|
Regional Ecosystem Office Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163 |
|
| Memorandum | |
| Date: | March 27, 2003 |
| To: | Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Members (see Distribution List) |
| From: | Dave Busch, Acting Executive Director /s/Dave Busch |
| Subject: | Agenda & Pre-work Materials for April 1, 2003 IAC Meeting |
Enclosed please find a proposed agenda and supporting pre-work materials for the meeting of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) scheduled for 10:00 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. on April 1, 2003, in the Washington/Idaho Conference Room at the Double Tree Hotel, Lloyd Center located at 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland, Oregon 97220. Using the Metro Area Lightrail system is one of the easiest ways to reach this location.
In addition, in an effort to address any preliminary questions and ensure the most efficient use of IAC meeting time, an informal pre-brief for the non-Federal IAC members has been scheduled across the street at the Fish and Wildlife Service's Regional Office in the Bonneville Power Administration Plaza at 911 SE 11th Street, 5th Floor Conference Room, from 8:30 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. This pre-brief will feature a presentation from Joyce Casey, program lead for the Aquatic Conservation Strategy SEIS, as well as, a preview of other topics that will be addressed during the meeting.
We hope you will join us for the informal "lunch by the number" to which all committee members (Federal and non-Federal) are cordially invited. The lunch will be at Eduardo's, the hotel's on-site Mexican Restaurant, from 12:00 noon-1:00 p.m. In order to make a group reservation, we ask that you please confirm your interest in participating in the luncheon by contacting Becky Loomis, REO Administrative Assistant (503-808-2167), or any REO Representative.
The enclosed prework materials include a proposed agenda and brief overviews on the topics that will be addressed during the meeting. The morning session will include a socio-economic panel discussion with a variety of speakers and topics that we hope will be particularly interesting. In the afternoon, we will be providing an update on the future direction of the Northwest Forest Plan and the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), along with an opportunity to comment on the general direction that the MOU is taking.
If you have questions about the meeting or enclosed materials, please contact me or REO Management Analyst Kath Collier (503-808-2179). I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Enclosure:
• Agenda & Prework materials for April 1, 2003 IAC meeting
cc: Presenters, REO, & PAC DFOs
1790/kc
| California | Mary Nichols, California Resource Agency, State Representative Jen Carville, California Resource Agency, State Representative (Alt) John Woolley, Humbolt County, CA Counties Joan Smith (Alt) |
| Oregon | Lance Clark, Resource Analyst, Office of the Governor Rocky McVay, Representative of Oregon Counties Gil Riddell (Alt) |
| Washington | Robert Nichols, Senior Executive Policy Assistant, Office of the Governor Karin Berkholtz, State Representative (Alt) Albert McKee, Representative of Washington Counties Daniel Cothren, Wahkiakum County Commissioner (Alt) |
| Tribes | Merv George, Jr., Executive Director, CA Indian Forest & Fire Management
Council Nolan C. Colegrove (Alt) David Herrera, Fisheries Manager, NW Indian Fisheries Commission Bruce Davies, Policy Analyst, NW Indian Fisheries Commission (Alt) Jim Anderson, Executive Director, NW Indian Fisheries Commission Katie Krueger, Environmental Policy Analyst, Quileute Tribe George Smith, Intertribal Timber Council Don Motanic, Intertribal Timber Council (Alt) Gary Morishima, Intertribal Timber Council |
| Federal Agencies | Dave Allen, Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Dave Wesley, US Fish & Wildlife Service (Alt) Steve Thompson, California/Nevada Operations Office Manager, US Fish & Wildlife Service John Engbring, California/Nevada US Fish & Wildlife Service (Alt) Phil Detrich, Project Leader, Yreka FWO, US Fish & Wildlife Service (Alt) Elaine M. Brong, Oregon/Washington State Director, Bureau of Land Management Judy Nelson, Chief, Branch of Biological Sciences, OR/WA, Bureau of Land Management (Alt) Michael Pool, California State Director, Bureau of Land Management Paul Roush, Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Land Management, Arcata, CA (Alt) Jon Jarvis, Regional Director, National Park Service Art Eck, Deputy Regional Director, National Park Service Jim Shevock, Associate Regional Director, National Park Service (Alt) Linda Goodman, Deputy Regional Forester, Forest Service, R-6 Lisa Freedman, Director, Strategic Planning Forest Service, R-6 (Alt) Kent Connaughton, Deputy Regional Forester, Forest Service, R-5 Kathy Anderson, R-5 Forest Service, Liaison (Alt) Bob Graham, State Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation Service Col. Richard W. Hobernicht, District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Curt Loop, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Alt) Anne Kinsinger, Regional Biologist, US Geological Survey Western Region Dave Busch, USGS/REO (Alt) Robert Lohn, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service Mike Crouse, Assistant Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service (Alt) Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Western Ecology Division, Environmental Protection Agency Dan McKenzie, Western Ecology Division, Environmental Protection Agency (Alt) Dave Powers, Environmental Protection Agency Dan Opalski, Environmental Protection Agency (Alt) Stan Speaks, Area Director, Portland Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs Alex Whistler, Wildlife Biologist, Portland Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs (Alt) Ron Jaeger, Area Director, Sacramento Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs |
Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Meeting
April 1, 2003 - 10:00 a.m.-4:45 p.m.
