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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM101701 Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee Minutes Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Present: Dave Christensen, Jefferson County Natural Resources Judy Damore, District 1 Jeff Gallant, District 1 (Vice Chair) Spike Hall, Citizen Bí1I Kalina, ex-officio, U.S. Navy, Indian Island Larry Lawson, Commercial Fishing Anne Murphy, District 2 Andrew Palmer, District 3 (Chair) Rex Rice, Environment Absent: Larry Crockett, ex-officio, Port of Port Townsend Barbara Nightingale, Citizen Judy Surber, City of Port Townsend Excused Richard Wojt, Jefferson County Commissioner Staff/Guests: Barbara Bowen, Jefferson County Natural Resources Susan Latham, ThinkEdge Kevin Ryan, US Fish and Wildlife Service Tim Ransom, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team OPENING BUSINESS Chair Andy Palmer called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM in the 1"1 Floor Conference Room of the Jefferson County Courthouse Port Townsend, Washington. It was moved, seconded and approved by consensus to approve the minutes of the September meeting. The Agenda was approved without change. OLD BUSINESS ACTION ITEMS: Andy Palmer reviewed action items from the September meeting. Next steps were recorded as follows: In preparation for the October 2S MRC training, the Public Outreach Committee wíll meet at the Health Department at 1:00 on Monday of next week to gather display pieces. There was support for using the existing MRC display board with new pieces. Spike Hall, Rex Rice, Judy Damore and Dave Christensen agreed to assist with the display. The Library Committee reported that they have not received any comments on the changes to the MRC website. There was a question about the scope of service in the contract which expired at the end of September. The Library Committee agreed to follow up on getting more information about the original contract and whether any changes could be made to the website if needed. The Forage Fish subcommittee reported that NOSC will present to the Village Council of Port Ludlow. They also prepared a press release to The Leader and a postcard which will be sent to landowners to encourage their response to the questionnaire. Jeff Gallant said the Executive Committee forwarded an electronic version of the agenda to the list serve. Barbara Bowen prepared a summary of comments, priorities and emerging themes that resulted from her discussions with members. The expectation was that members could use these comments in formulating the long-range planning retreat agenda. Larry Lawson agreed to contact NOSC for ideas on GIS coordination. Mr. Lawson said the Point No Point Treaty Council and County GIS personnel are working together. There was a suggestion to consider holding a Joint Clallam/Jefferson MRC meeting at Jamestown S'Klallam tribal center. Dave Christensen reported emailing the Year 3 Action Grant Pre~proposal to the MRC. Barbara Bowen reported there was a presentation by Stephanie Lund of Anchor Environmental on October 9, 2001. Notes of this meeting were distributed. Marine Resources Committee - October 17, 2001 Page: 2 OBSERVER COMMENT Andy Palmer introduced Kevin Ryan of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Project Leader for the Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex on Protection Island. Mr. Ryan circulated a photo of Protection Island and talked about the activities planned for this year, including removal of old buildings, fuel storage tanks, and other miscellaneous equipment. He then reviewed the Comprehensive Planning Process for Protection and San Juan Islands, a part of which may involve making a presentation to the MRC. Mr. Ryan offered the MRC a site visit. Andy Palmer said there may be opportunities for joint projects and public education and suggested that the MRC add Mr. Ryan to the distribution list for notice of meetings. Tim Ransom reiterated that while he is currently the liaison between Jefferson County and the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, he will be replaced in November by John Cambalik. He distributed information on the mitten crab. NEW BUSINESS & REPORTS LONG-RANGE PLANNING RETREAT: Andy Palmer reported that several members met today with facilitator Susan Latham to work on the agenda with the primary topics being long-range planning and MRC processes. Following discussion about the period to be covered by the MRC's long-range plan, there was support for creating a 2-112 year plan and capturing ideas that do not fit within that period as long~range goals. It was thought to be important that concrete ideas come out of the retreat, so that a committee can then develop a specific work plan. There was discussion about how to address process concerns that surfaced during Barbara Bowen's interviews with individual MRC members. A recommendation was that members review Barbara Bowen's memo and suggest major headings for discussion. Susan Latham suggested several categories: communication, content, structure, people and administration. There was also some concern about a lack of relationship between the Commissioners and the MRC. Barbara agreed to forward to members the MRC Resolution 45-99 which established the MRC. Following significant discussion, there was a suggestion