Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Team Meeting Minutes

May 21-23, 2002      Ithaca, New York

Welcome & Introductions

Review purpose of meeting; review and approve agenda

Introductory comments - Washington & Regional Office Representatives

Lake Sturgeon Priority

Presentation: Lake Sturgeon Committee Successes and Ongoing Projects - Tracy Hill

Sum-up of Action Items

Action: Relay to RMT & Project Leaders support for the development of a FWS Sturgeon Strategic plan. In the plan, the problems and actions needed to address contaminants, passage, etc. will be identified.

GIS/DSS Priority

Presentation: GIS/DSS Core Group Accomplishments & Next Steps - Rich Greenwood & Chris Castiglione

Successes:

• Determined existing geospatial capabilities of Programs and Field Stations; and survey and analysis of Team, Island Committee, Great Lakes Island Refuges, and Field Station GIS/DSS needs; reported in Strategic Plan
• Initiated, completed, and presented to Team a Pilot Project to help identify obstacles and opportunities: GLBET GIS Decision Support System Lake Michigan Islands Demonstration
• Completed Draft Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem GIS/DSS Implementation Strategic Plan for Team's review and approval
• Developed Recommendations for the implementation of geospatial technologies to support Great Lakes Basin resource management issues
• GLBET Intranet Team Working Site established on the web: The url is: http://www.glc.org/GIS/GLBET/index.html The User name is: glbet The Password is: gis/dss
• Team, Service, and Partner support through Team Kitty funds ($7.5K); Regional Flex Funding from both Regions ($30K each), and partner match form the Great Lakes Commission ($30K)
• Our initiative was leveraged and was very influential in the USGS Eastern Region Partnership Integrated Science Funds Program selecting the Great Lakes Science Center's proposal: "Mapping Sensitive Habitats on Great Lakes Islands in Multispectral Satelite Imagery ($48K) in support of our project
• NOAA Coastal Grant Program awarded $150K to the TNC lead Western Lake Erie Island Conservation Planning Process Project, for which we were a significant part of the proposal to assist with GIS/DSS work necessary. Experience and partnerships built will be most useful in applying this process basin wide for other projects
• US EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office has agreed to support with facilities and funding a workshop to assist our Team's Great Lakes GIS/DSS efforts, and will allow us to plan and structure it as we see fit (likely $15 - 25K)

Next Steps:

• Final Draft GIS/DSS Strategic Report and Recommendations posted on Team Intranet Site for Review Period by Team and others: May 21 - June 21, 2002
• Based on input, finalize GIS Strategic Report, post on Team Intranet Site: June 28, 2002
• Core Group to meet with TNC Western Lake Erie Islands Conservation Planning Process Group to discuss NOAA Coastal Grant funding, our GIS/DSS capabilities and opportunities: June 11 - 12, 2002
• Request GLBET Executive Committee's Approval of Strategic Report and Core Group's Recommendations: June 28, 2002
• Pending Executive Committee's approval, present Core Group's Findings and Recommendations to both Regional Directorates and Program Leaders: July 2002
• GLBET GIS/DSS Core Group's Charge is fulfilled.
• Meetings with Field Offices and partners, to present our Great Lakes Island GIS/DSS; discuss opportunities for applications; how to increase it's usefulness; and to address any additional GIS/DSS needs. These meetings could include: Green Bay for proposed Cat Island Chain Restoration Project; Detroit River for new International Wildlife Refuge and Midwest Natural Resource Managers Group's Focus Area; Western Lake Erie Islands Project; other opportunities could include Western and Eastern Lake Ontario Island/Coastal projects: Summer - Fall, 2002 (possible Team Kitty Fund use)
• Participate in Great Lakes Dredging Team meeting to discuss opportunities to facilitate Great Lakes Islands and coastal habitat restoration projects: September 2002
• Great Lakes National Program Office funded workshop for the GLBET. Can include hands on training for our Refuge Managers, Island Committee members, and others including partners; presentation and discussion of our Flex Fund supported Great Lakes Basin Wide GIS data compilation and analysis (including Flex Fund match work provided by Great Lakes Commission); and opportunities to engage in the new Great Lakes Aquatic and Coastal GAP initiative. Proposed working agenda will be provided on Team Intranet Site, Team review and input is requested. Workshop to be held: Early Fall 2002
• Provide outreach materials for Team's display at State of Lakes Ecosystem Conference in Cleveland: October 2002

Sum-up of Action items

Action: Integrate trust resource information related to Bird Conservation Regions, endangered species, fish distribution/passage, and refuge lands into the DSS into a GLBET review of resources, focus areas, and action (species occurrence & modeling potential habitats).

