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:

October 27, 2003

To:

Intergovernmental Advisory Committee Members (see attached distribution list)

From:

/s/Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Subject:

INTERGOVERNMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA & PREWORK, 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., November 5, 2003

Time

Topics

Purpose

Presenter

10:00

• Introductions

• Certification of Meeting Notes
• Agenda Review

Housekeeping

Linda Goodman
Anne Badgley
Facilitator

10:15

Public Comment Period

Report

Anne Badgley

10:30

• Overview of Federal budget procedures and time lines
• Agency Question and Answer Opportunity

FS, BLM, & FWS Budget Managers

11:30

Lunch

12:30

Update

Sue Zike

1:30

• RIEC priorities and follow-up activities

Update

Moderator:
Anne Badgley Subcommittee Reports

3:00

Break

3:15

• Tracking and using IAC recommendations
• Opportunity for discussion of current and future issues
• Future Agenda Topics

Open
Discussion
Advice

Anne Badgley

4:15

• Review agreements, tasks, and assignments
• Next meeting date and future agenda topics
• Closing Comments

Housekeeping

Facilitator
Anne Badgley
Linda Goodman

4:30

Adjourn

Topic: The Federal Budget Process

Presenter/Sponsor: Hugh Morrison, Division of Budget and Finance, Fish and Wildlife Service, 503-231-6261; Darwin Priebe, Management and Budget, BLM, 503-808-6193; and Pat O'Day, Acting Assistant Director, FS, 503-808-2291.

REO/RMG Contact/Phone: Jay Watson, REO (503-808-2178)

Issue Statement: In the last IAC meeting there were several questions regarding the Federal budget process, funding decisions, and timelines. Hugh Morrison (FWS Regional Budget Chief) will provide an overview of key steps in the Federal Budget process and will be joined by Budget Officers from the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for an informal Question and Answer session.

Organizational/Funding Implications: None at this time.

Action Required:

[] IAC Review & Discussion
[] RIEC Decision

[] IAC Recommendation
[X] Other: Information

Topic: Litigation Report

Presenter/Sponsor: Sue Zike, Litigation/FOIA Coordinator, USDA Forest Service, Region 6

REO Contact/Phone: Anne Badgley, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: At the August 2003 IAC meeting, committee members were particularly interested in the litigation history briefly covered by Sue Zike during a Hot Topic presentation. Members requested a more indepth report, which has been planned for this meeting. Sue will provide additional information on litigation that has, or is, affecting NWFP agencies and implementation.

Action Required:

[x] Information [] Decision [] Concurrence [x] Discussion

Topic: NWFP Implementation Review

Sponsor/REO Contact/Phone: Anne Badgley, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: The RIEC has been reviewing recommendations captured during the California review of the Northwest Forest Plan and weaving them into a comprehensive implementation review. You may remember the last review (occurred in 2001-2002) which generated two Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement efforts (Aquatic Conservation Strategy and Survey and Manage) which should begin winding down in mid-winter.

Analysis and Options: Executives from the RIEC will be introducing IAC members to some of the proposed projects that were identified in the latest review round and providing an update on the initial analysis and scoping processes. These proposed projects reflect some of the suggestions previously made by the IAC, as well as suggestions from the RIEC, ad hoc interagency teams, etc. As this process unfolds there will be opportunities for more indepth presentations and IAC advice on individual projects.

Action Required:

[x] Information [] Decision [] Concurrence [x] Discussion

Round Table Topic: Tracking and Using IAC Recommendations

Sponsor/REO Contact/Phone: Anne Badgley, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: It was suggested at the last meeting that the REO create some type of a recommendations log for the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) advice. This suggestion dovetails well with the new Annual Federal Advisory Committee Act report format which requires agencies to report on recommendations and follow-up actions.

REO Staff Proposal: There are several actions in progress to support this recommendation:

• Recommendations will be captured on a separate flip chart sheet during the meeting.
• Meeting notes will include recommendations for individual items (which has often been done in the past) and in a summary table (something new!).

Analysis and Options: It would be useful to get feedback from the IAC regarding these first steps and if additional steps need to be taken.

