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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20151020 FINAL NPC MRC MinutesNPC MRC 10/20/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 1 October 20, 2015 NPC MRC FINAL Meeting Summary The October 20, 2015 NPC MRC meeting took place at the Hemlock Forest Room at 1455 Forks Avenue, Forks, WA on Tuesday the 20th from 4:11 to 6:16 PM (00:13:35 on the audio counter). A quorum of voting members was established later in the meeting. Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Steve Allison (Hoh Tribe Rep.), Ed Ansorg (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County), John Hunter (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Katie Krueger (Quileute Tribe Rep.), Ian Miller (Washington SeaGrant), Rich Osborne (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Rep.) and Jill Silver (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County). Rebekah Brooks (ONRC), Victor Hanna (Roy Morris’ Intern) and Frank Hanson (ONRC) were also present. Introductions Public Comments Steve Allison commented on the success of the Coastal Summit and thanked Tami Pokorny for her efforts. Jill Silver announced a breakthrough in non-toxic oil spill cleanup: Fungi Perfecti micro remediation, inoculating straw booms with oyster mushrooms that eat the oil from the spill and are clean afterwards. She proposed forming a subcommittee to put together a proposal for a pilot project to test the technology in the field. Additions to the Agenda There were no additions to the agenda, but no quorum was present yet to approve it. Approval of the September Meeting Summary Jill Silver requested an addition to the summary: the concept of tribes and other communities conducting baseline ecological or resource valuations prior to disasters. Katie Krueger had talked about the Quileute Tribe trying to do that and finding it too expensive; Jill would argue now after hearing presentations at the Summit on NRDA that it would behoove us to pursue that inventory, assessment and valuation in the event of any disaster. There was no quorum present yet to approve the change. Announcements Victor Hanna announced that he will soon have the NPC MRC Facebook page up and running. Ian Miller asked for an update on Kim Kearns’ proposal at last month’s NPC MRC meeting for a student science project involving construction and implementation of temperature gauges. Tami Pokorny said Kim is working on her response to the questions that were raised at the meeting and is making good progress. Discussion followed among the group over the intention and value of the project. Old Business ICC/Salmon Feed and Poetry Read Victor Hanna and Steve Allison gave an update on the event: it was a success with a good attendance of about thirty people, plenty of salmon and poetry. Discussion followed about the possibility of moving the venue next year to somewhere indoors. NPC MRC 10/20/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 2 MRC Summit Tami Pokorny gave a review of the agenda and discussion followed on the highlights of the oil spill section, the positive feedback on the location of La Push, and some of the other presentations. Future grant funding options were also discussed. Casey Dennehey has suggested each coastal MRC contributing $2000 for the Summit each year; general NPC MRC consensus was that this would be a good use of WDFW MRC funds. Pacific County MRC is set to host next year. Katie Krueger arrived during this topic, so a quorum was established. New Business Grays Harbor Comment Letter Templates The deadline for responses has been extended by over a month, so a subcommittee of the NPC MRC will now have time to refine a letter response. Katie Krueger said she will be writing a separate letter on behalf of the Quileute Tribe instead of participating in the group letter. Discussion on the relevance of oil transport expansion in Grays Harbor to the north coast, and the position the NPC MRC should take on the issue took place among the group. While several edits were made to the Grays Harbor letter, *a subcommittee was formed to work on a separate template letter from the NPC MRC that included Tami Pokorny, Jill Silver and Ed Ansorg. The template will be emailed and available for review at the next NPC MRC meeting, and can then be signed by individual members. Loss of NOPSC and PCSC Projects The Natural Resources Program with NOPSC has been discontinued, so NOPSC and PCSC have to withdraw their applications because the two projects were intertwined. Discussion followed on what to fund as an alternative. It was decided to fund the other projects that were submitted on time in the order they were