M I N U T E S

McKenzie Watershed Council

Eugene Water &and Electric Board - Training Room, North Building

500 East 4^th Avenue, Eugene

September 9February 12, 20043

5:30 p.m.

PRESENT: Mike Running (McKenzie River Trust), John Woodrow, Springfield City Council, facilitator; John Woodrow (Springfield City Council), Dorothy Anderson Ron Farmer (for Dorothy Andersonalternate), (Eugene Water &and Electric Board), John Lilly (DivisionDepartment of State Lands), ; Bob Bumstead, McKenzie Flyfishers; Dana Burwell, McKenzie River Guides Association; Kurt Cox (, McKenzie Schools), ; Dave Kretzing (for Cheryl Friesen), Willamette National Forest; Pat Gripp (, McKenzie Residents Association); Don Hampton, Lane County Board of Commissioners; Gene Highfill (, McKenzie River Guides Association), Mike McDowell, Weyerhaeuser Company; Linda Mooney, (Mohawk Watershed Partnership), ; Douglass Moser (, At-large Stakeholder), ; Ralph Perkins, (East Lane Soil & Water Conservation District), Douglas Brooke (Hynix Semiconductor), ; Charlene Phipps (, McKenzie Residents Association), ; Emily Rice (, Bureau of Land Management), ; Mike Running, McKenzie River Trust; Wade Stampe, Mary Allison (McKenzie River Ranger District), Rick Hayes (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers),; Betty Taylor (, Eugene City Council), Kelly Reis (alternative for ; Jeff Ziller, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,), ; CcCouncil PpPartners.

ABSENT: Bob Bumstead (McKenzie Flyfishers), Don Hampton (Lane Board of County Commissioners), Michael Kerrick (At-Large Stakeholder), Mikeand Mike McDowell (Weyerhaeuser Company).

Staff: Megan Finnessy, Kate Ferschweiler, Juan Welsh., s; Staff

Guests: Carol Ach, Institute for Regenerative Agroforestry; John Simpson, Eugene Water & Electric Board commissioner-elect; Douglas Fitting, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board; Sally Nunn, Rep. Barnhart Staff; Sue Schumacher and Craig Patterson, residents. Cheryl Ott, Douglas Fitting, Fred Swanson, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station; Tina Nunez, University of Oregon graduate student; George Regas, U.S. Forest Service; Sally Nunn, staff for Representative Phil Barnhart; Sam Fox, University of Oregon; CKarl Morgenstern, Eugene Water and Electric Board; Camille Morgenstern, student; Craig Patterson, resident.

1. REVIEW AGENDA AND INTRODUCTIONS

Mr. Running acted as Facilitator. He called the meeting of the McKenzie Watershed Council (MWC) to order, and thanked members for coming.

Mr. Running reviewed the agenda.

All tThose present introduced themselves.

Mr. Woodrow announced that Ms. Finnessy had asked to present a short video.

Ms. Finnessy showed a short video from a recent television news report that featurefeaturingd McKenzie Watershed Council members and staff planting trees in a new fish and wildlife habitat sanctuary along the Willamette Riveran alcove on Delta Sand & Gravel property at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers.

2. FURTHER DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF DECISIONS MADE AT LAST MEETING

December 11, 2004 Minutes

Mr. Running reminded the MWC that there was no official July meeting as a field trip to the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest had been scheduled. There was no quorum of members at the meeting, therefore approval of the June meeting minutes needed to be conducted.

There were no objections or further discussion and approval of decisions made at the last meeting.

The April minutes were approved by general consensus. The council considered the June 2004 meeting minutes.

COUNCIL MEMBERS SHOWED CONSENSUS LEVEL 3 FOR APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE JUNE 10, 2004, MEETING.

The minutes of December 11, 2003, were approved, with a majority showing a consensus level of three.

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS/PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Finnessy thanked the cCouncil Ppartners for their attendance. She also thanked Mr. Woodrow, Ms. Phipps, and Mr. Running for their work on the bBusiness pPlan over the summer. She also commended the contribution of Tina Nunez to that effort.

Ms. Finnessy thanked Ms. Mooney for working in the MWC’s booth at the upcoming Walterville Fair.