Lloyd Center-Double Tree Hotel - Portland, Oregon
Washington/Idaho Room
PROPOSED AGENDA
| Time | Agenda Topics | Purpose | Presenter(s) |
| 10:00 | Preliminary Matters
|
Getting Started | Elaine Brong Kath Collier |
| 10:15 | Socio-Economic Panel Discussion
|
Overview Information |
Richard Haynes Ellen Donoghue Jonathan Kusel George Stanley Paul Sommers Susan Charnley |
| 12:00 | Optional "Lunch by the Number" for IAC members | Eat & Greet | |
| 1:00 | Opportunity for Public Comment | ||
| 1:15 | Updates on Northwest Forest Plan
Issues and Projects
|
Progress Reports |
Dick Prather Jay Watson Joyce Casey Barry Mulder |
| 2:15 | Update on New NWFP
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU)
|
Information Discussion |
Dave Busch
|
| 3:00 | Break | ||
| 315 | Continued - Update on New NWFP MOU | Discussion | All |
| 4:15 | Summary Review of Today's
Comments
|
Summary |
Dave Busch Non-Federal IAC member |
| 4:30 | Meeting Close-out
|
Recap
Housekeeping |
Kath Collier |
| 4:45 | Closing Comments and Adjournment | Formal Closure | Elaine Brong |
Status Reports:
- Healthy Forests Initiative - Proposed Forest Service Categorical Exclusions
- Port Orford Cedar Supplemental EIS
* Topic for Bonus Questions: National Wildlife Refuge System (in light of Centennial)
AGENDA TOPIC OVERVIEW
| Presenter/Sponsor: Panel Members, and Research and Monitoring Group | ||
| REO Contact/Phone: Gary Benson (503-808-2191); Dave Busch (503-808-2192) | ||
| Topic: Social-Economic Factors Panel Discussion | ||
| Issue Statement: Panelist will present and discuss social and economic findings relating to Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) implementation and monitoring, and findings relating to the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (NEAI). | ||
| Background: The IAC has recommended, and RIEC is following through on, consideration of findings related to social and economic aspects of NWFP implementation. Reports on the outcomes from the NEAI have been in the media (The Oregonian) this year, and Congress has consistently expressed a strong interest in both social and economic aspects of the NWFP. Consequently, the Research and Monitoring Group (RMG) and REO have gathered a group of panelist to provide a fuller discussion of science findings and lessons learned regarding socio-economic aspects of the NWFP. An update on the socio-economic effectiveness monitoring module will also be included. | ||
| Analysis and Options: The intent of this panel will be to share new information and lessons learned in the social-economic area. Time will
be provided for a question-and-answer session between IAC members and panel participants.
