Regional Ecosystem Office
333 SW 1st P.O. Box 3623
Portland, Oregon 97208-3623
Website: www.reo.gov E-Mail: REOmail@or.blm.gov
Phone: 503-808-2165 FAX: 503-808-2163

Memorandum

Date:

August 19, 2003

To:

Regional Interagency Executive Committee Members (See attached distribution list)

From:

Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Subject:

Notes from the August 5, 2003 Northwest Forest Plan Regional Interagency Executive Committee Meeting

Topic

Follow-up

REO 2004 Budget

Approved; additional follow-up needed on GIS/IT issues and Monitoring budgets (see Issue Summary for additional detail)

Who

When

What

Anne

To be scheduled following FS/BLM Coordination meeting

GIS/IT discussion regarding how to meet the needs, costs, funding, etc.

Who

When

What

Anne

Follow-up on next Forum meeting, hosting strategies, and potential support options

Topic: THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS IN REVIEW – REO Transition

Presenter/Sponsor/REO Contact/Phone: Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: Anne presented an overview of her first four months as REO Executive Director, the ongoing transition to a new "leaner" organizational structure, and next steps. Before going into the overview, Anne presented awards to three Regional Ecosystem Office staff members including: Kath Collier, Dale Guenther, and Becky Loomis.

Background: In FY 2004, the REO will be considerably reduced in size. The staff is developing procedures for continuing staff functions in a decentralized environment and methods to further streamline operations. As part of this process, the REO staff has been updating a key staff handbook (previously distributed in 2000) that describes roles, responsibilities, and process. The Executive Director has meet with the Regional Interagency Executives to clearly understand their expectations, which include focusing on major policy issues and working more closely with the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.

Organizational/Funding Implications: Changes are resulting in significant budget reductions (see Interagency Budgets for Fiscal Year 2004). Some of the Interagency REO Representatives will move back to their home agencies. The FWS, NMFS and BRD definitely will remain in the reconfigured REO space.

REO Staff Proposal: Suggest another short report to the RIEC again in September.

Action Required:

xx Information Decision

Topic: THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS IN REVIEW – Northwest Natural Resources Executive Forum

Presenter/Sponsor/REO Contact/Phone: Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director, 503-808-2165

Issue Statement: Anne presented an overview of responses received so far regarding the Northwest Natural Resources Executive Forum.

Background: The concept of a Forum to discuss natural resource issues broader than the NWFP evolved out of a RIEC Executive Offsite meeting in October of 2002. It was agreed that such a forum would provide a valuable opportunity for Federal executives (RIEC and non-RIEC) to meet one another; discuss emerging and ongoing issues; share experiences and lessons learned; and think strategically about opportunities to collaborate more effectively across Departments and agencies.

Organizational/Funding Implications: On June 3, 2003, 35 Regional Executives from six Departments of the Federal Government and 12 Federal agencies gathered together. John Keys, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, provided an overview of the Secretary of the Interior’s Western Water initiative. Other presenters provided background regarding the status of the water supply throughout the west, the Klamath Basin situation, and other western water issues.

A survey was distributed to participants requesting feedback on the meeting. There appears to be a lot of support for another Natural Resources Forum. Several agencies indicated an interest in hosting a forum in the future. The REO staff has collected samples, mailing lists, and other items that may be useful to another agency in planning a future meeting.

An issue for a future forum that was of interest to participants was the Endangered Species Act, which received the top number of votes (13) followed by Fire, Invasive Species, and Water 2025 (getting 10 votes each); climate change and use of science (getting 7 votes each); and media relationships (getting only 2 votes).

REO Staff Proposal: Due to lack of discussion time, this topic was captured as a "loose end" which means that it will be followed-up on by the REO staff or RIEC subcommittee.

Action Required:

xx Information Decision

Topic: Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) Review in Region 5

Presenter/Sponsor/REO Contact/Phone: Jack Blackwell, USDA Forest Service, Region 5 (California) Regional Forester

Issue Statement: Jack Blackwell, USDA Forest Service, Region 5 (California) Regional Forester provided an overview and associated findings of a recent review.