Ms. Finnessy announced the upcoming macroinvertebrate sampling, indicating training would occur on September 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Shelter J at Armitage Park, and the sampling would occur on September 25. Participants should assemble at the cCouncil office in Armitage Park at 8:30 a.m. Ms. Finnessy also announced the upcoming cCouncil’s “Adopt a Highway” event, a clean-up scheduled to occur on October 2.

Ms. Finnessy circulated a card of thanks for former Ccouncil parnerPartner Wade Stampe.

Mr. Running called the cCouncil’s attention to a recent article in The Register-Guard regarding the number one ranking the magazine Organic Style assigned to the water provided by the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB). He termed the ranking “huge news” and circulated a map showing the location of the top 25 utilities examined by the magazine. Mr. Ranking attributed the quality of EWEB’s water to the quality of the McKenzie River.

Mr. Running reported that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) was facilitating a statewide process to develop a State conservation strategy with a focus on the most threatened animals and habitat in Oregon. He noted his membership on the steering committee overseeing the process and noted that t. The steering committee was meetingscheduled to meet on September 13. Mr. Running said that the strategy would give the State access to federal dollars dedicated to restoration and conservation. Those funds would be administered through the ODFW. He anticipated that the upper Willamette basin would be a high priority area in the strategy.

Ms. Reis announced that the ODFW was beginning spawning surveys for the bull trout populations. She noted the location of survey areas and said staff would angle for the trout and pit-tag them and move them above the dam. She reported that pit-tag detectors were in place at several locations.

Ms. Reis noted that the ODFW Commission would approve new angling regulations on September 10. This is a process that occurs every 4 years.

Mr. Cox reported that school had started earlier that week and enrollment levels had held steady. He noted that he had received several inquiries from students who expressed interest in participating in MWC monitoring efforts.

Ms. Anderson reported that EWEB recently held another community meeting upriver, and she understood it had gone very well.

Mr. Hayes reported that Mr. Stampe had retired in May 2004, and he would be missed by his colleagues at the ACOE. He said that Erick Petersoen had been hired as Mr. Stampe’s replacement. He briefly described Mr. Petersoen’s background and said he thought he would do well. Mr. Petersoen would represent the ACOE at future council meetings.

Ms. Taylor expressed her gratitude that Eugene would soon have a new mayor.

Ms. Mooney said that the newsletter had come out and pPartners should have received copies. She said the Mohawk Watershed Partnership was excited because Mohawk High School had finally agreed to have a natural resources curriculum. That would include water quality testing for Cartwright Creek, which was near the school.

Mr. Lilly said it was good to be back after a few months’ absence. He anticipated he would update the MWC on the upcoming legislative session as it progressed.

Ms. Allison reported that the Forest Service had discovered an old wood post treatment site near the Blue River Warehouse and had contracted with an environmental engineering firm to identify the extent of the problem and possible mitigation strategies.

Ms. Gripp noted the upcoming McKenzie River Trail Run being held on September 11. She said it was a 37-mile run that attracted participants in a spectrum of ages from across the nation.

Mr. Simpson reported that EWEB had been experiencing some problems with kids getting on the water intake facility at Hayden Bridge, and staff was looking at fencing the area off.

Mr. Simpson announced that the EWEB commissioners had begun its review of the draft water plan, which he anticipated it would approve later in the year.

Mr. Welsch reported on culvert-replacement activities in the watershed, and thanked Lane County Public Works, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management for their assistance in the process. He indicated that three more culvert replacement projects were planned the following summer on Tom’s Creek, Simmons Creek, and Parsons Creek in the Mohawk Valley. Mr. Welch said the Simmons Creek project was a large one and would involve a partial arched bridge. Staff would continue to work to identify future culvert replacement projects.

Mr. Welcsh referred to the Mohawk/McGowan confluence project and reported that funding had been secured from the Bureau of Land Management. He thanked Ms. Rice for her role in securing the funding, which would be used for invasive species removal, in-stream work, and native riparian plant restoration. He said that other grant funds were being used for the match.

Ms. Sally? ___________??? Nunn announced that a town hall meeting had been held at the Walterville Grange to discuss the high number of accidents that had occurred on Deerhorn Road. She said additional signage was planned, and in the meantime, enforcement of the speed limit had been stepped up.

Ms. Ferschweiler reported that she was working with Joseph Calbreath, KMTR-TV weatherman with KMTR-TV, on a watershed weather forecast program based on a similar program on the east coast. She said tThe program wouldill focus one week each month on Lane County watershed weather and provide an opportunity to educate the public about watershed concepts.

