Western Regional Panel
Members Present: Susan Ellis, John Chapman, Robyn Draheim Waldeck (for Mark Sytsma), Karen McDowell, Tina Proctor
Members Absent: Al Van Vooren, Scott Smith, Blaine Parker, Dwight Williamson,
Since Karen and Tina are not voting members, there were only three voting members attending. Although there was not a quorum, several decisions were made and the remaining members were asked to vote by e-mail. The three decisions are marked with a **.
**The members present elected Susan and Al to continue their terms as chair and vice chair for 2005.
1. New Members
John Wullschleger works for the National Park Service Water Resources Division in Fort Collins, CO and agreed to serve as the alternate representative for Linda Drees. John will also serve on the Executive Committee as the federal representative until the election of EC members in September 2005.
Joe DiVittorio is the IPM coordinator for the Bureau of Reclamation in Denver and has agreed to be the BuRec representative.
Billie Kerans is a professor at Montana State University in Bozeman who gave the presentation at the Anchorage meeting on New Zealand mudsnail research has agreed to be the Inland—at large member. **The members present voted to invite Billie to serve in this position.
The new CAL-FED representative is U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee, Jeff Herod, who is the ANS Coordinator in the Stockton, CA office. He replaces Erin Williams.
Tina said Joe DiVittorio suggested we have a representative from the Department of the Navy and he has some good contacts there. The group agreed to discuss that suggestion with the Panel.
2. ANS Task Force Meeting – May 24-26
The EC discussed issues to present at the ANS Task Force meeting:
Boundary Bay project – Kevin Anderson or Pat Lim
California has received a permit request for a company that wants to raise the clam, Merceneria merceneria. The broodstock may carry an alga that is filtered by the clams, Karenia brevis, which causes algal blooms. Susan suggested that this kind of issue is an important one for the Task Force to look at. How do the states determine whether something like this is safe?
The EC discussed the field trip for the meeting. Susan will contact CA DFG management and Kirsten Wasson and/or Steve Lonhart to discuss field trip options.
3. AFS meeting in Anchorage, week of Sept. 12
Tina spoke to Jill Hardiman who is coordinating the ANS session at the American Fisheries Society meeting in Anchorage, the week of Sept. 12. She would like to have a WRP representative. The session with be on ANS research in big rivers. Robyn suggested that she and Mark will be doing a presentation and could add information about the WRP.
4. WRP annual meeting
The first conference call for the joint WRP and Mississippi River Basin Panel will be Feb. 15th. The meeting planning team so far is: Tina, Susan, Blaine, John, Karen, Kevin Anderson, Lynn Schlueter, Jay Rendall (MN DNR), Jerry Rasmussen (MRBP Coordinator), and Mike Hoff (FWS ANS Coordinator Region 3). Jason Goeckler and Tom Mosher will represent Kansas Wildlife and Parks as the host agency.
5. Update on ANS Plans
The governor has approved and signed the ND ANS plan and it will be presented at the ANS Task Force meeting in May. The Kansas ANS plan will be put on their new website for public review. The Governor’s Natural Resource Committee has already approved it. It should also be ready for the May Task Force meeting. Susan reported that the California plan is moving forward. She is re-writing the original draft and working closely with CA Food and Agriculture. Tina will check with Idaho and Arizona about whether they are close to being finished.
6. Projects for 2005
The EC discussed the four projects that the WRP is funding this year. We need to set a timeline for regular reports from the project leaders.
**The members present decided to transfer the $2,500 originally intended for Tribal cooperation into the US/Mexico cooperation project with the Desert Fishes Council for the ANS session in their meeting in Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico. John would like to see the proceedings published. Susan suggested that John contact the Council on Environmental Cooperation to see if they would help financially.
Minutes prepared by Tina Proctor, WRP Panel Coordinator
Executive Committee Minutes
Thursday, February 10, 2005
WRP involvement
Educational materials database – Mark Sytsma
Estuarine database – Henry Lee
Watershed Council survey – Linda Jauron-Mills or Paul Heimowitz
ANS materials at border crossings protocol – Kevin or Pat
Ballast water – Susan will call Maurya Falkner to see if she is available and follow up with Kari Duncan to check if the Task Force is going to be having a session on ballast water.
bettina_proctor@fws.gov