WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council Meeting Summary 10/15/09

WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council

Meeting Notes

BellevueCity Hall
October 15, 2009

Members Present

Don Davidson, Chair (Councilmember, Bellevue); Joan McBride, Vice Chair (Deputy Mayor, Kirkland); joan burlingame(Rock Creek Representative, Cedar River Council); Bruce Dodds(Councilmember, Clyde Hill); Chris Eggen (Councilmember, Shoreline); Don Fiene (Councilmember, Lake Forest Park); Ted Frantz (Councilmember, Hunts Point); Ava Frisinger (Mayor, Issaquah); Brian Goodnight (Alternate for Councilmember Dave Gossett, Snohomish County); Bill Knudsen (King Conservation District); Kirk Lakey (WA Department of Fish and Wildlife); Terry Lavender (Citizen, Bear Creek); Larry Phillips (Councilmember, King County); Tris Samberg (Councilmember, Bothell); Laurie Sperry (Councilmember, Kenmore); Cleve Steward (Sustainable Fisheries Foundation); Frank Urabeck (Citizen); Mike Todd (Councilmember, Mill Creek).

New Members Introduced and Present

Eric Adman (Sno-King Watershed Council, alternate for Cleve Steward); Eileen Barber (Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery); Gary Smith (Water Tenders/Trout Unlimited).

Others Present

Nathan Brown (King County); Rika Cecil(Shoreline); Jason Chambers (King Conservation District); Paul Hage (Muckleshoot Indian Tribe); Sandy Kilroy (King County); Erika Kinno (King County); Ken Kumasawa (Anadromous and Marine Resources Sports Fishing Advisory Group); Frank Leonetti (Snohomish County); Andy Marks (Coastal Conservation Association); Kathy Minsch (Seattle); Edward Mulhern (Renton); Joyce Nichols (Bellevue); Sarah Ogier (King County); Pat Pattillo (WDFW); Linda Grob (WRIA 8 Administrative Coordinator); Mary Jorgensen (WRIA 8 Action and Funding Coordinator); Erin Montgomery(WRIA 8 Project Assistant); Scott Stolnack (WRIA 8 Technical Coordinator); Jean White (WRIA 8 Watershed Coordinator).

Introductions

Don Davidsonopened the meeting and invited attendees to introduce themselves.

Public Comment

Ken Kumasawa, Anadromus and Marine Resources Sport Fishing Advisory Group (North of Falcon), commented on the Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan. He said he supported the co-manager process but felt there were three fatal flaws in their Chinook management philosophy: 1) the failure to look at nature’s wholeness for the salmon; 2) the combining together of wild and hatchery Chinook under the single title Chinook; and 3) the method and place of harvest. The Hatchery Scientific Review Report should be implemented in the Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan from a wholeness perspective, including looking at the impact on orcas. There should be an alteration in hatchery practices to reduce straying of hatchery fish on the spawning grounds, diluting the gene pool and affecting wild fish. Salmon return to each river should be managed individually separate from Puget Sound in their final stage for wild stock conservation, enhancement, and sustainability. Currently there is not a co-manager agreement on selectively harvesting to separate hatchery from wild except by the selective fishing of sports fishermen.

Ken noted that legal decisions requiring fish conservation goals and objective to achieve the goals should be public information that is viewable by all interested parties. Instead interested party review and input to the new Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan has been limited. He said as a member of the Sport Fishing Advisory Group and because he has not been able to see the final document he is asking the Salmon Recovery Council to defer accepting the plan until WRIA 8 scientific and fishery management personnel have had a chance to review the document before its submittal to NOAA.

Approval of Meeting Notes for July 16, 2009 Meeting

The Salmon Recovery Council unanimously approved the meeting notes for the July 16, 2009 meeting.

Updates & Announcements

Jean White, Watershed Coordinator, provided the following updates on recent events and topics:

▫The September 11 WRIA 8 Field Tour was very successful. Thirty people attended, including Salmon Recovery Council (SRC) members, two State Representatives, and staff for Senator Patty Murray, Representative Dave Reichert, and State Representative Marcie Maxwell.

▫WRIA 8 will be receiving two grants this year: a National Estuary Program (NEP) grant for $50,000 and a Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) grant for $107.770. Jean is developing grant proposals to hire a temporary employee to continue developing the Habitat Work Schedule as an implementation tracking tool and WRIA 8 outreach efforts, andto hire KingCounty staff to do land use trend analysis needed for adaptive management of the WRIA 8 Plan.

▫WRIA 8 plans to apply for an EPA/Puget Sound Watershed Assistance grant to fund WRIA 8 monitoring efforts. The request for proposals is expected next month.

▫The thirdannual Salmon SEEson fall event is well underway, with two events occurring this weekend. New for this year are Salmon SEEson tote bags, which are being distributed in addition to the flyers and posters. Jean said we would like the SRC members'help with advertising. Terry Lavender announced that she put out 200 flyers and postersin the medical building where she works, and they were gone in two weeks. She encouraged members to put flyers in non-traditional locations.