Ms. Ferschweiler announced that there would betwo upcoming MWC workshops in March one for teachers and the other for landowners. She The landowner said the workshops wouldill concentrate on native and invasive plant species and in riparian areas and be publicized through flyers, email list serve, and possibly advertisements in McKenzie River Reflections and the Springfield News.

Mr. McDowell noted the request for help with cold storage mentioned in the December minutes and said that he Weyerhaeuser had storage available, if it was required.

Ms. Taylor expressed concern about the removal of trees on a property in southeast Eugene near the headwaters of Amazon Creek in anticipation of site development on the site. She said that property owners were permitted to log five trees per lot/ per year and Southeast Neighbors were attempting to form a trust, but were interested in McKenzie River Trust taking over temporarily.

Mr. Bumstead commented that the Nature Conservancy was used in the 1980s to protect the Morse Ranch.

Mr. Running stated that the McKenzie River Trust had strict rules preventing it from operating within the City limits, but would like to discuss the issue further with Ms. Taylor.

Ms. Mooney announced that the Mohawk Watershed Partnership newsletter would be going to press the following week and encouraged members to submit articles and information.

Mr. Bumstead asked about the status of the Rosboro bridge and resident access. Ms. Gripp replied that no access was permitted because of the company’s concerns about safety and liability issues.

There was a general discussion of other possible access points on the river and County parks that were abandoned or no longer maintained, such as the Carr property, Whitewater Park, and Deer Creek property.

Mr. Hampton asked members to email him about specific properties and he would check on the status.

Mr. Bumstead said tthe McKenzie River Cooperative Maintenance Partnership was a collaboration of Lane County Parks, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), and the Forest Service to maintain sites along the river. He suggested the Partnership might be able to help with maintenance of the park properties.

Mr. Burwell remarked that the McKenzie River Guides had begun maintenance of boat landings along the river before handing that project over to the Partnership.

Ms. Finnessy announced that the next meeting of the Partnership was on March 9, 2004, at 2:30 p.m.

Ms. Rice stated there were some deed restrictions on the site by Eagle Rock rapids, on the north side of the river, by Eagle Rock rapids relating to reserving it for use by senior citizens.

Mr. Burwell announced that he was resigning from the Council to work on a new watershed protections program and introduced Gene Highfill, who would will be his replacement on the Council. His said hisMr. Burwell’s new responsibilities would will involve coordinating a number of grants to enhance fire departments along the river and to purchase three new response trailers. He reported that the McKenzie River Guides’ life jacket program, which placed 200 life jackets in local stores for free loan to the publipublic,c, was extremely popular and had received recognition as an innovative safety program and is gearing up for 2004.

Mr. Kretzing said Ms. Friesen had asked him to report that she was working with other agencies to organize an open houses to publicize what was happening in the watershed activities. The event is planned for April 4^th, 2004. Interested Partners should contact Ms. Friesen for more details..

Mr. Running said there would be a tree planning on the Big Island Property on February 21, 2004, and invited members to participate. Mr. Welsh asked anyone who was interested to contact him.

Mr. Woodrow announced that at the annual retreat Douglass Moser and Michael Kerrick had been voted by consensus at the annual retreat as the At-large Stakeholder representatives Partners on the Council. He asked if there were any objections. Noting there were no objections, he welcomed Mr. Moser and Mr. Kerrick to the Council.

Karl Morgenstern, EWEB staff, notified the Council that a joint project with the Eugene, Springfield, Lane County, Lane Council of Governments, and EWEB had produced detailed aerial photographs of the McKenzie River and the metropolitan area. He said the orthorectified images would be available, but a price had not yet been determined.

4. OWEB WILLAMETTE REGION REPRESENTATIVE INTRODUCTIONH.J. ANDREWS EXPERIMENTAL FOREST

Douglas Fitting, the new Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Willamette Region representative, introduced himself to the MWC. He noted that Simmons Creek had been selected for OWEB staff for funding, and it was considered a high priority by the Review Team. The OWEB Bboard would consider the funding amount the following week. He anticipated that, in addition to Simmons Creek, OWEB would fund a large woody debris placement project in the McKenzie River. He expressed appreciation to the MWC for its good work.

Mr. Fitting briefly noted his professional background. He reported that currently, OWEB lacked a permanent director but a selection process was underway. He said it was possible the appointment might not be made until January 2005.

