Regional Interagency Executive Committee
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:

February 27, 2007

To:

Regional Interagency Executive Committee (see attached distribution list)

From:

/s/Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Subject:

REGIONAL INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES FOR FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Regional Interagency Executive Committee
February 7, 2007 Meeting Agenda
National Marine Fisheries Service 10^th Floor Conference Room

Time

Topics

Purpose

Presenter

9 a.m.

House-
keeping

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

9:10

Opening Remarks

Opening

Linda Goodman, Chair

9:15

Update and decision

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE
Shawne Mohoric, FS
Kristi Young, FWS

10:00

Update and decision

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE
Anne Badgley, REO

10:15

Update and decision

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE
Shawne Mohoric, FS

10:30

Break

10:45

Update and decision

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE
Anne Badgley, REO

11:00

Update and decision

12:00

LUNCH

1:00

Future NW Forum (Continued)

Update and decision

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

2:30

House-
keeping

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

2:45

Closing Remarks

House-
keeping

Linda Goodman, Chair

2:50

Closing Reminders

House-
keeping

Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

3:00

Adjourn

Topic: REGIONAL INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – Summary of Decisions

Presenter: Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

Sponsor: Linda Goodman, Chair

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Summary: This meeting segment included three presentations: (1) Restating agreements from the December meeting, (2) discussing RIEC and REO review and coordination requirements; and (3) Senior Managers Group organization concepts:

Restated Agreements from the December RIEC meeting:

1. Schedule one annual all-RIEC meeting with an agenda driven by RIEC members and a process led by chair agency.
2. No other regularly scheduled RIEC meetings.
3. Additional RIEC meetings may be requested by: SMG, RIEC agencies, and other subgroups with delegated responsibility through a request to RIEC Chair.
4. Communicate decisions regarding the expanded role of the Senior Managers’ Group (SMG).
5. Rework interagency MOU to reflect these decisions.

Topic: REGIONAL INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – RIEC and REO Review and Coordination Requirements

RIEC Sponsor: Linda Goodman, RIEC Chair

Presenter/REO Contact: Shawne Mohoric, Forest Service

Issue Statement: Both the 1994 Record of Decision (ROD) and Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) for the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) and the 2001 Survey and Manage (S&M) ROD and S&Gs specify RIEC and REO review and coordination requirements.

Summary of Discussion: The Regional Interagency Executive Committee (RIEC) discussed RIEC and Regional Ecosystem Office (REO) review and coordination responsibilities from the NWFP RODs and S&Gs. The RIEC delegated some of the review responsibilities to other groups and adopted a review process for RIEC review of plan amendments.

Specifically, the RIEC made the following decisions:

• Delegated LSR review responsibilities (delegated to LSR workgroup)
• Interpretation of S&Gs (review stays with RIEC)
• Review and coordination associated with plan revisions (stays with RIEC)

• Rescind current delegation memo dated May 14, 2003.
• Use a new review process (see attachment 2). Clarify that this review provides an opportunity for RIEC members to comment on the line officer’s consistency determination. The authority to change or amend plans remains with the individual agency as specified in applicable regulations (NWFP, E-18).

• Delegate to the S&M RIEC Sub-committee all RIEC S&M requirements which the RIEC has not yet delegated.
• Delegate to the S&M RIEC Sub-committee the authority to change all S&M delegations as needed in the future.

Topic: REGIONAL INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – Senior Managers Group Organizational Concepts

RIEC Sponsor: Linda Goodman, RIEC Chair

Presenter: Kristi Young, REO (FWS Representative)

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Issue Statement: The Westside Senior Managers Group (SMG) provides interagency coordination on key Federal natural resource issues in the Pacific Northwest. The SMG has agreed upon a vision and draft set of organizational concepts to guide future SMG actions.

Summary of Discussion: Kristi Young provided an overview of the SMG’s organizational concepts, highlighting key aspects of the proposal. As discussed at the December 1, 2006 RIEC meeting, the SMG will not have a formal charter.

All meetings will be open to representatives from all RIEC agencies. Rather than identifying formal members, each RIEC agency will be asked to designate an agency Point of Contact (POC). Agendas will be provided to the POCs prior to each SMG meeting, and the POC can decide whether to participate in the meeting or not.

The SMG agreed to have a Meeting Coordinator to handle logistics such as meeting planning, facilitating, and note-taking. Meeting notes will be limited to key decisions and action items. Meeting notes will be sent to each POC. The Meeting Coordinator will also keep a file with action items and meeting notes. The RIEC requested clarification regarding how the SMG will keep records, which are expected to be fairly minimal.

Agenda items that require decisions will be discussed by the whole SMG, but ultimately, decisions will be by consensus of the affected agencies only. If consensus cannot be reached, the SMG will forward issues to the RIEC as needed.

