Minutes

March 2, 2005
4:04 - 5:30 pm, Trinity Lutheran Church, Freeland
www.islandcountymrc.org

PRESENT: Chair Phyllis Kind, Joe Burcar, Tom Campbell, Joe Hillers, Ian Jefferds, Ken Urstad, Benye Weber, Exec. Director Gary Wood, Admin. Ass't. Dan Pedersen. ALTERNATES: Bredensteiner for El Sayed, Pedersen for Bronson, Burcar (designated alternate) for Tate. ABSENT: Hi Bronson, Sayed El-Sayed, Don Meehan, Rolf Seitle, Jeff Tate.

VISITORS:
Kim Bredensteiner, Coupeville, Island County Public Works.
Rex Porter, Whidbey Watershed Project Manager.
Scott Pascoe, Watershed Coordinator, Maxwelton Salmon Adventure.
Linda Lyshall, Puget Sound Action Team.

CALL TO ORDER: 4:04 pm, Kind called the meeting to order. QUORUM: Declared. AGENDA: Adopted. Bredensteiner will make a couple of announcements. MINUTES of 2-16-2005: Adopted. Motion by Campbell, second by Urstad, carried unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE: Wood reported he and Meehan visited El Sayed at Careage of Whidbey a week ago and Sayed really misses this group. Pedersen and Campbell said they visited Sayed on the way to the meeting today. They found him in good spirits and had a good talk with him. He is scheduled for hip surgery March 9 at Swedish, followed by a period of rehabilitation at Careage or the hospital.

Summary of Decisions

Benchmark subcommittees. MRC members will decide by the next meeting, March 16, whether they are willing to chair or serve on specific subcommittees dedicated to the five NWSC benchmarks. The committees are:
Science - Kind, Jefferds, El-Sayed, Bredensteiner
Education and Outreach - Pedersen, Urstad, Waddell, perhaps Chase
Marine Life and Habitats (combines two benchmarks)
Marine Water Quality

Regional project priorities. As our second priority for NWSC regional projects, the MRC voted unanimously to recommend funding for the replication of Shore Stewards in other counties.

Signage. The Education and Outreach subcommittee will develop a proposal on how to proceed on signage.

CHAIR'S REPORT - Kind
Kind asked the members, before the next meeting, to think about which subcommittee they'd be willing to serve on or chair. Kind would like a subcommittee for each of the Northwest Straits benchmarks.

COUNTY LEAD'S REPORT
Meehan could not attend today because he is at WSU, but Wood said he believes the county commissioners approved the appointment of Joe Hillers to the MRC. Hillers replaces Sherman as the representative of agriculture. Kind said we have two other vacancies yet to fill - Toft and Wood.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT - Wood
Ft. Casey creosote cleanup. Wood shared a front-page article in today's Whidbey News Times about the creosote cleanup, cosponsored by the MRC. Wood said the Department of Natural Resources helicopter doing the lifting is extremely impressive, but he was even more impressed by the KOMO news helicopter following it around. Urstad has been working as a volunteer in this project, as have several Beach Watchers. Wood said Tony Frantz was there and "really knows his stuff." Wood said Frantz's eye for creosote is uncanny. Today's load of creosote was 30 tons. Wood also shared the following written summary of grant proposals and requests for proposal (RFP) as of March 2.

Pending:
1. WDFW 2005-07 AQUATIC LANDS ENHANCEMENT ACCOUNT / ALEA www.wdfw.wa.gov/do/jan05/jan1405b.htm
Letter of Interest by 2/15 STATUS DONE
Rec'd package Contact: Cheryl McCartney, (360) 902-2701
COMPLETE APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 31, 2005
Proposal: Funds BW monitoring/estuaries project

2. NORTHWEST FUND FOR THE ENVIRONMENT www.nwfund.org/Information.htm
Salt Water Aquatic Ecosystem Protection proposals.
· Inform and engage the public in the stewardship and protection of aquatic ecosystems and resources
PREPROPOSALS DUE 2/17 STATUS DONE
Proposal: Funds BW staff/Shore Stewards on Whidbey NW DECISION DUE