Action: Provide input to R3 GIS planning effort to address GIS (possibly invite Cookeville or R5 Coastal program) including survey results and GLBET strategy with cost estimates.

Action: Finalize GLBET strategy & report to GLBET

Action: Report on GIS/DSS to Project Leaders.

Action: Hold workshop (GLNPO-funded) for refuge managers, islands committee members, partners, etc.

Action: Chris Castiglione will generate an estimate of the cost full-time GIS/DSS position for the Great Lakes.

Other Landscape-scale Approaches to Conservation

Presentation: Overview of the Upper Mississippi/Upper Great Lakes & Lower Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Joint Venture --Andrew Milliken & Barb Pardo

Presentation: A Habitat Analysis for the Gulf of Maine Watershed -- Dr. Arnold Banner

[Dr. Banner provided the following abstract summarizing his presentation.]

The USFWS Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has completed a project to map habitats for high priority fish, wildlife and plants within the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Maine watershed (Maine, portions of New Hampshire and Massachusetts). Maps were developed for 64 endangered, threatened and declining Fish and Wildlife Service 'trust' species which use this area. The environmental base maps and species maps are intended to focus habitat protection efforts in areas of greatest biological value, and allow users to examine trade-offs which are likely to accompany protection or development proposals.

Habitats for each species were mapped and ranked using available occurrence data and/or by application of habitat suitability models to area-wide environmental data sets. These models compare the conditions for key factors, such as land cover, patch size or shape, distance to edge or alternate cover type, soil types, water depths, etc., to the preferences of each species. Using a GIS, we generated maps portraying how well each locality matched the combination of factors which appeared to control the local distribution of each species. Most of the resulting maps were tested by comparing the overlap of mapped habitats and known occurrences to that overlap for random sites within the species' range.

Species specific maps then were combined and processed to display particularly high value areas, such as the top quartile of over-all habitat values, and GIS viewer tools were developed to help users quantify values on a parcel by parcel basis.

Presentation: The Great Lakes Piping Plover: An Update on Population Status, Recovery Actions, & Related Activities - Jack Dingledine

Outreach:

Presentation: GLBET Website & Video -- Cyndi Duda

The team website is located at http://greatlakes.fws.gov/. The Outreach Committee will be working on some updates this summer using kitty money from FY 2001. The video script is ready for review. Doug Spencer surveyed the group for any additional locations for video footage.

Discussion: Future Directions and Needs

Action: Request the RMT to evaluate the effectiveness of outreach venues such as brochures, web sites, and Outdoorama.

Great Lakes Islands Priority

Presentation: Committee History and Current Commitment Levels -- Jim Hudgins

There is currently no committee leader- we need a spark plug and the engine. There are several alternatives on how the team could proceed: 1) focus solely on the GIS/DSS efforts, 2) forge ahead as a full committee, or 3) hold a workshop to engage participation.

Team Discussion: Future Directions and Needs

A workshop could focus on hands-on training for DSS, information needs, development of flexfund proposals, showcasing partner efforts, and identifying information needs. We're missing key players in island restoration....partners. Groups that should be involved in the workshop include partners, congressional staff, and ascertainment staff.

The recently released Great Lakes Strategy identified the GLBET as taking the lead for islands. Bird Atlas information for the Islands DSS will be available in July 2002. The objectives of the DSS tool for islands are to map all the islands and include the basic components of islands. A useful tool should be available by this fall.

The Committee needs a leader and members. The following individuals volunteered or were volunteered to be members: Emily Zollweg, Jack Dingledine, Doug Spencer or staff, Tom Jasikoff, Megan Sullivan, Joe Dowhan, Liz McCloskey, Mark Dryer, Mike Tansy, Dan Frisk, Ken Stromborg, Patti Meyers, Karen Vigmostad, Mike Penskar, and Kurt Kowalski.

Sum-up of Action items

Action: Leslie TeWinkel will serve as Interim Islands Committee Chair.

Action: Leslie TeWinkel will solicit additional committee members.

Action: Rich will email Leslie the draft Islands Strategy.

Team Administration & Process

Nominations/Volunteers and Selection: Team-Leader Elect

Tracy Hill will be the team-leader elect!

Set dates and location for next team meeting

The next team meeting will be held in conjunction with the team's GLNPO sponsored DSS/islands workshop this fall or early winter. The location will be either Chicago or Detroit. Exact time and location will be announced later.

