Minutes
of the Bi-Monthly Steering Committee Meeting
September 28, 2005, 10 a.m., College of the Redwoods, Ft. Bragg
Attending:
Documents forwarded by Tara by e-mail on
September 26, 2005 in
preparation for this meeting:
ACTION ITEM: Minutes of 26 July reviewed, approved.
ACTION ITEM: Agenda for today: the Information Management workgroup report was moved down on the agenda because Matt was delayed.
Discussion Item:
Announcements: there were none.
Discussion Item: Report from Education and Outreach Workgroup
Peter Warner reviewed the minutes of the Education and Outreach Workgroup meeting of September 14th. It was noted that one agenda item from that meeting, drafting the Education & Outreach section of the Strategic Plan, had not been addressed during the meeting and would be raised at future meetings. The main accomplishment of the workgroup was to set the schedule and format of the public meetings, with the first to take place in Caspar near the end of October.
Public Meeting Schedule
The format for all the meetings will be similar. The format developed at the Workgroup meeting was:
Comments from the Steering Committee include:
The particular content will be tailored to address issues likely to be of most concern to the local community. For example, gorse is expected to be of concern in Caspar, but not in Gualala. The restoration of native species at the Mendocino Headlands would be of interest in Mendocino. Impacts will be addressed e.g. Land values in Caspar, tourism in Mendocino, timber and fishing industries in Fort Bragg.
It was suggested that a goal for each meeting would be to identify at least one project of interest to the community. Resources to solve weed problems will be presented, including the Mendocino County Ag Dept for both agricultural and residential weeds, as well as commerical service providers such as goat-browsing services. Lori Hubbart is working on a poster on invasives that can be used at the meetings. Live displays of invasives and species likely to be confused with them will be created. Peter has been expanding his collection of photos of invasive plants, which he will post to the ftp site. Maps for collecting the weed distribution information will be provided by the Information Management Workgroup. A 1-page, 2-sided fact sheet will be distributed at the meeting, that will contain locally relevant information and local contact information.
Meetings will be held on weekday evenings at a neutral community location, ideally one already used for community events. Publicity was recommended to include a press release, radio and TV announcements, posting of flyers at select locations only. The need to develop a mailing list for sending the announcements was brought up, as well as a need for brochure distribution locations that could be mentioned at the meeting.
ACTION ITEM: the public meeting schedule is approved.
ACTION ITEM: Peter volunteers to draft the 1-page, 2-sided fact sheet to be distributed at the meeting. Peter requested references for a summary of IPM as applied to weeds.
ACTION ITEM: the next E&O Workgroup meeting was tentatively set to Friday, October 14th, 10AM-12. This meeting is expected to require a representative from the other workgroups to coordinate preparation for the public meeting in Caspar.
Discussion Item: Report from Information Management Workgroup
Matt Gerhart reviewed the minutes of the Information Management Workgroup meeting on September 7th. The question of protection of the privacy of landowners regarding invasive plant distribution was discussed. Some felt an obligation to report occurrences of A-rated or actionable B-rated weeds. Others supported a voluntary approach of providing information and encouragement. County Agriculture holds a position of supporting landowners to solve their weed problems, either on their own or with assistance from the County. Enforcement of noxious weed regulations is considered the last resort.
The date and format of the experts mapping meeting was described. The list of priority weeds for mapping was modified for clarity regarding species to be mapped together (Hedera and Carpobrotus spp.) or separately (Cytisus scoparius, Genista monospessulana). The accidental omission of Cortaderia jubata from the list was corrected. The final list is
ACTION ITEM: The the list of weeds with mapping priority was approved as corrected. This list will be used at the experts mapping meeting will be held Wednesday, October 12th, 10AM-12 noon at College of the Redwoods.
Discussion Item: Report from Projects Workgroup
Clare Golec presented an overview of the projects workgroup meeting. The main accomplishments of the workgroup where development of a list of activities for the Projects section of the Strategic Draft, and development of ways for the Projects Workgroup to support the public meetings. In particular, WMA partners and stakeholders are encouraged to enter their weed control projects into the State Weed Control Projects database. This allows us to present a clearer picture of the past and current state of weed control in the WMA, as well as providing publicity for projects. It was noted that not all organizations are willing to provide this information, so the information can be expected to be incomplete.
Walt Decker has agreed to serve as chair of the Projects Workgroup, but was unable to attend today. Walt will be representing the Projects Workgroup at the Planning subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, October 12. Any MCWMA partners with ideas for future projects should forward these to Walt.
ACTION ITEM: It was determined that there was not a need for an independent Projects Workgroup meeting at present, and that Projects Workgroup members are encouraged to support the Education Workgroup in preparing for the Caspar public meeting.
Discussion Item: The Coordinator’s Report was presented by Tara Athan.
ACTION ITEM: It was approved to convene the funding subcommittee, given the uncertainty of State-level WMA funding in the near future. Patty Madigan volunteered to serve on this subcommittee.
Discussion Item: Input was requested on the relationship the MCWMA would have with a Russian River, or Inland, Mendocino County WMA. The MCWMA is willing to have a cooperative relationship where resources are shared. Consideration of joint funding of the WMA's is approved. Concern was raised that the energy of the MCWMA not be diverted, as there is still plenty of work remaining before the MCWMA becomes a sustainable organization. The Inland WMA would need to seek new partners, including the Farm Bureau, CNPS-Sanhedrin, tribes, BLM and National Forest.
ACTION ITEM: The steering committee approved seeking joint funding with an Inland Mendocino County WMA, provided there is sufficient interest from inland agencies and residents to support a second WMA in Mendocino County.
Discussion Item:
Input was requested as to the
advisability of submitting a summary of
the MCWMA for the State Report on WMA's being prepared by CDFA.
ACTION ITEM: Tara was approved to prepare this summary, which would describe how the MCWMA was formed following the examples of other WMA's.
ACTION ITEM: Reporting forms for in-kind matching contributions were distributed. Reports are requested for the period of August 1-September 30, and may be submitted in writing or electronically.
ACTION ITEM: Next meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 16 10AM-12 Tentative location: Campbell Group meeting room, Ft. Bragg. Note the change in date from the 4th to the 3rd Wednesday due to conflict with the Thanksgiving holiday.
Meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.
Minutes recorded by Tara Athan.