-- Richard Haynes (FS-PNW) will moderate the panel. -- George Stankey and Ellen Donoghue (both of FS-PNW) will elaborate on information relating to social and economic aspects of the NWFP. George will discuss the topic of "Public Acceptance of Resource Management Decisions," and Ellen will discuss "Understanding Change in Forest-based Communities in the Pacific Northwest." -- Paul Sommers (University of Washington) will provide a brief overview of information and lessons learned from his report "Framework, Trends, Update, and Community Level Monitoring Recommendations" (covering work coordinated with USGS to evaluate the concept of NWFP effectiveness monitoring for social and economic factors). -- Jonathan Kusel of Forest Community Research (a non-profit, research organization) will discuss information contained in the recent FS-funded report on the NEAI. -- Susan Charnley (Interagency Monitoring Program) will present perspectives from her new role as lead for the Socio-Economic Effectiveness Monitoring Module. She will also be available to incorporate thoughts and advice from the panel and the audience on potential next steps and future actions related to this module. | ||
| RMG and REO Staff Proposal: Discussion between panelists and IAC members to possibly identify future actions related to this topic. | ||
| Action Required: | ___IAC Review & Discussion
___ RIEC Decision |
IAC Recommendation
X Other: Information & Discussion |
AGENDA TOPIC OVERVIEW
| Presenters/Sponsors: (as shown on Agenda) |
| REO Contact/Phone: Dave Busch (503-808-2192), Acting Executive Director |
| Topic: Updates on Northwest Forest Plan Issues and Projects |
| Issue Statement: This segment will include updates from various committees and teams working on topics of interest to the IAC:
• Survey & Manage SEIS |
| Background/Overview: Team or project leaders will make brief presentations regarding recent and ongoing activities. Time will be provided for questions and answers. |
| Action Required: IAC Review & Discussion IAC Recommendation RIEC Decision X Other: Information & Discussion |
AGENDA TOPIC OVERVIEW
| Presenter/Sponsor: Elaine Brong, Dave Busch, Shawne Mohoric | ||
| REO Contact/Phone: Dave Busch (503-808-2192), Shawne Mohoric (503-808-2175) | ||
| Topic: Update on new NWFP Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) | ||
| Issue Statement: This segment includes an update on progress made toward development of a new MOU, a summary of previous IAC involvement in this topic, and an opportunity for discussion and comment on draft MOU concepts. | ||
| Background: The RIEC has been engaged in a series of discussions aimed at improving implementation of the NWFP. During those
discussions, the RIEC identified concerns relative to: 1) the ability to meet the full range of NWFP objectives and outputs; 2) certain processes
associated with implementation; and 3) costs to implement some aspects of the NWFP. Consistent with those discussions, and given the
expiration of the NWFP MOU on October 19, 2003, the RIEC assigned REO to examine options relative to the future roles and organizational
structures of groups addressed in the MOU. In addition, the RIEC sought IAC advice with respect to potential changes in the roles,
responsibilities, and composition of the IAC. That advice (provided during the May 2002 IAC meeting) resulted in several operational
changes, including assignment of an REO/IAC liaison, initiation of IAC prebriefs, and use of conference calls to keep IAC members updated
on key issues between meetings.
Subsequently, the REO began exploring opportunities to improve other organizational structures and processes, particularly those within REO. The IAC was briefed on key steps and timeframes associated with that task at the December 2002 IAC meeting. In addition, on February 11 and 12, 2003, the IAC received informal briefings (via conference call) regarding options under consideration and conceptual starting points for development of a new MOU. This segment will feature a summarization of those discussions. Note: The current MOU, which expires October 19, 2003, is available at http://www.reo.gov/riec/RIECMOU.htm. During recent deliberations, and with consideration of IAC advice provided at the May 2002 meeting and interests expressed during the February 2003 informational briefings, the RIEC reached initial agreement on a set of conceptual starting points for a new MOU. Elaine Brong recently briefed agency officials in Washington, D.C., regarding RIEC progress toward a new MOU. Consistent with initial Departmental support shown at that briefing, the RIEC intends to seek Interagency Steering Committee (ISC) concurrence with RIEC recommendations sometime within the next few months. In anticipation of an IAC charter being signed prior to April 1, and recognizing that the ISC may convene as early as April, the RIEC has scheduled this update and opportunity for IAC discussion regarding the draft MOU concepts. The discussion will be prefaced by a description of how previous IAC input was considered and incorporated into key draft MOU concepts. This segment will close with a summary of key points and comments gathered during the discussion, plus a look ahead at next steps. The facilitator will ask for a non-federal IAC member to volunteer to assist with the summary review. | ||
| Organizational/Funding Implications: Improvements in organizational structures and processes could potentially increase efficiency and reduce costs. | ||
| Action Required: | IAC Review & Discussion
____ RIEC Decision |
IAC Advice
X Other: Information & Discussion |
STATUS REPORT
| Presenter/Sponsor: Jill DuFour (503-808-2276) |
| REO Contact/Phone: Shawne Mohoric (503-808-2175) |
| Topic: Healthy Forests Initiative - Proposed Forest Service Categorical Exclusions |
| Background: In response to President Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative, the U.S. Forest Service proposed to add three new categorical
exclusion categories to its directives for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act. Categorical exclusions identify actions that do
not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and therefore do not require preparation of an
environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS).
