conducting the regional surveys: awarded sales, Recission Act replacement volume projects, and local priorities.

Forest Service Proposed New National Forest Management Act Regulations - Lisa Freedman
Lisa provided a briefing on the Forest Service Proposed National Forest Management Act (NFMA) planning rules. The proposed rules are currently available for public comment until February 8, then public comments will be used to develop the final NFMA rules. Lisa described the history of the current planning rules and the development of the proposed planning rules. She outlined how the proposed rules would operate in comparison to the current rules, and discussed the anticipated advantages of the proposed rules. Follow-up discussion on the proposed rules indicated that the geographic scope of the new rules could be at any scale. Planning would continue at the National Forest level, but depending on the issue being addressed, the scope of planning could be multi-forest, geographic sub-regions, or even on a national level. Further discussion emphasized collaboration with the public and stakeholders to address issues prior to the development of Forest Service plans. It was pointed out that lessons learned from the Northwest Forest Plan areas (agreements reached, principles developed, etc.) were incorporated into the proposed rules. Also, the proposed rules would restrict project-level activity until the requisite financial and resource support was available including required monitoring activities.

IAC Meeting with a Provincial Advisory Committee - Curt Loop
At the January RIEC meeting, the issue of holding a joint PAC and IAC meeting was discussed. The RIEC decided to not hold a joint meeting at this time due to the high costs associated with such a meeting. Due to the shortage of funds this year, any available funds would be applied to completing monitoring requirements. However, in that discussion, the Regional Executives agreed that they were willing to hold one IAC or RIEC meeting this year in conjunction with a PAC (or several PACs if held in a central location). Also, the Regional Executives individually agreed to attend one or two PIEC/PAC meetings this year as appropriate (i.e., if water quality or ESA were an issue for a PIEC/PAC, then EPA and NMFS executives would attend.) When this issue was raised at today's meeting, two IAC members reiterated their support for a combined meeting of all PACs. Discussion again was held as to the best way to accomplish the goal of improving communication with PACs and how to enable PACs to provide advice and information to the RIEC. Shandra Terry, Forest Service Public Affairs Office, mentioned that she holds regularly scheduled monthly conference calls with all PAC Designated Federal Officials (DFO). She recommended that she query the DFO as to which PAC desired a meeting with the RIEC and/or IAC, and any additional outcomes for that meeting. This information will be presented and discussed at the March RIEC meeting.

Aquatic/Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Plan Development - Dave Busch
In response to IAC representatives' questions and interest, a brief update was provided on Aquatic/Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Plan (AREMP) development progress. Following review by the Technical Sounding Board, the plan development workgroup is editing the draft plan so that it can be sent out for scientific peer review. It is anticipated that the AREMP draft will be delivered to reviewers by the end of February. When revisions based on the peer review are complete, the plan will be ready for the Research Agency Executives to submit for IAC review and recommendations. Following this, the implementing agencies will decide whether and how to adopt the plan. IAC representatives requested that information copies of the draft be made available to them when the plan is submitted for peer-review.

Annual Accomplishment Report - Curt Loop
Curt mentioned that the REO had distributed copies of its FY 1999 Annual Accomplishments Report (AAR) to all RIEC and IAC members last month. If anyone did not receive their copy, they should contact the REO to obtain a copy. Curt mentioned that if any RIEC or IAC member had comments about the subjects listed in the AAR or the information provided in any Status Report in the AAR, they should provide them to him or their REO representative.

Litigation Update - Judge Rothstein's Ruling - John Volkman
Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations (PCFFA) et al. v NMFS: This suit (filed January 19, 1999 in U.S. District Court in Seattle) challenges four biological opinions issued by NMFS for timber sales in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon. In the previous litigation, "PCFFA I." Judge Rothstein found that NMFS had correctly determined that the Northwest Forest Plan's Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) satisfied Endangered Species Act Section 7 standards, but that NMFS' site-specific biological opinions were inadequate because they did not explain how individual timber sales met the ACS. Specifically, "PCFFA II" challenges NMFS' conclusions within four site-specific biological opinions concerning the effects of FS and BLM land management actions (timber sales) on the endangered Umpqua River cutthroat trout and the threatened Oregon coastal coho salmon.

