Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout20160818 FINAL NPC MRC MinutesNPC MRC 08/16/2016 FINAL Meeting Summary 1 August 16th, 2016 NPC MRC FINAL Meeting Summary The Tuesday, August 16th, 2016 NPC MRC meeting took place at the Hemlock Forest Room, Olympic National Resources Center, at 1455 Forks Avenue, Forks, WA from 4:07 (00:00:02 on the audio counter) to 6:05 PM. Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Katie Krueger (Quileute Tribe Rep.), Deb Kucipeck (Clallam County Rep.), Roy Morris (Citizen Rep., Clallam County – Economic Groups), Rich Osborne (Citizen Rep., Clallam County – Science), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Rep., Coordinator), Jill Silver (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County – Conservation/Environment), and Chiggers Stokes (Jefferson County – Recreational Groups). Frank Hanson (ONRC), Jon Schmidt (CoastSavers), Ian Miller (WA Sea Grant) Rebekah Benjamin (by phone), recorder, Victor Hannah (student), and Sara Carter (student) were also present. Introductions Public Comments Additions to the Agenda Approval of the July Meeting Summary Katie emailed changes to the summary to Tami but received no confirmation. Tami will email Katie’s comments to Rebekah. The Tribe has recently sent an email to the Park about parking along Hwy 110. This summer has been very unusual for the number of cars parked inappropriately. Some have been getting stuck in the ditch near Second and Third Beach. She has never seen anything like this. There was a question whether an auklet die off was directly related to marine debris. Move marine debris header below auklet. Jennifer Hagen emailed Tami that there were probably enough signs at La Push and therefore suggested other outreach means. Jill Silver and Roy Morris joined the meeting. Approval of the draft minutes was by consensus with Katie’s changes. Announcements Chiggers is appointed to the MRC to take John Richmond’s seat and Jill Silver is reappointed. Steve mentioned that at the mouth of Steamboat Creek there’s a huge chunk of metal present sitting cross-wise in the channel. It’s not new but no one had noticed it. Chiggers thought he’d seen it maybe five years ago and perhaps it’s a piece of WWII aquatic equipment. WDOT is going to take out the box culvert near the overlook to Beach 6 and replace it with a bridge for the sake of bull trout. There’ll be 7,000’ of habitat when it’s opened up. Roy mentioned the new Natural Resources class at the Forks High School. The students are going to walk the ONRC trail and make a plan to create a nature trail for younger classmates. They have other projects in mind too. The Audubon breeding bird census is one possibility. Victor Hannah mentioned that Danyell Dahn will be instructing the class. NPC MRC 08/16/2016 FINAL Meeting Summary 2 Old Business MRC Summit Ginny Broadhurst of the NW Straits Commission would like to collaborate and Julia Sanders of Global Ocean Health will participate again. The venue is the Cranberry Museum. Please speak up if you’d like to weigh in on any aspect of the Summit. Katie requested an update from Clallam County on their SMP process. Signage Project Tami drafted a very rough draft brochure on caring for coastal beaches on the Quileute reservation as a starting place since there is less interest in signs. Roy mentioned that signage at the Park can be very difficult. It might be best to go straight to the enforcement staff. Jill would like to pursue opportunities for education and perhaps a percentage of visitors would be willing to take a bag and pick up trash and would appreciate more information on ecology and about our ocean. ONP needs to be invited to distribute maps in more locations and educate people about not burning up beach logs and other issues. Ticketing is common around Lake Crescent but not on Hwy 110 currently. Chiggers suggested that a shuttle might be the long term solution and would prefer to keep a light hand with enforcement. Let’s keep talking about this subject. Tami reviewed the budget. Of the original $77,500 available to projects there remains $26,040 to spend. She has listed a number of potential projects. The chum salmon sculpture named FIN is a possibility for the April RainFest weekend and perhaps also the ICC/Salmon Feed – Poetry Read. Whoever signs the hold harmless agreement would need to have $2M in liability insurance. There’s also the idea of a marine-themed display for the Transfer Station. ICC/Salmon Feed – Poetry Read Roy feels this event and the film festival are signature events of the MRC. He passed around flyers. The Hoko SP potato dig will be the same weekend and hopefully encourage visitors to stay longer. The fall cleanup doesn’t have the numbers that the spring event does, but we’re acknowledging that most folks are coming from a long distance away. We’re looking at Tillicum Park handling the anticipated crowd plus the DNR for overflow. Tim McNulty, Carol Bernthal and others have volunteered to read. Rich mentioned the Alaska Fisherman poetry festival in Astoria. Roy will be reaching out to those poets in the future as well as people to supply fish and cook. The event is free and listed on the State Parks website. Resolution Membership Reviewed previously. Some of the representation roster labels need to be updated. Deb said that, as terms are renewed or filled, the appointment resolutions will be updated to reflect the list of categories in the signed resolution: Conservation/Environmental Groups Recreational Groups Economic Groups Scientific