3. DIRECT IMPLEMENTATION FUND -- Dept. of Ecology
The State Agency Nonpoint Workgroup will determine a list of ranked projects for funding by the DIF. The ranked list will be
submitted to the Water Quality Program's Management Team for approval.
Application, and approved budget, due February 18, 2005 STATUS DONE
Proposal: Funds expansion of BWs/Shore Stewards
DECISION/ MARCH
4. WSU Independent Science Education -- NSF
The National Science Foundation awards $25MM in ISE grants. WSU competition selects three projects for full proposals.
Preproposals due Feb 22, 2005 STATUS DONE
Proposal: Teams 4-H, BWs, MRC and Maxwelton Salmon Adventure in large-scale education/field work program for
teens. DECISION/ APRIL

5. NEW SEA GRANT EDUCATION GRANTS DUE APRIL 4TH WA Sea Grant (UW) Availability of
Funds/September 2005. Typical grant awards will range from $10K to $40K/ + non-federal match = 50% of the WSGP award.
Activities may include but are not limited to:
· Development of educational materials
· Workshops and classes
· Displays and exhibits
· New educational program delivery

Topics where educational programs might focus include:
· Understanding causes of species decline
· Indicators of population stress
PAGE TWO
SeaGrant (cont'd):

· Threats by non-native invasive species
· Responses to species decline by individuals and society

6. NATIONAL INTEGRATED WATER QUALITY
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service SEEKS PROPOSALS for the National Integrated Water Quality Program (NIWQP) for fiscal year (FY) 2005. DEADLINE MARCH 15TH STATUS NOT DONE
http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/USDA/CSREES/OEP/USDA-GRANTS-011305-001/Grant.html
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/rfas/pdfs/05_water_quality.pdf PDF RFP

7. KONGSGAARD-GOLDMAN FOUNDATION
http://www.kongsgaard-goldman.org/program.html
PREAPPLICATION DUE 3/16 Environmental Protection and Conservation Public policy, litigation, citizen involvement, public education, restoration, sustainable land use and environmental justice. Grants are awarded for both general operating expenses and special projects. STATUS NOT DONE

8. Community Salmon Fund NFWF http://www.nfwf.org/programs/csf.htm NOT YET OPEN
Stimulates small-scale, voluntary action by landowners, community groups, and businesses to support salmon recovery in western Washington.
2005 Preproposal Due Date: Varies 2005 Notification Date: Varies
2005 Full Proposal Due Date: Varies
Contact: Krystyna Wolniakowski 503-417-8700

9. Bullitt Foundation - Aquatic Ecosystems Program
DUE MAY 1 APPLY DECISION
Steven Whitney, Program Officer
Bullitt Foundation
1212 Minor Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2825
Phone: 206-343-0807 Fax: 206-343-0822
Email: swhitney@bullitt.org

Forage fish report. Wood also shared a copy of the final forage fish report, which will go first to the funding agencies. It's a compilation of four years of work, including 32 pages of maps that summarize GIS data. An accompanying CD Rom contains the metadata.

Q&A FROM THE PUBLIC
Salmon summit DVD. Bredensteiner called attention to a 45-minute DVD containing a collection of short pieces about salmon recovery, produced as a project of the salmon summit held earlier this year. She said the content is quite worthwhile. Weber asked to borrow the DVD. She will return it to Bredensteiner so that it may circulate to other members of the MRC.

Draft salmon recovery strategy. Bredensteiner reported that a draft of the salmon recovery strategy was circulated today to individuals on her e-mail list. The draft document was delivered to the Board of Island County Commissioners today and will go tomorrow to the Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC). During March the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will receive comments. At the April 6 staff session the TAG will talk again to the county commissioners for their feedback, and on April 7 the TAG will give a presentation about the document to the WRAC and entertain discussion. Hopefully, the document will be adopted in May, so that by June 30 Shared Strategy may deliver it to National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as our chapter for the regional recovery plan. Anyone wishing to receive a copy should e-mail Bredensteiner: kimB@co.island.wa.us.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Water's Edge booklet. Kind asked Wood the status of Sarah Schmidt's contract for the Water's Edge booklet. Wood said he believes it has not yet been finalized, but we do have money to proceed. Kind suggested anyone with thoughts about content should e-mail their input directly to Meehan for him to pass along to Sarah. Pedersen said an informal committee has been carrying on a dialogue about the book by e-mail and that Sarah has been collecting and printing their comments for discussion later.

