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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 11 08 CFFCOC Special Meeting FInal Summary  * Decisions and action items are indicated in bold font. Members Present: Phil Andrus, District 2; Mary Biskup, District 1; Rob Harbour, Interest – Working Lands; Richard Jahnke, Interest – Coastal Areas; Cameron Jones, Interest – Equity; Kalyn Marab, District 3; Jessica Randall, Interest – Ecosystem Services; District 2; Ron Rempel, Interest – Wildlife Conservation Biology; Craig Schrader, Interest – Climate Change; Dave Wilkinson, District 1 Members Absent: Guy Dobyns, Vice Chair, District 3; Joanne Pontrello, District 2 County Staff Present: Tami Pokorny, Environmental Public Health Others Present: Rebekah Brooks, Recorder (Rebekah Brooks Contracting) I. Call to Order Acting Chair Mary Biskup called the meeting to order at 4:02 in Guy Dobyns’ absence. II. Welcome and Introductions III. Approval of Minutes The April 26, 2022 and October 4, 2022 JC CFCOC Minutes were both accepted by consensus as written. IV. Public Comments None V. Old Business Bylaws: Staff Update Tami Pokorny reported that since the last CFCOC meeting, she had spoken with the County administrator and the prosecuting attorney’s office a couple of times, but the Bylaws have not been prioritized for review. She suggested submitting the Bylaws to the Board of County Commissioners along with the other Committee materials or separately so that attention to the Bylaws is encouraged. VI. Sub-committee Reports Program Materials Ron Rempel gave an update on the two Subcommittee meetings that were held to discuss revision of the CFCOC materials, specifically regarding encouraging applicants from underserved communities and making changes for more concrete objectives in the application and scoring process. VI. New Business New Perspectives: Equity and Underserved Communities Cameron Jones presented on Equity in Jefferson County Conservation Futures Fund, acknowledging the history of conservation and Madison Grant, who was a co-founder of American environmentalism and integral to the development of wildlife management but also a proponent of eugenics. Grant wrote The Passing of the Great Race, or The Racial Basis of European History, which influenced Mein Kamp and the Immigration Act of 1924 that restricted immigration from eastern and southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. There is a legacy of white supremacy and colonialism in conservation that is not always realized. Cameron referenced the article From Racialized Neocolonial Global Conservation to an Inclusive and Regenerative Conservation by Prakash Kashwan, which explains how the National Park model is based on colonial legacies, and promotes an inclusive and regenerative environmentalism and incorporating people and community into conservation. King County Conservation Futures funds projects that seek to redress historical inequities through a match waiver and a process to determine equity. King County Land Conservation Advisory Group uses equity as an overarching theme and emphasizes engaging cities and communities to support not only the land, but also the people on the land. Cameron highlighted a possible case study from Quilcene: the Kawamoto Wipala project, which focused on bringing equity and conservation together holistically. More information on the project can be found at https://kawamotowipala.holisticsustainabilites.org. He suggested reaching out to sponsor organizations about their experience with equity and potential barriers in bringing together people with different views of conservation. New Perspectives: Climate Change, the Future of Conservation, and Legacy Forests Jessica Randall presented on the conservation value of forests and ecosystem services, which are really changing in terms of climate change. It is important to support forests that sustain diverse species and that can withstand wildfires to preserve precious lands that are not only entities within themselves, but also actively supporting other services like salmon, shellfish, other wildlife, clean water, clean air, carbon offsets, and climate resilience. Older growth forests that sustain these services are being referred to as legacy forests. They do not necessarily need to be old growth forests if they have been allowed to grow in a natural way. Jessica shared a summary of changes to land cover categories and ecosystem service values from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 2022 Ecosystem Services Handbook that shows how the value of forests have gone from $554 per acre per year in 2014 to $12,589 per acre per year in 2021. The Board of County Commissioners recognize the value of legacy forests in terms of their contribution to ecosystem services and are focused on conserving and sustaining as much legacy forestland as possible. In Jefferson County, there are 9,300 acres out of 14,000 acres of Department of Natural Resources land that are considered legacy forests. Jessica encouraged the CFCOC to recognize the importance of these lands and give them the credibility and value that they deserve. The legacy forests are integrated into everything else that the CFCOC is trying to preserve. She displayed calculations from two units that are going to be logged for revenue distribution for a value of $20,480. If the stands would have