Field Trip to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - Hosted by Refuge Manager Tom Jasikoff

Presentation: Region-3 Guidance on the Ecosystem Approach -- Teresa Woods

Teresa summarized the main points of Bill Hartwig's memo on the Ecosystem Approach that will be distributed soon. The team then discussed how the memo would affect the team:

Team Discussion: The ecosystem approach in Region 3 needs stronger support from the ARD's and the Program Supervisors. The memo needs to state Bill Hartwig's continued support for the teams. In the past, the teams have depended on individual stations' support and zero funding. The ARD's lack of support has a significant effect on the teams. The team needs to market the benefits of the teams to the Regional Offices. We need to use meetings and teams to add value for team members through training, funding, etc. Other ways to promote the team include briefing the ARD's on salient points from meetings, submitting popular articles on successes in such venues as Fish and Wildlife News, team-sponsored brown-bags at the RO's, and hosting the team meetings in Minneapolis or Hadley in order to bring in more Regional Office staff. The memo should include that each field station is responsible for making the team relevant unto itself. The Ecosystem Approach's philosophy along with some enthusiasm (especially at the Washington Office level) will bring in support and funding. An ARS with photos should be submitted after every team meeting.

Action: Leslie TeWinkel will submit an ARS with photos from Doug.

More field staff can be involved in the team if meeting attendees market the team at their stations and convey that the team will help you get your job done by connecting partners, hosting training, etc. It's the responsibility of Project Leaders to involve staff at some level. The Ex Com needs to ensure that the team meetings are relevant and add value for all. Stations need to think beyond their mission and needs to promote and show concern for the team's and agency's goals. There are different ways for stations to be involved such as through the kitty, meeting attendance, and committee participation.

The group also discussed how the GLBET would respond to the memo in terms of how the team operates. The group voiced that they should continue team activities, processes, meetings, and objectives as they have been and increase Ex Com participation. The team needs to outreach to non-involved field stations by ensuring and showing that there is value-added. Promoting our successes is the best way to get others engaged - as our participation has decreased...our successes have increased. Involved stations need to be rewarded through recognition or tangible rewards and support. An all employee's meeting was recommended to unveil the memo.

Action: Participating team members needs to encourage non-participants and convey that we need their support.

Additional ways to increase participation include creating a biologist sub-team, exchanging field needs as a last agenda item at the meeting, having a project raffle at the end of the meeting, inviting programmatic representatives to present - focus on one area at each meeting, inviting field staff from the local area to present at the meeting, and inviting partners to present and stay involved.

Some team members were dis-enfranchised by a focus to two issues (lake sturgeon & islands). The team needs to encourage and embrace the addition of other priority issues.

Action: Two agenda items for the next two meetings are 1) what can we do to encourage attendance and make the team relevant, and 2) a discussion and commitment of other priority areas.

Larger priorities such as invasive species and endangered species may need to be narrowed to a specific issue that demands a landscape approach.

Presentation & Discussion: Model for Team Structure & Future Team Priorities -- Jim Hudgins

Full Team:

• share ideas
• incubate new ideas
• build focus
• develop ideas/projects that require funding (kitty, flex, & other)
• programmatic speakers - what are their needs and how do they fit
• outside speakers - "speak, stay, and join"
• share unmet needs and then share assistance

ExCom:

• expand upon team ideas
• encourage/motivate committees
• develop grant ideas
• communicate with RMT/RDT
• communicate with fund coordinators

Committees:

• develop work plans and proposals
• search for funds
• implement action through field stations
• work with and outreach to partners
• potential biologist team to share expertise

Others:

• assist on specific tasks as requested

Workshops:

• share ideas at biologist level
• grow new ideas
• if enough energy, develop into a new committee

Presentation: The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grants Program Barbara Pardo

NAWCA History

• Legislation passed in 1989
• Developed as a funding mechanism for North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) habitat objectives
• Since FY 1990, a partners' grants program
• Strictly a habitat program (acquisition, protection, restoration and enhancement)
• Funded annually through FWS Appropriations

Basic Rules of NAWCA

• Activities must be on wetlands and wetland-associated uplands
• There must be a minimum 1:1 non-federal partner match ($$ or in-kind)
• Match activities can occur up to 2 years prior to proposal submission
• Anyone can apply for a NAWCA grant, and project activities can occur anywhere

The NAWCA Process

• Select Project Site and meet with Partners
• Secure all match funds before deadline!
• Project is scored by NAWCC Staff
• Project is ranked by the UMR JV Management Board
• NAWCC Staff do a site visit
• NAWCC selects proposals; NEPA completed by JVC; forwarded to MBCC