Community She reminded everyone that new Clallam applicants will need to complete the current version of the county advisory board application. Discover Your Olympic Coast Video Curriculum Update The video curriculum training for area teachers will be a standalone event. The Sanctuary ran out of time at the annual professional teacher training with Feiro. NPC MRC 08/16/2016 FINAL Meeting Summary 3 ONP Sanitation Update Tami provided examples of commercial dog waste stations and noted that they run about $200 each. At least one person believes that enforcement/warnings will also be needed. Sometimes the station promotes self- policing by peer pressure. Human waste is the real issue. Perhaps we need a station for both types of bags. The Tribe and Chamber would each want a say. Parking is over flowing onto the grassy hillside for Second Beach. It’s really clear that there aren’t enough facilities to accommodate everyone – especially since the Wilderness Information Center and other support services are no longer being funded, so the trailhead education isn’t happening. Discover the Olympic Coast Video (cont.) The idea was for an organized launch of the video within the North Coast teaching community through the Sanctuary and Feiro. It would also be nice to distribute the video and curriculum package to coast libraries and additional grade schools. Roy suggested reaching out to the ESD (Educational Service District) in Bremerton. They maintain a library of videos and STEM products and are hungry for content. We could get this video into the ESD library and an ESD-sponsored teacher newsletter and workshop perhaps where teachers could meet certification requirements. New Business CoastSavers Project Presentation and Discussion: Coordination of Coast-wide Beach Cleanups and Related Outreach Jon Schmidt thanked the group for its past support. He is asking for additional funding now because the State Legislature cut the Public Participation grant program from the WA Department of Ecology’s budget. This would have provided $35,000 to CoastSavers - a large hole to fill. The supplemental NPC MRC request would cover approximately a month of coordination costs for the WA Coast Cleanup ($4,000) and to research and develop new partners. Coordinator duties are listed in the application. This proposal is to create removable easels for registration stations on the north coast to inform participants ($2,000). The third component would fund a membership and Sponsorship Plan ($2,500) developed through phone calls and emails. Comments to Jon are due by the end of the week. Project scoring will occur in September. The Forks library is a great venue for brochures and talks. Jon is seeking additional funds from other sources. Jefferson County Project Presentation and Discussion: Water Bottle Filling/Marine Education Stations Tami Pokorny presented the idea of partnering with local agencies or school districts to install water bottle filling stations each accompanied by an educational sign promoting clean beaches, care for wildlife, preventing plastic waste or a similar message. Each facility could decide how to create the sign. The group discussed the ongoing costs such as water, parking, maintenance etc. Tami has been in contact with the City and has reached out to the school district. Other possible locations include high use venues such as the RAC, visitor center, stores and tribal facilities. In similar type projects it’s common for agencies to provide a “match” in the form of installation or minor ongoing costs. Elkay water bottle/drinking fountains runs about $950 each. Additional ideas for locations are most welcome. Agencies or other MRC members are most welcome to sponsor one or more of the filling stations. Updates Marine Debris (All) Jill notices that at least some marine debris is finding way into the beach dumpsters thanks to ongoing volunteer efforts. Roy is working on establishing GPS coordinates for large items. Washington Coast Marine Advisory Council/Marine Spatial Planning (Rod) -Last meeting June 15th in Grays Harbor NPC MRC 08/16/2016 FINAL Meeting Summary 4 The next WCMAC meeting is on September 28th. The Marine Spatial Plan is underway. The model to compare the degree of conflicting uses hasn’t identified any “unused” areas. The process of developing the grid was very involved. A windfarm would require a 50 square mile footprint. There are only two places with potential at this point. Many workshops have been held where user groups can answer questions. The legislation requires identification of areas best suited to alternative energy development. The group thanked Rich for his involvement in WCMAC. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council (Roy/Rich) -Last meeting September 23rd, Seattle The SAC is seeking input on the composition of the group. The Sanctuary is being considered as an ocean acidification Sentinel Site. Washington Marine Resources Advisory Council (MRAC) -Last meeting April 26th Fossil Fuels Related (All) Next Agenda (September 20th) Public Comments/General Jill mentioned that the Seacrest development is seeking to develop 22 more cabins within the tsunami inundation area in southern Jefferson County. QIN is pulling together information about cultural uses and is opposed to the project. The SMP does not apply as it’s an inholding within the reservation. Please be aware it’s moving through the SEPA process. Welcome back, Chiggers, and thank you for your service, Steve! Adjourn (01:58:42 on the counter) Draft minutes compiled by Tami Pokorny