been protected, they would have generated an estimated $506,050 in ecosystem services like water storage, recreation, air quality, disaster risk reduction, soil retention, water quality and supply, habitat, and carbon sequestration. She emphasized the importance of updating the CFCOC materials to reflect the recent information about legacy forests, climate change, and ecosystem services. Phil Andrus requested comments from Jessica and Cameron on each other’s presentations. Jessica supported Cameron’s presentation, and agreed that we need to have open arms to immigrants. Instead of lands and resources going from a small select group to another small group, she encouraged the Committee to think about how to invite people from other racial and economic communities to apply. Cameron agreed with Jessica’s points and noted how Jessica’s presentation was in alignment with the holistic approach he advocated for. He was talking about things on a smaller scale, and Jessica was looking at the bigger picture, so the two approaches were complimentary. Discussion followed among the group. Rick Jahnke supported and appreciated both presentations, but pointed out that the CFCOC was charged with caring for lands in perpetuity, so applicants need to be invited in a way that allows for perpetual stewardship. He anticipated a whole new set of subcommittee meetings to work with these new ideas, not just tweaking Committee documents. Jessica was respectful of the CFCOC process, and the time it would take to make gradual changes. Cameron added his appreciation for the practical side, and agreed that promoting collaborations with sponsors and the community to find changes that work with the goal of perpetuity was a long-term objective. Application Process Ron Rempel thanked the other Subcommittee members Cameron Jones, Jessica Randall, and Kalyn Marab, and explained that the Subcommittee struggled with how to make major shifts one step at a time. Subsequent subcommittees will be needed to follow up on taking measures over time. Input from sponsors and new groups is all needed on how to encourage the things that are important to the CFCOC. Manual, Application, and Scoresheet The group reviewed the Manual, Application, and Scoresheet for potential changes suggested by the Subcommittee, starting with the Application. In #10 under the Project Description, some language was added about metrics, objectives, and time frame. Dave Wilkinson pointed out that the time frame and metrics might be helpful for the Committee in understanding the project, but they had limited ability to enforce them. Tami Pokorny noted that the longest amount of time the Committee could require a report from a sponsor was 14 years: every year until an acquisition goes through and up to 10 years afterward for operations and maintenance. In #5 of the Scoresheet and Application, a requirement was added that the identified plan be publicly available. Rick Jahnke added a request to make the Application and Scoresheet identical in format. The group agreed to make the bold type identical between the two documents, and added bullet points with a sliding scale to the options under #5 in the Scoresheet. In #7, “conservation values” was changed to “conservation objectives” in the Application and Scoresheet. #7b. was added to the Application as “Summarize how the project’s conservation values are related to the project’s specific objectives.” Discussion followed on how to quantify objectives and scores. Jessica Randall stressed the importance of getting scientific research and measurable scores in place for future decisions when there will be more pressure and competition due to climate change. In #10b. of the Application, “on the farm” was removed from the end of the sentence. The group discussed how to quantify climate change resilience in question 11. In the Application, #11a. was clarified to end “and is the project’s scale significant in regards to increasing climate resiliency?” In the Scoresheet, #11 was updated to bullet points with a sliding scale for direct and indirect benefits. In the Scoresheet and Application, #13 had a line added: “does not reduce conservation values of the project.” The group discussed the value of educating themselves and the public. As the room was needed, the meeting had to wrap up. The group decided to leave the documents as they had agreed on so far, and to schedule a brief meeting to finish the discussion on #13, and address any changes to the Manual. All CFCOC materials must be submitted to the Board of County Commissioners by the first or second week of December. Funding Round Calendar A meeting was scheduled for 12/6/22 at 4:00 PM for the full CFCOC. The Subcommittee will meet prior to that. *Tami Pokorny will distribute presentation materials from Cameron Jones and Jessica Randall, the revised documents from this meeting, any documents from the Subcommittee meeting, and the Manual. VII. Announcements/Administrative Next Meeting The next CFCOC meeting will be held on 12/6/22 at 4:00 PM. VIII. Public Comments None IX. Adjournment Acting Chair Mary Biskup adjourned the meeting at 5:53 PM. Action Items: *Tami Pokorny will distribute presentation materials from Cameron Jones and Jessica Randall, the revised documents from this meeting, any documents from the Subcommittee meeting, and the Manual. Meeting summary prepared by Rebekah Brooks.