Scott Stolnack, Technical Coordinator, provided the following technical updates:

▫Thecounts of Chinook and sockeye coming through the Locksthis year are pretty dismal.The Chinook run for this season is at half of the annual average. Fish biologists have not given a reason for the low numbers, but one reason could be the ocean conditions. He noted that one bad year does not make a trend, but it is still bad for this year.

▫An infestation of Brazilian Elodea was discovered inthe SammamishRiver in late August. This weed is supposed to be controlled. He said it is also in the ChehalisRiver so we are looking at what they are going to do to control it. If Brazilian Elodea is in LakeSammamish it will continue to re-infest the SammamishRiver.

Proposal for Three New Stakeholder Members and Creation of an Ad Hoc Membership Subcommitee

Jean White announced that we are looking to add stakeholder members to the Salmon Recovery Council. She introduced three proposed new members, who each spoke about their interest in serving on the SRC:

▫Gary Smith, representing Water Tenders and Trout Unlimited (Terry Lavender will continue on the SRC as Gary’s alternate);

▫Eileen Barber, representing Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (FISH); and

▫Eric Adman, representing the Sno-King Watershed Council (Eric will be Cleve Steward’s alternate).

Terry Lavender commented on the value of stakeholder members. She said when she meets with the Water Tenders group she takes WRIA 8 back to them. Everyone who is a stakeholder member belongs to various groups and she encouraged the SRC to invite as many stakeholder groups as possible.

The Salmon Recovery Council unanimouslyapproved the three new stakeholders: Gary Smith, Water Tenders/Trout Unlimited; Eileen Barber, Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (FISH); and Eric Adman, Sno-King Watershed Council.

Jean White went overthe WRIA 8 guidelines about stakeholder members, which basically say any SRC member can nominate new stakeholder members. Stakeholder members represent many organizations and there is ambiguity about how those members representing a geographic area or stakeholder interest versus an organization are replaced when they can no longer participate. She proposed we have an Ad HocMembership Subcommittee to review the guidelines and look at the current membership and come back to the SRC with a recommendation for potential changes. Three volunteers have offered to be on the subcommittee: joan burlingame, Don Davidson, and Don Fiene.

Cleve Steward endorsed creating a membership subcommittee, and he said it is important to figure out what to do with stakeholders who don’t attend. He supported being inclusive with stakeholders, and taking advantage of the enthusiasm out there.

Frank Urabeck said he would like to be on that subcommittee. Don Davidson said he would like to limit the subcommittee membership to four or five.

The Salmon Recovery Council unanimouslyapproved the creation of a small Ad Hoc Membership Subcommittee.

King Conservation District Assessment: Should WRIA 8 Send a Letter to KingCounty Council?

Jean White announced that we received the King Conservation District’s (KCD) draft 2010 work plan, which lists WRIA 8’s share as $1 million. She presented four options for sending a letter to the County Council:

  1. No letter;
  2. Letter with same position as WRIA 8 letter to KCD (three year assessment, status quo allocation);
  3. Letter with same position as the Suburban CitiesAssociation (five year assessment, status quo allocation);
  4. Letter calling for a two year assessment in order to allow time for negotiation with the KCD Board.

Jean said that letter or no letter, WRIA 8 representatives could meet with King County Council members to express our interests and concerns regarding the KCD assessment. Jean said we should also look ahead in case the assessment doesn’t pass in 2009.

Discussion:

  • Terry Lavender commented that we need KCD funds as match for other grants. Conservation Future Tax grants only partially fundprojects.
  • Don Fiene reported that hehas attended two of the KCD meetings so far, looked at the lawsuit that is the basis of their concerns, read their materials, and applauded their efforts to work on a KCD vision and mission. He said he thought option 3, the Suburban Cities option, is not a good one because it does not address their concerns. In meetings he’s attended a lot of the discussion was about priorities and goals and being responsible to their mandates. Councilmember Fiene said what is unclear to him is when they get to the WRIAs, and it may be a value for WRIA 8 to request to KCD that they acknowledge our workplan, and give us some assurance in years past 2010 that they will keep funding our work. For instance, we would like them to not reduce our funding because they don’t agree with our plan. Joan McBride asked if he was advocating a separate letter to KCD.Councilmember Fiene explained that it could be by letter, or a meeting with the KCD Board.
  • joan burlingame, commenting as someone who lives in a rural area, said one of the reasons we supported the last increase was because the more land KCD could buy, the better.It takes pressure off of the farmers. She recommended option 3, the five year assessment, so we have longer period of time to work through the implications. She said it is important to look at the impact on farmers to take land out of production to improve water quality.
  • Joan McBride noted that the five year option hasn’t engendered a lot of love. Chris Eggen commented that there isa huge misunderstanding out there, and two years is a very short time to redo an assessment. He said a three year assessment is a good compromise. It is important for KCD and the cities to learn to understand each other. The cities and WRIAs have been counting on a certain amount of funding, and to have that change overnight will engender a lot of opposition.
  • Joan McBride remarked that she hoped the WRIA can be involved in any kind of negotiation with KCD. Some group will need to take the lead and figure out how we can work together. Everyone praises the work that KCD does, in the rural area and the cities. She said a safe thing to do here is be silent (option 1). Option 4 is the most conciliatory, and options 2 and 3 are more controversial.
  • Bill Knudsen reported that having just come back from a statewide meeting on conservation districts that he is realizing that we are lucky to have so many people living in King County to support KCD funds (raising a similar level of funding in less populated counties is difficult) and where habitat restoration and salmon are concerned, WRIA 8 is lucky to have this source of funding.He went over some of things KCD has been doing that the SRC may not be aware: developed 120 Farm Management Plans, most in support of the Critical Areas Ordinance; recently created an urban in-city Wildlife Habitat Plan in Kirkland; and doing a bluff plan on Vashon. The $3 KCD operates on won’t allow us to continue providing the same services we have been providing, and we will have cut two positions. Bill explained that his family dairy farmed in Magnolia Bluff and Bothell, andhe’s been a farmer for most of his life. He said he fully supports everything WRIA folks do on habitat and restoration, but his first obligation is to make sure KCD has enough funding.
  • Terry Lavender asked if the trend elsewhere is to lower the assessment. Bill Knudsen responded that the assessment only works in populated counties. PierceCountyis the next in size to KingCounty. SpokaneCounty is the 4th largest county, and only generates $900,000. He said we are a state assessment, and have to submit our work plan to the County Council. We are the only county that has a $10 assessment.
  • Laurie Sperry inquired if the $5-$3-$2split is not going to happen any more. Bill Knudsen said that is correct. MasonCounty and the Mason Conservation District drafted a working plan that is improper, and the state agency of Conservation Districts wrote a letterasking the court to throw out the agreement.
  • Bill Knudsen said he would love to see a letter supporting two years to the council, and bringing people together for a civil discussion. The legal issues are very complex, and he did not think there can be too much information and discussion.
  • Jean White reported that what KCD proposed combined all the city and WRIA grants together, which scares us. The draft work plan for 2010 provides some clarity, but only for 2010. There is a no clarity about what the KCD budget would be for 2011 or beyond. KCD is saying they can’t continue to supportthe current allocation.
  • Ted Frantz called two year a good compromise that doesn’t extend this out too many years. Joan McBride said she really liked option 4, which is an olive branch. Somebody has to say we have to keep our funding going. Don Fiene mentioned that option 4 is far more than an olive branch, it’s a way forward.
  • Ava Frisinger said she was going to move option 2. This conversation about taking two years to work with KCDsounds like a replay of three years ago when we went to a three year workplan to try and sort this out with KCD and it didn’t happen. Joan McBride said that she understood Ava’s concern and said that she thought we were going to see a very different assessment this time. Bruce Dodds seconded option 2.
  • Don Davidson commented that we need to resolve a lot of issues that are on the table. He supported writing a letter with a little more beef, saying status quo with more definition. The problem is KCD is getting a blank check before we know how they are going to budget their money. We should ask for status quo, and then work cooperatively to resolve all those issues.
  • Joan McBride said if we choose option 4, we should put directly in the letter that WRIA 8 would like to be involved in the discussions with the county and KCD about the future. Don Davidson said we need a fixed dollar amount to put our grants together, but we can’t depend on that right now. Some of our projects are multi-year projects, and we can’t do our budgeting to accomplish our goals if there isno certainty and assurances.
  • Don Fiene commented that the letter should mention $1 million for 2010, and be carried on for the second year, which would give us the “known” that we are talking about.
  • Chris Eggen mentioned that it would be nice to know more about the legal issues, and whether it makes sense to seek status quo. Sandy Kilroy, KingCounty, clarified thatthe legal case only affects MasonCounty, and there is no current case in KingCounty. She said the concern is that a similar case could be brought here, depending on the determination in MasonCounty.

The Salmon Recovery Council supported Option 4, a two year King Conservation District assessment in order to allow time for negotiation with the KCD Board, by a vote of eleven yes, four no and three abstentions.

  • Sarah Ogier, KingCounty, inquired if the SRC is asking for a similar level of funding or status quo in the letter. Jean White answered that the letter would request a similar level of funding as we have currently and reference the 2010 KCD budget that lists $1 millionrather than requesting status quo.
  • Laurie Sperryrequesteda copy of the ILA between KingCounty and KCD for last time.
  • Cleve Steward asked if there is a risk that the County Council won’t approve the KCD assessment at all. Jean White said there is a real risk.

The Salmon Recovery Council unanimouslyapprovedsending a letter to the KingCounty Council regarding the King Conservation District assessment.

Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan Briefing