There was also some discussion about the expanded membership of the SMG. In the past, the SMG has focused primarily on endangered species issues, with a limited membership. Under the new structure, the non-regulatory agencies will be encouraged to bring non-ESA issues to the SMG for discussion if needed. The RIEC requested that efforts be made to make sure all RIEC agencies are included on the POC list.

Next Steps: Kristi Young will work with the SMG to address the questions posed by the RIEC and modify the Organizational Concepts.

Decisions: SMG Organizational Concepts approved, pending the changes identified by the SMG on February 6 and the RIEC on February 7, 2007.

Topic: INTERGOVERNMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (IAC)

RIEC Sponsor: Linda Goodman, Chair

Presenter: Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Summary: This meeting segment included three presentations: (1) A restatement of the agreements made by the RIEC in December regarding the IAC; (2) A report on the calls to the IAC non-Federal members; and (3) A review of the proposed IAC March 20, 2007 meeting agenda.

Restatement of Agreements: RIEC members affirmed the decision made at the December 1 meeting to not renew the IAC charter in 2007. The last and final meeting will be held March 20, 2007.

Report on calls to IAC members: In late December, the RIEC chair, with the support of the REO Executive Director, made calls to the non-Federal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee members. These calls included information related to the scheduling of the next IAC meeting, and the rationale for not re-chartering the IAC. Linda Goodman shared some highlights from those calls:

• Many non-Federal members indicated that the decision to not re-charter was not unexpected. It was noted, however, that some issues, such as monitoring, continue to evolve, and will require a continued, close working relationship with non-Federal partners. With respect to Tribal Monitoring, Linda indicated that the Forest Service Tribal Liaison would continue to work with Tribes and RIEC members to further the development of the module. This topic will be discussed in more detail at the March 20, 2007 IAC meeting.
• It was also noted that with increasing activity at the Forest and District levels, it is hoped that non-Federal partners will continue to engage in the forums closest to these efforts (cooperation on the Western Oregon Plan Revisions, Provincial Advisory Committees, Forest Plan revision processes, Resource Advisory Committees, etc.)
• RIEC members noted that there was also a desire to maintain relationships at the Regional level, and it was suggested that each RIEC Agency consider including IAC members on their mailing lists. This would allow RIEC members to maintain their IAC contacts and to keep their non-Federal partners apprized of Regional issues. REO could assist in the initial development and distribution of these lists, but it was noted that in order to keep the lists current in the long term, they would need to be managed individually by each RIEC Agency.
  

Discussion of March IAC Meeting: The final Intergovernmental Advisory Committee meeting is currently scheduled for March 20, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, at the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center (Lloyd Center), Portland, Oregon. Anne Badgley presented potential meeting topics for discussion. Suggested topics included:

• Presentations/discussion regarding RIEC decisions on future structures and organizations
• Monitoring (including Tribal Monitoring)
• NSO Recovery Plan and Barred Owl Control experiments
• BLM Western Oregon Plan Revisions
• Survey and Manage EIS Update
• Awards presentations

Given time constraints, RIEC members suggested focusing on the topics of most relevance to IAC members. Written updates could be provided on topics such as Survey and Manage and Barred Owl experiments.

Topic: REGIONAL ECOSYSTEM OFFICE

RIEC Sponsor: Linda Goodman, Chair

Presenter/REO Contact: Anne Badgley, Executive Director

Summary: Anne Badgley presented a transition plan for the Regional Ecosystem Office and laid out potential next steps:

Throughout the remainder of FY2007, the REO will be transitioning to a new structure in FY2008 to fulfill its existing responsibilities under the Record of Decision (ROD) and Standards and Guidelines (S&G). By the end of the fiscal year, the REO interagency-funded staff will move back to their host agencies and the office space will no longer be rented through interagency funds. A virtual REO staff framework will remain in place consisting of REO representatives generally located with their agencies and an REO coordinator provided by BLM (through June 2008).

A snapshot of the changes completed by October 1, 2007 include:

• Space: No "official" REO office space; all current REO employees will return to their host agencies. (Note: There is a possibility that several agencies may continue to rent directly from FS.) All records will be moved (to archives or another space identified by the FS).
• Funding: No interagency budget or "pool" of interagency funds.
• REO Staff: No interagency funded REO staff. FS/BLM REO representatives will support the work of the Chair. Their time for RIEC support work will be allocated as directed by their supervisors. FWS, NOAA Fisheries, EPA, USGS, NPS will commit up to 10 percent of a person’s time to REO tasks such as annual meeting preparation and staff work on RIEC issues. (Note: In addition, each agency may have additional NWFP-related responsibilities for their REO representative tailored to their agency needs.)