Proposed Categorical Exclusions: Category 10: Allows harvest of live trees on areas not to exceed 50 acres with no more than one-half mile of temporary road construction. Category could not be used for regeneration harvest or vegetation-type conversion. Category would allow: · incidental removal of trees for temporary roads, landings, and skid trails Category 11: Would allow salvage of dead and/or dying trees on areas not to exceed 250 acres with no more than one-half mile of temporary road construction. This would allow the agency: · To salvage trees in areas damaged by fire, wind, and ice where the wood still has some economic value Category 12: Would allow removal of any trees necessary to control the spread of insects and disease on no more than 250 acres with no more than one-half mile of temporary road construction. This Category would allow: · Harvest methods to control insects and disease before they spread to adjacent healthy trees. Each of these Categorical Exclusions would be documented with a Decision Memorandum, including: a description of the decision to be implemented, location of the action, the category of actions under which the decision is being excluded from further documentation, a finding that no extraordinary circumstances exist, contacts made with individuals, agencies, and organizations, findings required by other laws, implementation date, a contact person for further information, and the responsible official's signature. |
| Status/Update: The public comment period closed January 31, 2003. For further information, contact Jill Dufour, Forest Service Regional Environmental Coordinator (503-808-2276). The Federal Register Notice is dated December 16, 2002; Volume 67, Number 241. |
STATUS REPORT
| Presenter/Sponsor: Ken Denton (503-326-2368) |
| REO Contact/Phone: Shawne Mohoric (503-808-2175) |
| Topic: Port Orford Cedar Supplemental EIS |
| Background: The BLM and Forest Service are preparing a Supplemental EIS (SEIS) to examine management strategies to maintain Port
Orford cedar (POC) within its range. The decision resulting from the SEIS will amend the land and resource management plans (LRMPs) for
the Coos Bay, Medford, and Coos Bay BLM Districts, and the Siskiyou National Forest. The Klamath, Six Rivers, and Shasta-Trinity
National Forests in California are cooperators; they will examine their existing direction more closely once the SEIS is completed. The
amendments will not affect the Northwest Forest Plan.
Port Orford cedar, a conifer species with a range limited to southwest Oregon and northwest California, is infected by an introduced pathogen, Phytophthora lateralis, which causes POC root disease. The disease is nearly always fatal to POC trees. The pathogen occasionally infects Pacific yew growing in association with POC, but it is not known to infect other species. The spread of the disease is linked, in large part, to transport of spore-infected soil by humans and other vectors. Water-borne spores then readily spread the pathogen down slope and downstream. The LRMPs for the respective units currently contain direction for managing POC and Phytophthora lateralis. In general, that direction places emphasis on POC management and provides a menu of treatments and analysis techniques; it relies on site-specific analysis to select appropriate treatments and discuss environmental effects. A 2002 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court found that a BLM project-specific environmental assessment, and the LMRP for the unit, did not adequately consider effects to the health of POC over its entire range in light of reasonably foreseeable actions. The BLM proposes a SEIS to address this, and the Siskiyou National Forest joined the effort to ensure consistency and reduce the risk of a similar lawsuit. |
| Status/Update: The Notice of Intent was published in the Federal Register on February 10, and the scoping period closed March 12, 2003. The Draft SEIS is expected in early June; the Final SEIS in December 2003; and a Record of Decision in February 2004. The website address is SEIS at http://www.or.blm.gov/planning/Port-Orford-cedar_SEIS/. The Draft SEIS will be posted on the website at the start of the 90-day public comment period. For additional information, contact Ken Denton, Port Orford Cedar SEIS Team Lead (503-326-2368). |