HomeMy WebLinkAbout20150317 FINAL NPC MRC Minutes
NPC MRC 3/17/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary
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March 17, 2015 NPC MRC Final Meeting Summary
The March 17, 2015 NPC MRC meeting took place at the ONRC Hemlock Forest Room at 1455 Forks
Avenue, Forks, WA on Tuesday the 17th from 4:13 to 6:31 PM (00:00:50 on the audio counter).
A quorum of voting members was established.
Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Steve Allison (Hoh Tribe Rep.), Rod Fleck
(City of Forks), John Hunter (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Katie Krueger (Quileute Tribe Rep.), Deborah Kucipeck
(Clallam County Rep.), Ian Miller (Washington SeaGrant), Roy Morris (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Rich
Osborne (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Rep.), John Richmond (Citizen Rep.,
Jefferson County), Dana Sarff (Makah Tribe Rep.), Jill Silver (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County) and Chiggers Stokes
(Citizen Rep., Jefferson County).
Miles Batchelder (Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership), Rebekah Brooks (ONRC), Frank
Hanson (ONRC), Dan Lieberman (North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center) and Heidi Peterson (NOAA) were also
present.
Introductions
Public Comments
There were none.
Additions to the Agenda
The agenda was approved by consensus, with changes to accommodate guest presentations.
Approval of the February Meeting Summary
Rich Osborne moved to approve the February Meeting Summary as written; Jill Silver seconded. The
February Meeting Summary was approved by consensus.
Announcements
There were none.
Old Business
RainFest Planning
Tami Pokorny announced some slides she and Ian Miller wanted to show. It was decided to wait on this
topic for some committee members to return from a visit to the Rainforest Arts Center.
MRC Summit Planning
The best dates so far are 10/15/15 to 10/16/15. The group discussed possibly inviting the Strait MRCs to
participate in the Coast Summit. It was decided to hold the event in La Push. *Tami Pokorny will start reserving
spaces at Quileute Oceanside Resort.
NPC MRC 3/17/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary
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Back to Rainfest Planning
Sarah Tucker and Dana Wu are heading up a Trashion Show on April 24th at 7:00. Roy Morris brought up
discussion on whether or not to serve alcohol at the Film Fest; the Lion’s Club has offered to provide free beer
and cider at the CoastSavers beach cleanup and could also provide for Film Fest, with a donation jar available
instead of a charge. Rod Fleck confirmed that a banquet permit will be required from the State to serve alcohol
at the Rainforest Arts Center. It was agreed to wait on this decision until Rod and Carl Chastain responded with
more information on the interest and feasibility. John Hunter said that Forks High School teachers and students
will be participating in the tsunami/earthquake readiness displays and demonstrations. Ian Miller gave an
update on the Film Fest; 11 films have been submitted, with room for 6 more submittals. He requested
reviewers to score the films; *Jill Silver, Tami Pokorny, Rod Fleck, Deb Kucipeck and Rich Osborne volunteered;
Dan Lieberman volunteered some student interns as well. *Tami Pokorny will print posters at ONRC and keep
them at Rod Fleck’s office for distribution. *Frank Hanson will distribute the press release. *Please invite by
word of mouth. Discussion followed over whether to purchase rights to director Angela Sun’s film Plastic
Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch; the cost is $400 to show the film twice and about $3K for Angela Sun
to include an appearance at the festival. The committee decided to wait on purchasing rights to the film and
instead focus on local talent. The film is available on Netflix for anyone who is interested. Tami announced that
the Film Fest and RainFest information can be found on the City of Forks website. There are $1177 in funds
available for RainFest, but posters, banner and any janitorial costs have not been factored in yet. For more
information on Film Fest, go to: http://wsg.washington.edu/communications/river-ocean-film-festival.html.
Discover Your Olympic Coast Video—Update
Nicole Harris and Florian Graner are working with Florian’s daughter, Jasmine, on redoing the narration
for the film, which will be finalized by the 22nd. Tami Pokorny asked the NPC MRC whether there was anything to
add in the credits; no decision was reached. The committee decided to leave Florian the rights to market and sell
the film in HD, with the exceptions of possibly putting a low definition version on the WDFW website and
allowing the NPC MRC to distribute a limited number of copies of the film to local West End teachers.
New Business
Cassin’s Aucklet Wreck—Heidi Peterson
Heidi Peterson was still on her way to the NPC MRC meeting, so this topic was skipped until she arrived.
Dan Lieberman—Internship Program Update
Dan Lieberman presented Pathways to Engagement, Education and Employment: West End Natural
Resource Options and Internships for Students: Progress Report to NPC MRC. He went over the five project
deliverables to the NPC MRC: 1. Science Data: students are doing data collection for multiple surveys; 2. Student
Work Samples: most of the students gave presentations on their projects at last month’s NPC MRC meeting; 3.