RIEC members endorsed the proposed approach, but offered the following points for additional follow-up:

• There is a need to ensure that a mechanism remains in place to facilitate interagency transfer of funds.
• Current fund transfers related to operation of the REO are exempted from agency surcharges by an existing MOU and required analyses required by the Economy Act of June 30, 1932, Section 601, as amended (31 U.S.C. 1535), Section 330 of the 2000 Interior Appropriations Act, PL 106-291, and 48 CFR 17.503. There is a desire on the part of the RIEC agencies to ensure that future interagency fund transfers (such as those in support of monitoring efforts) are likewise exempt from agency surcharges. Lisa Freedman (FS) volunteered to investigate options for monitoring fund transfers.
• BLM has agreed to host the REO website in the near term, but may revisit the best way to support the website in the future.

Topic: NORTHWEST NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM (NWNRF)

RIEC Sponsor: Linda Goodman, Chair

Presenters: Deb Nudelman, RESOLVE

REO Contact: Anne Badgley, REO Executive Director

Issue Statement: The Federal executives are interested in creating a working concept for a forum that would be highly relevant to Federal managers within the Pacific Northwest. This forum would maintain executive level relationships while providing an opportunity for managers to work together and investigate/explore difficult natural resources issues currently facing the various agencies.

Background: During phone interviews with Deb Nudelman in late 2006, the NWFP executives expressed an interest in exploring opportunities to maintain executive relationships so that they can maintain a high level of coordination between and among agencies. Several examples of existing executive level groups located in other parts of the country were presented to RIEC members at the December 1, 2006 meeting. The RIEC decided to meet to explore the concept of an executive forum that would not only maintain relationships, but bring managers together to discuss pressing agency issues and explore common natural resource topics. Anne Badgley presented a "strawman" proposal at the February 7, 2007 RIEC meeting as a way to frame the forum discussion.

Summary of Discussions: Deb Nudelman first requested executives to restate their interest in the future forum concept. Executives agreed that the forum should have: compelling, substantial topics (beyond NWFP issues) with a retreat-like setting, enough flexibility to explore "hot" topics, senior executive level participation, and regional focus. The forum will need agency sponsors that are willing to make commitments (i.e., hosting the forum). Issues that potentially would be explored by the new forum should be of interest and relevant to most agencies and not repetitive with other regional groups. The following information was discussed and approved:

Forum hosts:

Year one chairs – USGS/NPS
Year two chairs – NRCS/EPA (will assist with year one planning as vice chairs)

When/Where Criteria:

• Retreat-like setting
• Away from offices
• Convenient to airports (SeaTac or PDX)
• Afternoon "agency" session with evening event, followed by a second day morning "topic-driven" session
• Striving for October, early November meeting
• Need to get on executives calendars ASAP
• Need to confirm mailing list with REO

Attendance:

Current RIEC membership plus invitation to BOR, BPA, and NOAA Research. Executives. Senior executives will designate forum alternates. Limited staff level participation.

What: A list of potential topics was brainstormed by the executives as follows:

• Climate change*
• Oceans
• Klamath Basin
• Water availability
• Forest health
• Biomass Utilization
• Farm Bill
• Presidential Directive on Environmental Footprint
• Invasive Species
• Sagebrush Biome

Forum Name: Northwest Natural Resources Forum

• Morning – travel to site
• Afternoon - 15 min. Agency round-table presentations ("What is eating your lunch?")
• Evening event – dinner, special tour or presentation

• Morning - featured topic/focused discussion
• Afternoon- travel home

• Consider inviting guest speakers for featured topic
• Afternoon discussions should be "diagnostic" rather than lecture format
• Purpose of forum will be drafted by first year chairs and reviewed by all agency executives

Next Steps: USGS and NPS will begin to work together to plan and schedule the first annual Northwest Natural Resources Forum. Additional information and details will be forthcoming.

RIEC REVIEW OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
TO LAND AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS

The 1994 Record of Decision (ROD) and Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) for the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) and the 2001 Survey and Manage (S&M) ROD and S&Gs, specify RIEC review and coordination requirements for plan revisions and amendments. The following process applies to RIEC review of proposed plan amendments involving changes to S&Gs or land allocations established by those RODs and incorporated in Forest Service (FS) Forest or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) District plans

While the proposed amendments will be reviewed by the RIEC to assure consistency with the objectives of the relevant standards and guidelines, the authority to amend those plans remains with the individual agency as specified in applicable regulations. (NWFP S&Gs, E-18).

• Request for RIEC review of proposed plan amendment.
• Description of proposed action and need for plan amendment.
• Consistency determination indicating whether the proposed amendment is consistent with the objectives of relevant NWFP S&Gs, including a description of which S&Gs were considered relevant, and the rationale for the determination.