to spend the majority of the meeting working on the MRCs process and how it functions as a group. YEAR 3 ACTION GRANT PREPROPOSAL: Dave Christensen circulated comments from the Northwest Straits Commission on the five projects proposed for the Year 3 Action Grant, noting the Commission's underlying concern that the Committee is attempting to do too much. He said the proposal deadline is October 31. There was discussion about how best to pair down the proposal as follows: · Habitat Assessment Project: It was suggested that the second half of this project "selecting a pilot habitat protection project" may be more appropriate for the next grant cycle. Jeff Gallant said while there are a number of people that haven't yet been heard from in the focus groups, this project attempts to reach the benchmark while changing the definition of a possible Jefferson County MPA program. It would assess an area for potential recovery without regulations. There was also a suggestion to expand the public outreach and education component if the Forage Fish project is scaled back. More discussion is needed. . Forage Fish Project: Larry Lawson said he would need more information to respond to the Northwest Straits questions. He proposed reducing the budget to $6,000 ($4,000 artwork, $2000 layout) to produce quality presentation and outreach materials using as a basis the data and outreach materials coming out of the near shore habitat assessment from the Point No Point Treaty Council which covers South Point Beach. He suggested expanding on their data and materials to include Port Ludlow Bay, Port Townsend, Bay and Discovery Bay (shoreline hardening, drift cells, habitat change, and forage fish survey areas needing protection). Questions and concerns were how this project is different than what is already being done and how the data can be used to set policy. Larry suggested it would be important to include Josh Peters of the County in discussions about getting information into policy. There was no agreement whether to reduce this project. More discussion is needed. Marine Resources Committee - October 17, 2001 Page: 3 . Emergency Response and Website Development: There was a suggestion to build these two projects into the Administrative Grant. The Emergency Response Coordination project would no longer involve having a meeting, but administrative time to prepare a report of equipment and capacities. . Cooperative Project on Reintroducing Olympia Oysters: Anne Murphy said she invited Betsy Peabody of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund to come to Port Townsend Wednesday or Thursday next week to outline the steps and associated costs of the project. In response to concerns about naming a potential site in the pre- proposal, it was noted that there would be a process for assessing sites and involving shoreline landowners. Although there was still some concern about moving forward on a project to introduce oysters when there has not yet been an assessment of the potential to reintroduce, there was consensus to move forward with this project. There was concern about the approaching grant deadline and the limited opportunities for committees to finalize the details of the proposal. It was agreed that a small portion of the MRC Planning Retreat would be used to decide which projects to emphasize in the Year 3 Grant with subcommittees providing the details. OTHER/ADMINISTRATIVE Barbara Bowen expressed her willingness to prepare a summary of operational ideas based on her conversations with other MRCs. She noted several MRCs have regular communications with their County Commissioners. She displayed a bound semi~annual report to the Northwest Straits Commission and asked if members would also be interested in delivering copies to the County Commissioners. There was support for scheduling a presentation to present these copies. Kevin Ryan urged the MRC to keep up its important work. PREPARE AGENDA / ADJOURN The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 14, 2001 at 7:00 PM in the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1'1 Floor Conference Room, Port Townsend, Washington. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM. MARINE RESOURCES COMMITTEE Andy Palmer, Chair BENCHMARKS FOR PERFORMANCE 1. BROAD COUNfY PARTICIPATION IN THE MRCS. 2. ACHIEVE A SCIENTIFICALLY -BASED, REGIONAL SYSTEM OF MP As. 3. A NET GAIN IN HIGHLY ECOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE NEARSHORE, INTERTIDAL AND ESTUARINE HABITAT ... NO SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF EXISTING HIGH-VALUE HABITAT ... IMPROVE STATE, TRIBAL AND LOCAL TOOLS TO MAP, ASSESS, AND PROTECT NEARSHORE HABITAT AND PREVENT HARM FROM UPLAND ACTIVITIES. 4. NET REDUCTION IN SHELLFISH HARVEST AREAS CLOSED DUE TO CONTAMINATION. 5. MEASURABLE INCREASES IN FACTORS SUPPORTING RECOVERY OF BOTTOM FISH, INCLUDING NUMBERS OF FISH OF BROOD STOCK SIZE AND AGE, AVERAGE FISH SIZE, AND ABUNDANCE OF PREY SPECIES - AS WELL AS SUFFICIENT AMOUNTS AND QUALITY OF PROTECTED HABITAT. 6. INCREASES IN OTHER KEY MARINE INDICATOR SPECIES. 7. COORDINATION OF SCIENTIFIC DATA, INCLUDING A SCIENTIFIC BASELINE, COMMON PROTOCOLS, UNIFIED GIS, AND SHARING OF ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENTS AND RESEARCH. 8. COORDINATE WITH THE PUGET SOUND ACTION TEAM AND OTHER ENTITIES ON AN EFFECTIVE OUTREACH AND EDUCATION EFFORT.