Enclosed please find notes for the November 2, 2004 Regional Interagency Executive Committee (RIEC) meeting held at the DoubleTree at Lloyd Center Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Primary topics discussed included:

§           10-Year Monitoring Report Progress
§           Northern Spotted Owl Consultation Workgroup Report
§           Analytical Process for Endangered Species Act Consultations on Aquatic Species
§           Communications Team Report
§           Preview of the IAC November 3, 2004 meeting

Summary notes for these topics have been attached for your information.

There are several meetings scheduled for the near future, some of which were discussed at this last meeting and at the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting on November 3, 2004. Many of you will have these dates on your calendars already, but just in case you don't, the table in attachment 2 summarizes the activities over the next several months.

Additional information regarding these meetings will be sent to you shortly. We hope that you can join us. I look forward to seeing you soon. If you have any questions regarding the attached material, please contact your REO Representative, Kath Collier (503-808-2179), or me (503-808-2165).  

Enclosures:

1 – November Meeting Issue Summaries (5pp)  
2 – Updated Meeting Calendar for CY2005 (1pp)

cc:    Presenters, REO Staff

2003/kc

Distribution List for RIEC

 cc:

            Dan McKenzie (EPA)  
            Barry Mulder (FWS)
            Jim Shevock (NPS)

ISSUE SUMMARIES

Topic: 10-YEAR MONITORING REPORT UPDATE

Presenters/Sponsor: Tom Quigley, PNW; Richard Haynes, PNW; Nancy Molina, BLM; Jon Martin, Interagency Monitoring Program

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director

Issue Statement: The 10-year monitoring report on the effectiveness of the NWFP is the first comprehensive analysis of monitoring data and research results since 1994. This periodic evaluation was recommended in the monitoring strategy and design. The RIEC approved the 10-year monitoring report schedule in September 2001.

Background: The NWFP 1994 Record of Decision required a monitoring plan but did not describe how to monitor. Implementation monitoring began under a draft monitoring plan in 1996. In 1999, with the help of many experts, a strategy and design for the overall effectiveness monitoring program was published (GTR-437, 1999). At about the same time, Northern Spotted Owl (NSO), Marbled Murrelets, and Late-Successional Old-Growth monitoring plans were approved by the RIEC. In 2001 the RIEC approved the Watershed module (Aquatic Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program or AREMP) and approved the Tribal module in 2002. The Socio-economic module is being tested, and the Biodiversity monitoring plan is yet to be developed. The goal of the monitoring program is to evaluate the success of the NWFP in achieving the objectives on Federal lands of conserving late-successional habitat and related species, improving watershed condition, and providing resource production and assistance to rural economies and communities.

Discussion: Tom Quigley provided a recap of the August 26 RIEC meeting, focusing on key executive messages, and discussions. Tom provided an update on the conference regarding new science and monitoring results after a decade of implementing the NWFP that is to be held in Portland, April 19th and 20th. A steering committee is working on the format and presenters for the workshop. Key findings of the status & trend reports were shared with the RIEC in August which included an in-depth discussion of the potential topics and scope of the synthesis report.   Richard Haynes, lead technical editor of the 10-year synthesis report, provided an overview of the developing outline and key topics in the report. Discussion included the following topics: society’s changing values, evaluation of the reserve system, and the need to acknowledge the infancy of the monitoring data as it is the first ten years of a 100-year plan.   Nancy Molina, BLM, reviewed a proposed process for developing management implications from the status and trend and synthesis report findings. She led a discussion about how and when to involve the IAC. Her approach for development of the management implications was acceptable to the RIEC members.   Jon Martin, Interagency Monitoring Program, provided a brief progress report on the status and trend reports in general, and the need for future executive team involvement in the developing results.

Decisions:   Future RIEC meetings will provide updates for the executives regarding the status and trend reports and the synthesis document. Specific topics may be presented to the RIEC for in-depth discussion and feedback (e.g., Reserves).   The IAC will be invited to attend the NWFP April conference to hear the science findings. They are invited to attend a meeting the following day (April 21) with the RIEC to solicit their feedback and input.

Action Required: Determine what topics from the synthesis warrant detailed discussion at the RIEC meetings in January and March 2005.

10-year Monitoring Report Publications and Authors:   · PNW Publications § Status and Trend of the Northern Spotted on Federal Lands under the NWFP (Lint, Forsman, Davis, Reid, Mowdy) § Status and Trend of the Marbled Murrelets on Federal Lands under the NWFP (Huff, Baldwin, Falxa, Miller, Nelson, Ralph, Raphael, Strong, Thompson) § Status and Trends of Late-Successional - Old-Growth Forest under the NWFP (Moeur, Spies, Hemstrom) § Status and Trends of Watershed Condition under the NWFP (Gallo, Lanigan, Eldred, Gordon, Moyer) § Status and Trends in Socio-Economic Conditions under the NWFP (Charnley, Donoghue, Buttolph, Dillingham, Kay, McLain, Moseley, Phillips, Stuart, Sutton, Tobe) § Synthesis Report (Bormann, Barbour, Busch, Greenspoon, Haynes, Kiester, Lee, Marcot, Martin, Molina Raphael, Reeves, Spies) § Executive Summary Report   · BLM-FS Publications: § Tribal (Crespin, Tamez, McConnell) § Compliance & Implementation (Baker, Ferguson, Hsin, Palmer, Tolle, Winkler) § Information Management (Palmer, Bingham, Morganti)

Hot Topics

Topic: Northern Spotted Owl and Marbled Murrelet Status Review Updates

Summary of Discussion: Barry Mulder, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provided a brief update on the current status of the two five-year status reviews.

Northern Spotted Owl: The final five-year status review recommendation for the Northern spotted owl is in the process of being finalized. The final decision will be announced around Nov. 15, 2004.

Marbled Murrelet: The FWS has completed the status review for the marbled murrelet, concluding that the murrelet populations in California, Oregon, and Washington do not satisfy the criteria for designation as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) under the FWS’s 1996 DPS Policy. The five-year review did not answer the question of whether the three-state population constitutes a significant portion of the range of the species, or whether the species as a whole is at risk of extinction. These questions must be answered in a range-wide status review; this review has not yet been scheduled. De-listing or reclassifying the murrelet under the Endangered Species Act will require a separate rulemaking, involving public notice and comment. The revision of murrelet critical habitat has been put on hold pending a review of the range-wide status review.

Future Potential Topics

• Fire implications to Late Successional Reserves
• Monitoring reports & activities
• NSO consultation workgroup update
• Western Oregon plan revisions
• Process requirements of implementation

Meeting Evaluation

            The overall evaluation scores for this meeting was 4.5 with very high marks in both meeting focus and general overall meeting evaluation. The effectiveness and efficiency ratings were just slightly lower, but still very high. Comments received from meeting participants included valuing the pre-meeting handouts, positive comments on the location, pace and execution (“Very well run”, “…a very high rating in all categories. Information was useful, on track, and well managed”). There was another note regarding the impact of missing key executives/decision makers at the meeting, and the substitute of alternatives which may not be as well versed in some of the topics (“makes progress difficult if key players [are] not there. Lack of [expected] discussion likely due to new players at [the] table. Synthesis discussion very lacking by execs”).   

Meeting Roster

Attachment 2 – Updated Meeting Calendar for CY 2005

TBS – To Be Scheduled

                        Updates for this calendar are posted on: http://www.reo.gov