ranked by the NPC MRC. Rich Osborne moved to use the returned funds to fully fund the Feiro project, and to contact Jon Scordino to see if the remaining $5000 would be feasible to apply to the Makah project; Steve Allison seconded. The motion passed with all in favor. Discussion followed on whether to rank the small projects in order to apply the remaining NPC MRC funds to them. It was decided to separate out the internal, ongoing-support NPC MRC projects, which are: Film Festival, Trashion Show, Newsletter, ICC Salmon Feed and Poetry Read, and Coastal MRC Summit. *The NPC MRC members will rank the five internal projects on their own by the next meeting. There is a Sanctuary Foundation grant meeting regarding the transit center tomorrow. *Roy Morris will present on youth engagement and natural resource job training at the next NPC MRC meeting. Non-RFP Projects Selection Process Discussion This topic was addressed under Loss of NOPSC and PCSC Projects. Project Updates and Ideas (not all inclusive): Engaging Youth Natural Resources Jobs and Training Project Transit Center/Hollings Grant Water Quality Recreational Fishing Newsletter RainFest, Trashion Show, Film Festival Curriculum Support for Discover the Olympic Coast ICC Salmon Feed This topic was addressed under Loss of NOPSC and PCSC Projects. Updates Marine Debris/Ocean Acidification/Hypoxia NPC MRC 10/20/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 3 Rich Osborne announced another harmful algal bloom coming up; Jill Silver said the razor clam harvest has been postponed due to biotoxins; Katie Krueger announced that as of now, the Quileute Tribe will not be fishing crab for the same reason. Washington Coast Marine Advisory Council/Marine Spatial Planning The last meeting was held on 9/23/15 in Grays Harbor. Rich Osborne gave an overview of the meeting, which included a presentation on ecosystem indicators. WCMAC will be continued through 2016, through the end of the MSP timeline. A full time writer has been hired to write the MSP document. At the next meeting, on 12/9/15 in Aberdeen, the council will start going through the scenarios that the technical committee has preliminarily discussed. A special workshop on the output of the coast-wide WDFW fisheries analysis will be on 11/9/15 in Montesano. Additional information can be found at www.msp.wa.gov. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council The last meeting was held on 9/25/15 in Taholah. Rich Osborne gave an overview of the meeting, which also included an ecosystem indicator workshop and a presentation on the economic assessment that OCNMS has been doing; the economic assessment results were found to be very much in line with those from the MSP economic analysis. The next meeting will be in Olympia on 10/26/15 and will have a presentation from NOAA’s regional director, Nir Barnea, on marine debris; a harmful algal bloom presentation; and a presentation on ocean noise and marine mammals. Administration and Fiscal Agent Update Tami Pokorny said that the NPC MRC is in good stead with WDFW and with approved project contracts with Feiro, CoastSavers and COASST. Once decisions are made on the remaining projects, she will have a budget update. Next Agenda The next NPC MRC meeting is scheduled for November 17th at ONRC in Forks. The agenda will include an update from Roy Morris on natural resource jobs and job training, a transit center update and discussion on the ranking of internal projects. Comments from the NPC MRC will be presented to the board of county commissioners on 11/16/15. Rich Osborne suggested having a discussion on how the NPC MRC might best interact with the commissioners and several ideas were discussed. Jill Silver brought up the matter of communicating the issues that the NPC MRC discusses with other county citizens. Frank Hanson suggested publishing quarterly articles on NPC MRC topics in the Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum and *volunteered to help put them together. Public Comments/General There were none. Adjourn The NPC MRC meeting adjourned at 6:16 pm (02:18:35 on the audio counter). Compiled by Rebekah Brooks. Action Items: *A subcommittee was formed to work on a separate template letter from the NPC MRC that included Tami Pokorny, Jill Silver and Ed Ansorg. *The NPC MRC members will rank the five internal projects on their own by the next meeting. *Roy Morris will present on youth engagement and natural resource job training at the next NPC MRC meeting. NPC MRC 10/20/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 4 *Frank Hanson volunteered to help write quarterly articles for the Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum on NPC MRC topics.