NAWCA Deadlines for 2002

• Standard Grants Program: March 1, and July 26 (for requests up to $1 million)
• Small Grants Program: November 29 (for requests up to $50,000)
• 7 proposals received in March for the UMR JV (have been scored and ranked)
• Up to date information on NAWCA is available at http://birdhabitat.fws.gov

Pending Standard Grants 2003-1 in Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem

• Superior Coastal Wetland Initiative II (ranked by 1 of 7 by Board)
• St. Mary's River Bird Migration Corridor (ranked 2 of 7)
• Upper Macatawa (Ottawa Co. Parks, MI - ranked 7 of 7)

Proposals will be selected in July by NAWCC

Presentation: The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Act Grants Program- Dave Pederson

Coastal Wetlands Act History

• The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act of 1990
• Allocates 18% of the Sport Fish Restoration Account (excise taxes on fishing equipment, motor boat and small engine fuels) to fund 3 programs:
• 70% to LA Coastal Wetlands Restoration
• 15% to NAWCA
• 15% to Coastal Wetlands Grants Program
• $14.5 million awarded in FY 2002

Basic Rules of Coastal Grants Program

• Grants go to coastal states (including Great Lakes states) for acquisition, restoration, enhancement or management of coastal wetlands
• All coastal states (except LA) eligible
• Any coastal state agency can apply
• Federal share can be up to 50% of project costs (or up to 75% if state has established a dedicated conservation trust fund)

SOLEC GLBET Opportunities

Rich Greenwood

SOLEC 2002: October 16 - 18, Cleveland

SOLEC has evolved to be the major binational reporting out mechanism for the parties of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The conference target audience are the decision makers and resource managers of the basin. Approximately 700 attendees are expected. Focus of this years conference will be on the Biological Integrity Indicators for the Great Lakes Ecosystem.

SOLEC Indicators: Started with 800 identified ecosystem indicators; focused down to 80 indicators; 33 of which were reported out at SOLEC 2000. Four new indicators will be reported out at SOLEC 2002, including lake sturgeon.

GLBET formed a SOLEC Indicators Work Group to determine if, how, and at what level should the Team engage in this process. The Work Group reviewed the list of 80 Indicators, and determined the Team - Service should consider either taking the lead, or be identified as a cooperator on a total of 21 of the indicators. It was further decided to take a subset of these 21 to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges of being involved. Four indicators were selected to complete for SOLEC 2002:

Lake Sturgeon - this will include both a new indicator proposal, and a report out. Team Lead is Tracy Hill, Alpena FRO

Bald Eagles - this indicator was reported out at SOLEC 2000, we will lead the update for 2002. Team Lead is Ken Stromberg, GBFO

Hexagenia - this indicator was also reported at SOLEC 2000, and we will lead the update for 2002. Team Lead is Tom Edsall, GLSC

Great Lakes Islands - this is the first time this indicator will be reported out. Team Lead is Rich Greenwood, GLNPO

The Service also has the lead for the lake trout indicator, Chuck Bronte, GBFRO has lead; and we are a key participant in the SOLEC Coastal Wetland Consortium, with TJ Miller of Region 3, and Ralph Tiner of Region 5 representing us.

Our Indicator reports are now being drafted. The hexagenia draft report is done. The reports are due to the SOLEC Co-Chairs by the end of June. We will post our draft reports on our Team Intranet site. For more information, visit the SOLEC Web Sites:

• www.on.gc.ca/solec/ - Summaries and reports from all of the previous SOLECs: 94, 96, 98, 2000
• www.epa.gov/glnpo/solec/ - links to presentations from the previous conferences
• www.binational.net - State of the Great Lakes 2001 Report; State of the Great Lakes based on SOLEC Indicators

Other Funding Issues: Kitty, Flex Funds etc.

Due to time constraints, the team relegated this discussion to the Ex Com. The Ex Com will discuss kitty proposals on its next conference call, and flex fund projects and other grant opportunities in subsequent calls.

Meeting Attendees: Jim Hudgins, Jim McKenna, Bob O'Gorman, Dawn Dittman, Jack Dingledine, Craig Czarnecki, Doug Spencer, John Rogner, Dianna Ellis, Dave Odell, Bob LaMoy, Mary Knapp, Barb Pardo, Bob Krska, Joe Dowhan, Teresa Woods, Tom Jasikoff, Joe Genovese, Andrew Milliken, Dave Pederson, Brian Gray, Elizabeth McCloskey, Mark Dryer, David Stilwell, Cyndi Duda, Tracy Hill, Rich Greenwood, Leslie TeWinkel, Jim Johnson, Arnold Banner, Chris Castiglione

Draft Agenda: June 10, 2002

Final Agenda: June 26, 2002