Fred Swanson, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, presented an overview of activities in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, which was an important information resource for the Council. He listed theP project partners of the Andrews Forest include: Willamette National Forest, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Oregon State University, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Mr. Swanson said the core of the Andrews Forest science program, based on the Andrews Experimental Forest, was consists of long-term ecological research that began in 1980 and wias funded through the National Science Foundation. He said tThe central question considers was how did natural disturbance processes, land use (forestry, roads), and climate variability affect key ecosystem processes and properties such as biodiversity, carbon dynamics, nitrogen dynamics, and water.

Continuing, Mr. Swanson said the Andrews Forest was established in 1948 and comprised 16,000 acres within the Willamette National Forest. He describedThe facilities, which included a laboratory and office complex, bunkhouses, and a meeting space that accommodateds 100 people, which that he encouraged the Council is encouraged to use. He said other special features included the world’s largest experimental landslide facility and meteorological stations across the area at different elevations.

Mr. Swanson described several elements of the work program, including management of young stand plantations, landscape management, the history of forest fires and other disturbances, hydrology, silviculture, morticulture, biodiversity, and the social sciences.

Mr. Running asked if research was done on the economic benefits of various stand management techniques. He Mr. Swanson respondedsaid that research had primarily focused on the trade -offs between ecological objectives and wood quantity objectives.

Mr. Swanson illustrated on a chart the history of fires in the Pacific Northwest from 1400 to 2000 . Heand described the landscape plan activity that was occurring within the context of the adaptive management area with the. He said the project monitored the effects of various percentages of cutting being monitored. Other projects include He said that a meadow restoration project, a was occurring on a 260 acre site that had been encroached upon by the forest. He listed a number of other projects, including road ecology study, experimental watershed and airsheds, and that looked at corridors for the spread of exotic plants, and ecohydrology. He said that exploratory work was treating the experimental watersheds as airsheds and a recent collaboration between scientists and creative writers had exploreding the language used to think about restoration and our relationship to nature.

Responding to a question from the audience, Mr. Swanson said that some of the vegetation study sites were burned, such as those inside of the B & B complex, were burned and since the fires additional plots have been put inincluded to look at vegetation succession. He said one of the values of long-term studies was having context when an event such as a fire or flood occurred.

Mr. Swanson said that tours of the Andrews Experimental Forest facilities could be arranged and asked Council members to let Ms. Finnessy know of their interest.

4. MWC FY04 BUDGET

Ms. Finnessy presented the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Budget, October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004, budget. She pointing outnoted that the BLM local match of $10,000 was still being negotiated. and explained how Ms. Ferschweiler’s salary was fundeding was explained.

Ms. Rice asked if any of the funds were in an interest bearing account. Ms. Finnessy said she wasthey were not certain and would check into the matter.

Mr. Perkins commented that the State offered interest bearing accounts to certain organizations and suggested that Ms. Finnessy contact his office to see if the Watershed Council would qualify.

Mr. Running said he would like to see a comparison of the FY04 and FY03 budgets. He and asked if the other income sources shown in the budget were secure. Ms. Finnessy said they were.

Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Mooney, moved to approve the FY04 budget. The motion passed with a consensus level of 3.

4. MWC FINANCIAL PLANNING

Tina Nunez, University of Oregon graduate student, presented the concept of financial planning to the Council. Tina’s graduate thesis is focused related that the subject of her thesis was on financial planning for watershed councils for with the purpose intent of helping them increase their organizational capacitiesy, focus strategies, and achieve goals and objectives. She said that withinWithin the context of her the presentation the terms “financial plan” and “business plan” were synonymous.

Ms. Nunez said that a financial business plan was a powerful tool for providing clarity and direction. A business plan can and could help the Council attract investments, identify risks and opportunities, measure outcomes, and build alliances. She said that aBusiness plans covered a specific period of time, typically three to five years, and should be updated periodically. S, and stakeholders should be involved in the development.

Ms. Nunez outlined several discussion topics related to development of a plan:

· Where is the Council today and where does it want to go?

· Identify the Council’s strengths, and weakness, and threats, and opportunities that exist now and over the next five years.

· Ensure understanding of the Council’s mission and strategic vision.

· How can the Council work with other watershed stakeholders in the development of the plan?