NMFS appealed a September 30 adverse ruling on summary judgement and subsequently filed its opening brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Plaintiffs' reply brief will be filed with the court by February 23. NMFS' response to Plaintiffs' reply brief will be filed with the Court by March 8. A hearing has not yet been scheduled and the Department of Justice anticipates filing NMFS' Motion to Expedite this action shortly. Meanwhile, the agencies are discussing the advisability of allowing restoration and some other categories of activities to go forward while the ruling is under appeal.

New Developments in Late-Successional Reserves - Elaine Zielinski
The Chair of the RIEC provided a status report on the "New Developments" standard and guideline interpretation. Discussions between Anne Badgley, Nancy Graybeal, Nancy Hayes and Elaine Zielinski resulted in an agreement on a process to compare the October 6, 1999 REO interpretation with the proposed Department of the Interior (DOI) version of the interpretation that was sent out for ISC review (1/7/00). A comparative analysis and policy implications were drafted by Nancy Hayes and were made available to Don Barry. The next step planned is a meeting between Don Barry, Tom Fry and Jim Lyons to review the document and make decisions on a joint policy interpretation.

Tribal Monitoring Effectiveness Monitoring Plan Development - Gary Morishima
The contract for the pilot phase of the Tribal Effectiveness Monitoring Plan has been awarded to George Smith with his work scheduled to be completed by June 2000. The contract for the pilot phase calls for visits to eight Tribes to test the collection of information using the Tribal Effectiveness Monitoring Plan format.

Public Comment - Chris West, Northwest Forestry Association (NFA)

• Survey & Manage: Settlement Agreement (ONRC Action) - The NFA will decide by February 15 (deadline for appeals) on whether or not to appeal Judge Dwyer's decision.
 
• Survey & Manage: Double Standard - The NFA is concerned about the apparent double standard (different processes) in applying the Survey and Manage requirements to timber sales (strict applications) and other ground-disturbing activities (more lax standard), when the threat to rare species may be equivalent.
  
• Funding for Survey & Manage and Monitoring - Where are the dollars to carry out these programs coming from and what priority do they have? What effect will focusing funds in Survey and Manage and monitoring have on other important programs?
 
• Forest Service New Planning Regulations (NFMA) - Concerned about the additional costs involved in implementing the proposed planning rule.
 
• Provincial Advisory Committees - Chris shared his perception with the IAC that the PACs would like to meet with the federal executives, responsible officials, not the IAC members.
 
• Judge Rothstein's Ruling - Appreciate National Marine Fisheries Service decision to appeal the Judge Rothstein ruling.
 

Future IAC Meeting Planning

Possible Agenda Items for the May IAC Meeting

• Litigation Update
• Evaluation Criteria for the Regional Monitoring Team
• S&M SEIS: Present Chapters 1&2 and Briefing on Public Comments
• BLM's 3^rd Year Evaluation
• Implementation Monitoring Proposed Review Schedule for FY 2000
• President's Roadless Area Initiative (rescheduled from February)
• National Marine Fisheries Service - Environmental Baseline
• Briefing on the President's Budget

Possible Status Reports for the May IAC Meeting

• Implementation Monitoring Report for FY 1999
• Effectiveness Monitoring Module Update

Agenda Item Moved to August

• Proposed EPA Regulations on TMDLs
 

Handouts:
IAC February Prework Package
IAC Meeting Goals
IAC Identification List
IAC November Meeting Notes
IAC February Meeting Agenda
Organizational Chart NFP
Overhead -- Report of the IAC Subcommittee on S&M
Overhead -- Forest Service Proposed Planning Rule
PIEC Identification List
REO Telephone Directory
REO Functional Statement Packet
RIEC Identification List
Status Report - Rothstein Litigation Update
Memo - IAC Subcommitte Review of S&M DSEIS
Report - DSEIS for Amendment to the S&M Protection Buffer, and Other Mitigating Measures S&Gs
BLM News, Regarding Roberta Moltzen's new position, Associate State Director
S&M SEIS Timeline