Background: In June 2003 a review was conducted of the four Northern California National Forests covered by the NWFP to: (1) determine how well the Plan is working and (2) identify what can be done to improve implementation of the Plan. Jack Blackwell’s presentation included a discussion of key findings and proposed actions. He concluded that the Plan is not working in Northern California and he would like to work with the RIEC to identify opportunities for making change. Additional information including Jack Ward Thomas’s report ("Application of the Northwest Forest Plan in National Forests in California") and the "Northwest Forest Plan Review Findings Report" may be obtained from the following website: www.fs.fed.us/r5/nwfp

• The RIEC has focused a lot of attention on developing recommendations for improving implementation of the NWFP. Two of the high priority items are currently underway: the Survey and Manage SEIS and Aquatic Conservation Strategy SEIS.
• Need to recognize that there have been a lot of positive steps taken to improve some of the problems areas including issuing clarification memos, delegations of authority, and exemption direction.
• Would like to see the group focus on solutions – how are we going to fix the problems.
• Group agreed that much of the October RIEC meeting will focus on this topic. Discussion points might include: summary of what has been done, what is currently underway, and where we go from here.

Action Required:

  xx  Information Decision
Note: Additional follow-up activities are planned.

Topic: INTERAGENCY BUDGETS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

REO Contact/Phone: Becky Loomis, 503-808-2167

Issue Statement: The RIEC routinely reviews key project budgets each year. Presentations at this meeting included: Fiscal Year 2004 budgets for the REO, the Interagency Monitoring program, and budget for implementing the GIS Option as previously selected by the RIEC.

Summary of Discussions and Agreements:

REO Budget: The RIEC approved the proposed 2004 REO budget of $420,000.

Interagency Monitoring budget: Jon Martin, Interagency Monitoring Program lead, presented an overview of the monitoring budget. The RIEC will be discussing this in more detail at the next meeting and approval will be requested.

Interagency GIS Coordinator budget: The RIEC previously agreed to continue the support for an interagency coordinator position. This position would report to the Forest Service and would be funded by cooperating agencies. The FS and BLM requested additional funds to support this position. The RIEC was not able to make a decision regarding the matter at this time.

RIEC members made several suggestions and posed questions related to the accomplishments and contributions made by this position and how the duties might overlap or interface with their current GIS staffs. Typically this position has coordinated broad intergovernmental (Federal, State, Tribal, etc.) projects which have included developing a seamless set of watershed data sets covering Washington, Oregon, and California, developing interagency standards for hydro-graphy and transportation, developing an update process and coordinating updates to the NWFP Land Use Allocation map, and developing and reporting of interagency restoration project information. This position also hosts, coordinates, and reports the activities of the Interorganizational Resources Information Coordination Council (IRICC), which is an active work group under the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.

Next Steps (who/what/when): Additional follow-up on the GIS budget is planned. Monitoring will be added as a topic on the next agenda.

Dave Allen, USFWS
Kathy Anderson, FS, R5
Jack Blackwell, FS, R5
Kath Collier, REO/BLM
Kent Connaughton, FS, R5
Mike Crouse, NOAA-Fisheries
Tony Danna, BLM, CA (alt. for Mike Pool)
Phil Detrich, USFWS
John Engbring, USFWS, CA
Linda Goodman, FS, R6
Becky Gravenmier, PNW
Dale Guenther, REO/GIS
Dianne Guidry, USDA/NRCS
Anne Kinsinger, USGS

Becky Loomis, REO/FS
Curt Loop, COE
Ken Mabery, NPS/REO
Jon Martin, Monitoring
Shawne Mohoric, FS/REO
Steve Morris, NOAA/REO
Judy Nelson, BLM, OR (alt. For Elaine Brong)
Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, EPA
Debbie Pietrzak, BLM/REO
Dave Powers, EPA
Tom Quigley, PNW
Paul Rousch, BLM, CA
Jim Shevock, NPS
Jay Watson, USFWS/REO
Dave Wesley, USFWS