April 10th MWSG Meeting Notes (DRAFT)
Attendees:
Gordon Culbertson, Whitewater Forests
Michael Curran, ODF
Gary Jensen, UWSWCD
Shane Kamrath, USFS
Mei Lin Lantz, USFS
Chandra LeGue, Oregon Wild
Karl Morgenstern, EWEB
Suzanne Schindler, USFS
Larry Six, MWC
Kirk Shimeall, CPRCD
Nancy Toth, EWEB
Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator
Updates and Announcements
Pacific NW Forest Collaboatives Workshop. Sustainable NW hosted a two-day conference in Hood River March 30-31st. Kirk and Chandra attended. Kirk said that the conference ran on three “tracks”, with simultaneous breakout sessions throughout the day. The tracks were identified as: “Collaborative Enhancement;” “Industry and Restoration;” and “Science Engagement.”
Kirk noted that the forest collaboratives on the West-side National Forests, (the Willamette NF, the Siuslaw NF, and Mt. Hood NF) met in one of the breakout sessions. Chandra said that a follow-up workshop may be organized for West-side forest collaboratives by the Oregon Dept. of Forestry to more fully explore issues and themes common to them.
Chandra also noted one of the “take aways” from the conference was the extent to which some collaboratives are integrating science in the work that the groups are doing. Some collaboratives are working with the USFS’ Pacific NW Research Station staff, while others are working with the technical staff on their respective national forests. Their goal is to integrate more science-based methodology into their collaborative process.
Discussion also touched on the effects of the new administration in Washington and how that might affect forest collaboratives through cutbacks in funding.
Science Liaison For the Willamette NF. Cheryl Friesen is the science liaison for the Willamette NF. She may be helpful as the MWSG develops its monitoring plan for the GMPA sales. She can be reached at 541-822-7226, or .
Federal Forest Restoration Grant. The facilitator of the South Santiam All Lands Collaborative (SSALC) in Sweet Home has left that position, and she was the lead in organizing a workshop focused on educating contractors about stewardship contracting. Eric Anderson, the director of the South Santiam Watershed Council, is now helping to put together the workshop and hopes to have it in late May/early June. The grant funding for this workshop reportedly expires at the end of May, although requests have been submitted for an extension of the grant deadline.
The Nature Conservancy Science Support Report. The Nature Conservancy contacted forest collaboratives last fall and surveyed a number of collaboratives regarding how the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Federal Forest Health Program could provide better scientific support to the groups. A report from TNC should be forthcoming later this spring based on the interviews and feedback that TNC received from collaboratives around the state.
Legislators’ Tour of the Middle Fork Willamette Basin. Sarah Altemus-Pope, at the South Willamette Forest Collaborative, is leading a field tour for state legislators on May 5th to help educate them about forest collaboratives and stewardship contracting. Contact Sarah if you’d like to join the tour at
Update on the Retained Receipts agreement for private lands between the Willamette National Forest and Cascade Pacific RC & D.
Johan and Kirk continue to work on a draft agreement between the WNF and CPRCD in order for retained receipts from Stewardship Contracts to be used for restoration projects on private lands. Kirk is waiting for Johan to get the latest iteration of the agreement back to him so they can finalize it.
The urgency of finalizing the agreement has increased, since two projects that the MWSG recommended for funding from the 7 Thin Stewardship Contract are on private lands, and those funds can’t be used until the agreement is finalized. Suzanne Schindler, Interim District Ranger for the MRRD said that the MWSG recommendations for restoration projects from 7 Thin will continue to move through the USFS decision process while we are waiting on the agreement to be finalized.
Kirk mentioned that the process used for utilizing retained receipts on private lands with the Siuslaw NF is now going through further review, since questions are being raised about the rigor with which analysis and assessment of projects on private lands have been conducted. The MWSG may benefit from the work that CPRCD is doing with the Siuslaw NF on how their process can be improved. Kirk heard an as yet unsubstantiated rumor in another meeting that all USFS agreements need to be finalized by April 15th, and he intends to contact Johan to see if they can get this one done as soon as possible.