School Credit: 32 students from Forks are participating in the program, with 13.5 out of 17.5 attempted credits
given; 4. Student Internships: 5 out of 6 interns have successfully completed their projects (the one student who
was unable to finish was open about it with the instructors and had to choose between the internship and
sports; he plans to return to the program at a later date); 5. Internship Program Documentation: Dan reviewed
the various documentation associated with the program, including internship objectives and opportunities.
Sequim and Port Angeles are now modelling their internship documentation after the NOPSC format as well.
Dan also discussed the future of the Natural Resources Program; the administrative council that runs the Skills
Center, consisting of the Quillayute Valley, Cape Flattery, Crescent, Sequim and Port Angeles school district
superintendents and the president of Peninsula College, has decided to eliminate the program entirely at the
end of the school year. The council will finalize the decision at their next meeting on April 14th. The NPC MRC
discussed drafting a letter immediately in support of the program to send to the school board; Dan started
working on a draft to go over later in the meeting.
NPC MRC 3/17/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary
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Cassin’s Aucklet Wreck—Heidi Peterson
Heidi Peterson (NOAA Marine Debris Program, UW and COASST) gave a presentation on the state of the
Cassin’s Aucklet, a seabird that had a mortality rate 10-300 times the normal rate last winter. Typical fall/winter
mortality for the Aucklet is around 50 birds for the coast, but projected mortality is set in the hundreds of
thousands. Observers stopped seeing new dead birds in mid-January. The birds showed signs of emaciation and
starvation, their food supply of larval fish being threatened by warm water. It is unknown whether or not this is
representative of a normal cyclical event that usually happens offshore, but there is the potential for more
wrecks in the future and the expectation to see effects of this event work its way down the food chain, with
small Pacific coast salmon next on the list. The good news is that the wreck event is not expected to effect the
overall Cassin’s Aucklet population because of a good breeding season and good population numbers. Julia
Parrish will be giving a presentation at the Bald Eagle Fest in Neah Bay on Earth Day.
Chiggers Stokes—Announcement
Chiggers Stokes announced his resignation from his seat on the NPC MRC after four years of
membership. Ed Ansorg will apply for his seat as a Jefferson County representative. Chiggers expressed his
overall appreciation for the experience and will continue involvement as a member of the public.
Back to Dan Lieberman—Internship Program Update
Dan showed his draft letter of support for the Natural Resources Program to the NOPSC Administrative
Council, which the NPC MRC discussed. Roy Morris moved to accept the letter to open it up for discussion; Jill
Silver seconded, with any additional edits to be made when the letter is sent out for review; the motion passed
by consensus. *Tami Pokorny will send the letter out for review.
Two-Year Funding Cycle—RFP Review
*Tami Pokorny requested that the committee review the RFP before the next meeting; please send any
changes to Tami for collection and presentation at the next meeting. *Rich Osborne requested that the topic be
moved up in the next agenda for time for discussion.
Earthquake Sharathon
Tami Pokorny, Ian Miller and John Hunter attended the event. John reported productive discussion
among groups about what each team was doing; it was an empowering, community building event.
Updates
Marine Debris/Ocean Acidification/Hypoxia
This topic was skipped.
Washington Coast Marine Advisory Council
The last meeting was on February 25th in Grays Harbor. Tami Pokorny gave a brief overview of the
agenda. The first draft of the MSP will be coming out this summer. Additional information can be found at
www.msp.wa.gov.
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council
The next meeting is scheduled for March 20th at ONRC in Forks.
Administration and Fiscal Agent Update
Tami Pokorny reported that the Pacific Education Institute sent an invoice for the review they did on
Florian Graner’s film A Seal’s Tour, with a request for an increase in the contract funding because they spent
more time on it than they expected. The NPC MRC discussed this and decided to thank them for their efforts,
but to decline the request because the budget was spent.
NPC MRC 3/17/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary
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Next Agenda
The next NPC MRC meeting is scheduled for April 21st at ONRC in Forks. Topics include review of the RFP,
more planning for RainFest and this year's MRC Summit and introduction of Ed Ansorg.
Public Comments/general
There were none.
Adjourn
The NPC MRC meeting adjourned at 6:31 pm (02:19:12 on the audio counter).
Compiled by Rebekah Brooks.
Action Items:
*Tami Pokorny will start reserving spaces at Quileute Oceanside Resort for the MRC Summit.
*Jill Silver, Tami Pokorny, Rod Fleck, Deb Kucipeck and Rich Osborne volunteered to review films for
Film Fest; Dan Lieberman volunteered some student interns as well.
*Tami Pokorny will print Film Fest posters at ONRC and keep them at Rod Fleck’s office for
distribution.
*Frank Hanson will distribute the Film Fest press release.
*Please invite others to Film Fest by word of mouth.
*Tami Pokorny will send the letter of support for the NOPSC Natural Resources program out for
review.
*Tami Pokorny requested that the committee review the RFP before the next meeting; please send
any changes to Tami for collection and presentation at the next meeting. Rich Osborne requested that the
topic be moved up in the next agenda for time for discussion.