Action Required:

[] Information [] Decision [x] Concurrence [x] Discussion

Topic: Round Table Open Discussion

Presenter/Sponsor/Phone: Anne Badgley, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: We will open up the Round Table Discussion to items that the committee might like to discuss. Topics within this time may include ‘early alerts’ for upcoming issues and activities, topics for future meetings, agenda items, and any other NWFP issues of interest to the members.

REO Staff Proposal: To help keep this segment lively, we are asking that topics needing more than 5 minutes be scheduled as a hot topic or regular agenda item.

Action Required:

[x] IAC Review & Discussion
[] RIEC Decision

[] IAC Recommendation
[x] Other: Information sharing

Topic: Survey & Manage SEIS Update

Sponsor: Dick Prather, Team Leader, Survey and Manage SEIS Team, 503-326-2354

REO Contact/Phone: Jay Watson, 503-808-2178

Issue Statement: A supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) addressing Survey and Manage (S&M) provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) has been drafted.

Background: S&M mitigation measures were added to the NWFP late in the process to provide additional protection for hundreds of rare and little known species. The measures provide for the management of known species sites; site-specific, pre-habitat-disturbing surveys, and/or landscape level surveys for various species. In January 2001, a S&M SEIS and Record of Decision were completed to clarify the S&M standards and guidelines (S&G), reduce conflicts, eliminate inconsistent or redundant practices, and establish an annual species review process. The documents included provisions for moving species between management categories, as well as, adding new or removing species from the S&M list.

Analysis and Options: The 2003 SEIS examines the effects of three alternatives:

Alternative 3 would blend components of the current S&M S&G and agency SSSP, placing the "rare" category species under S&M, and the "uncommon" category species under SSSP. Alternative 3 would also remove the requirement for pre-disturbance surveys in stands that have do not have late-successional or old-growth characteristics.

Topic:  Aquatic Conservation Strategy Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

Sponsor: Joyce Casey, Project Lead, 503-326-2430

REO Contact/Phone: Steve Morris 503-808-2176

Issue Statement: Update on the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS)

Background: In March 2003, the FS and BLM issued a draft SEIS to clarify language in the Record of Decision for the Northwest Forest Plan regarding the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS). The final EIS was issued in October 2003. The SEIS includes three alternatives: No Action (no change to the current wording), the Proposed Action and Alternative A. The Proposed Action and A include the following elements:

Site-scale projects may not necessarily fully attain ACS objectives. Standards and guidelines related to ACS objectives do not require decision makers to automatically assume that all site-scale projects fully attain ACS objectives.

Analysis and Options: The SEIS public comment period has closed, comments have been collected and analyzed, and results tabulated. The final SEIS has been distributed to the public. A Record of Decision is expected to be signed by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior in December 2003. We may receive public comments between publication of the final SEIS and signing the decision, but we are not required to respond to those comments.

Alternative A is the Preferred Alternative. It was developed in response to comments received on the draft SEIS. It clarifies that all of Attachment A of the Record of Decision is management direction. It also keeps the "maintain and restore" concept from the 1994 ROD, but emphasizes that the scale at which to apply this concept is the fifth-field watershed over the long term.

Topic: Five-year Status Review for the Northern Spotted Owl and the Marbled Murrelet

Sponsor: Barry Mulder, FWS, 503-872-2805

REO Contact/Phone: Jay Watson, 503-808-2178

Issue Statement: As part of two settlement agreements, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) initiated 5-year reviews in January 2003 for the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet. These reviews will determine whether a change in the Endangered Species Act listing status is warranted.

Background: Because of the complexity and volume of information, the FWS requested proposals from outside contractors to assist in completing these reviews. The FWS has selected two internationally recognized consulting firms: The Sustainable Ecosystems Institute (SEI) of Portland will review and evaluate information about the northern spotted owl. EDAW, Inc. of Seattle will review and evaluate marbled murrelet information.

The contractors have begun to organize teams of independent experts to provide an objective evaluation of the available scientific information, and will provide a status report summarizing and evaluating the biological and ecological information. The FWS will then use this information to make a regulatory determination whether to change the listing status for either species. Two Federal Register notices have been published requesting all relevant information since the original listings of both species.