Field Trip to 7 Thin Timber Sale June 12th
The group scheduled a field trip to review the 7 Thin Timber sale and visit the Deer Creek project on Monday, June 12th. The tour will start by meeting at the Bruckart Boat Ramp on the Upper McKenzie River at 10:00 a.m. The forest service will have staff knowledgeable about the 7 Thin timber sale and the Deer Creek restoration projects on the tour. The tour will allow the MWSG to learn more about the timber sale’s design and intended goals, and how the sale actually was managed, as well as see the results of the first phase of the restoration work done last year in Deer Creek.
USFS Tribal Collaboration
Mei Lin Lantz, the Tribal Liaison with the Willamette National Forest spoke to the group about collaboration with Native American tribes. Her email address is . There are nine tribes in Oregon, and four main tribes (Siletz, Grand Ronde, Warm Springs and Klamath) have maintained a presence in the Upper McKenzie Watershed since time immemorial. Other tribes in Oregon may have an interest in the McKenzie Watershed, as well. The USFS is required to work with the tribes in all of its decision-making regarding projects and policies. The USFS is expected to consult with the tribes first, before having discussions or making decisions with other parties, including the public. The Service has been working with the tribes for over 30 years developing tribal relationships and creating mutual policy agreements and consults with the tribes before proceeding with any of its timber sales.
The Tribal Forest Protection Act authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to give special consideration to tribally-proposed projects on Forest Service or BLM land bordering or adjacent to Indian trust lands. Mei Lin encouraged the MWSG to contact the tribal liaisons for each tribe and keep them apprised of its proposals and recommendations, as well as hear what concerns or priorities that the tribes may have for the Upper McKenzie Basin. She said that face-to-face conversations with tribal representatives are important. The Intertribal Timber Council www.itcnet.org is based on Portland. It provides information on tribal forestry and natural resource issues. She also said there is an office in Eugene for the Siletz and Grand Ronde tribes, and she will get contact information for their office and other tribal resources to Paul Hoobyar for dissemination to the MWSG.
Mei Lin encouraged the MWSG to keep the tribes apprised of its proposed restoration recommendations and priorities. She said the tribes may not respond with a letter or call when the MWSG contacts them and shares information about proposals or recommendations, however, not contacting them and keeping the tribes informed about proposals and recommendations could create future concerns. She noted that the Tribes have looked at the South Fork restoration proposals and been in the South Fork to assess the project in the field.
Mei Lin said it’s more respectful of the tribes to schedule individual meetings with each tribe, rather than try to have a meeting with all of them at once.
Questions from the group: How are the Tribal Forest Protection Act projects financed? Answer: The USFS does the NEPA work, but the tribes take the lead on all contract work.
Do the Tribes have someone who would be interested in being involved with the MWSG? Answer: YES. Mei Lin will get their names and contact information to the group.
The group decided to have a discussion at our next meeting about how we wanted to approach the tribes, and what role and information we would like to share with the tribes, before we contact them.
Forest and Fuels
Mei Lin is also the “Forest and Fire/Fuels” liaison for the WNF. She said one of the USFS’ goals is to support fire becoming more of a landscape management component on national forests. She said it’s important to have fire included as a component in restoration as the MWSG moves forward with recommendations for restoration projects. She noted that creating “skips and openings” in the forest during timber harvests can help mimic a forest landscape that has allowed a more natural fire regime to help shape forest stands.
GMPA Discussion (continued)
Two timber sales are still under consideration as Stewardship Contracts in the GMPA. Rock, which is smaller (1-2 mmbf) and does not include regeneration harvest, and Ridge, which is a bigger timber sale (7-8 mmbf) and does include some regeneration harvest (approximately 36 acres). The MRRD staff said they would like to have a firm recommendation from the MWSG at the May meeting on which timber sales the group would like to pursue as Stewardship Contracts, given the time needed to plan and develop the sales as Stewardships.
EWEB is continuing to work on a draft monitoring plan that will look at the benefits and impacts of timber harvest techniques on the Ridge and Rock sales. The monitoring plan will include assessing the impacts from various harvest techniques on such variables as the proliferation of invasive species after harvest, the impacts to wildlife migration and use patterns after harvest, and water quality impacts after harvest. EWEB will have a draft of the monitoring plan, along with a range of costs for doing the monitoring, to share at the May MWSG meeting.
Next Meeting: Monday, May 8th, 2:30pm
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April 10th MWSG Meeting Notes (DRAFT)
Paul Hoobyar, Facilitator