Regional projects. Kind pointed out that, at our last meeting, we identified data management / collection as our top priority for a regional project - perhaps applying it to the Bay's Blueprint. She said the Science Committee had also suggested perhaps using our share of regional funds to extend the Shore Stewards program to other counties. Motion by Weber, second by Urstad, adopted unanimously, to devote regional funds to the replication of Shore Stewards in other counties. Wood mentioned this is a perfect tie-in to the regional expansion of Beach Watchers.

NEW BUSINESS
Signage. Pedersen reported the Education & Outreach subcommittee is getting organized and currently consists of himself, Ken Urstad and Nancy Waddell. He is waiting to hear from Scott Chase, whose participation would add a voice from Camano Island, Shore Stewards and Beach Watchers.

Pedersen said signage is important in tying together several elements of outreach, especially Shore Stewards and the marine stewardship areas. But it's complicated because there are so many potential sites, each with the potential to require an individualized message displayed in an individualized type of physical structure. So he has been trying to determine whether standardization is possible for the physical structures and perhaps some of the art and messaging. To see what currently exists he visited and photographed six sites -- Lake Hancock overlook, Coupeville Wharf, Ebey's Landing, Keystone Ferry, Maxwelton Beach and Double Bluff Beach. He distributed a 12-page handout of this photography.

The most deluxe and probably most expensive structures are three-sided kiosks such as those of Ebey's Landing National Historical Preserve. The art is displayed inside permanently sealed frames, presumably of plexiglas. These kiosks are typically anchored in concrete. The Port of Coupeville's kiosk at Coupeville Wharf differs in that the art is displayed in glass cases on hinges that can be opened to change the displays. This kiosk appears badly under-used and might be a candidate for MRC material.

Pedersen urged avoiding a piecemeal approach and the development of signage in a variety of sizes and formats. Instead, the MRC should pursue economies of scale by standardizing as much as possible. As an alternative to kiosks, he suggested purchasing a number of free-standing displays, or panorama boards, such as those used at the Keystone terminal and Lake Hancock overlook. These are essentially display frames mounted a couple feet above ground on a pedestal or legs. A given site could employ several of these structures to deliver multiple parts of our message. If we produce panels of art roughly 2 x 3 feet, they could be inserted in these free-standing frames, or the frames could be bolted onto a pier, or the art could be displayed with no frame - inserted inside a glass case such the port's kiosk.

Kind mentioned that Jefferson County MRC is using some art panels at their eelgrass sites. Wood said this is a new, peel-off technology that allows for easy replacement as the displays deteriorate. Pedersen said the big challenge for us is to determine who makes the physical structures so we can determine the cost, place an order for a quantity, and develop our message. "If we do it as one project after another, we will not get there in our lifetime," he predicted.

Jefferds voiced concern that the talk of standardization seems to conflict with what we had discussed earlier with respect to the Water's Edge book. Different sites have different characteristics -- the signage should describe what's actually in front of you. Pedersen said he thinks parts of the message could be the same, but that other parts might need to be customized to the specific site.

Wood said he could envision a template of consistent format and design that could be tailored to the individual site. He said he will check with Jefferson County for information about the tear-off technology.

Jefferds said if we make the signs overly general we won't gain anything by putting up signs. Pedersen said he thinks the most important message the signs need to deliver is branding the stewardship areas and advancing the concept of stewardship. Wherever the signs go, he visualizes one panel identifying the marine stewardship area. The next panel might talk about the specific site. Perhaps a third panel would talk about eelgrass and would be the same panel displayed at many of the other sites. But in any case, content is secondary to the stage we're in now, which is determining a source of supply for the physical hardware and the cost. Message development will come later in the process.

Jefferds said he disagrees wholeheartedly - that to him the first thing we need to do is identify the audience and the message. If the message is pointing out this is the marine stewardship area, this might be a commonality among the panels, but if we don't have the message figured out we might as well stop right now. Other than pointing out that we're in a marine stewardship area and that Shore Stewards live here, and there are Beach Watchers that take classes, what is the further message?

Wood said it's what we've learned - what's under the surface. Pedersen said it's to help people appreciate what's here. Campbell said it's what's here, along with our name. It doesn't matter whether there's eelgrass in front of you or not - it's what's in all these waters. The sign goes anywhere in Island County.

Kind suggested the subcommittee continue to work on this and report back with recommendations. In the meanwhile, anyone with information on sign manufacturers and costs, or other ideas, should feed this information to Pedersen.