Ms. Nunez suggested if the Council wished to proceed it should identify membersPartners interested in forming to form a subcommittee to work on the business plan development process.

Mr. Perkins supported the idea of a financial plan and said thatsaying it would provide credibility with funding agencies, some of which required organizations to have a business or financial plan in order to apply.

Mr. Stampe stated he did not want to see too much time spent on planning, rather than implementation of watershed activities.

Ms. Rice said that while funding was currently stable, a business plan would help identify risks to traditional funding sources and assist the Council to in determineing whether capacity should be expanded.

Mr. Woodrow observed that at last year’s retreat the Council had looked at alternatives to Bonneville Power Association (BPA) funding and decided that developing a business plan could help facilitate long-term sustainability.

Mr. Ziller commented that a plan would consolidate information and organize it in a useful manner.

Mr. Perkins remarked that funders wanted business plans to help identify long-term goals and provide focus and direction. He said that his organization had recently gone through the process of developing a plan and while it was difficult, the result was worth the effort.

Ms. Nunez stated that it was a unique opportunity for the Council’s to develop a financial business plan. She said she had reviewed existing documents, such as the Strategic Plan, and much of the work had already been done; developing a plan would include bringing all of the existing information together and quantifying goals.

Mr. Running said he supported development of a plan and that the McKenzie River Trust was also developing onea business plan. He said a business plan would help present a story with numbers to funders, one that includes numbers. It was also pointed out and that much of the work could be done in the subcommittee and brought back to the Council for consideration.

Mr. Farmer agreed that a plan was needed to take advantage of funding opportunities. He said that once the plan was completed it could be used to measure accountability and success.

Ms. Finnessy noted that Ms. Nunez would be available until June 2004 and could help the Council get a good start on developing its plan.

Mr. Perkins added that the U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored workshops for water conservation districts and he would check to see of any assistance was available for watershed councils.

There was a consensus level of 3 to form a subcommittee for the business plan development process.

The Business Plan Subcommittee will consist of: Charlene Phipps Mike Running, John Woodrow, Tina Nunez and Megan Finnessy.

5. MWC BUSINESS PLAN

Council pPartners broke into small groups to discuss three areas of the draft bBusiness Pplan: 1) Conservation Strategy; 2) Marketing/Funding; and 3) Organizational Development. Recommendations from the work group sessions will be evaluated by the Business Plan Committee and distributed in the October Annual Retreat mailing packet. Further discussion of the Business Plan will occur at the Annual Retreat.

6. UPDATES ON MWC ADMINISTRATION

Ms. Finnessy reported that the Friends of Leaburg Lake Association (FOLLA) had requested a seat on the Council and suggested that a subcommittee could be formed to review responses to a list of questions posed by the Counciltheir request.

There was a consensus level of 3 to let the Executive Committee review the FOLLA requestresponses.

Ms. Finnessy said noted that a statewide meeting of Oregon watershed councils was being held on February 26-27, 2004, and asked if there were any objections to her attendance. There were no objections.

Mr. Running expressed his interest in response to Ms. Ms. Finnessy’s reported that the she presented to the Water Resource Commission regarding water permitting issues on Cedar Creek. In addition, Ms. Finnessy noted that the Limited License had been approved for the headgate system and that a number of gauges are being installed here. The Cedar Creek Working Group is scheduled for another meeting this fall.

Ms. Finnessy noted that the Council, in collaboration with the Springfield School District, is conducting a watershed education project to educate students in the Springfield School District about the importance of protecting and conserving water resources in our community and throughout the Pacific Northwest. She thanked Emily Rice and the Bureau of Land Management for their support of the program.

Ms. Finnessy noted that the Summer Artswork program had unveiled its porcelain painting project at the recent McKenzie Arts Forum festival and that she will convene a post-program meeting to begin discussions about next year’s project.

Ms. Finnessy commented that the float trip was scheduled on the same day as the macroinvertebrate sampling effort. The float trip was cancelled. Mr. Hayes commented that he would help coordinate next year’s float trip event.

The next council meeting will be the October 16 retreat at Camp Harlow.

quest for a Council member to attend the meetingattendance.

Ms. Finnessy said that the Adopt-a-Highway application was being renewed and a date for a spring event would be forthcoming.deadline was missed, although the Council could still participate. She distributed contract evaluations to Council members.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 8:15 p.m.

(Recorded by Kimberly Young PearsonLynn Taylor)