Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Team Meeting Minutes

May 31 and June 1, 2000      Alexandria Bay, New York

Wednesday, May 31

Welcome & Introductions - David Stilwell

Introductory comments - R 3 DRD & R 5 GARD - Marvin Moriarty & Sherry Morgan Marvin briefly reviewed the history of the Service's ecosystem approach since 1993. He indicated that although it would may be a challenge to implement the ecosystem approach in the new programmatic organization, the approach could continue to thrive through the efforts of the ecosystem teams. The teams and team leaders need to relay their needs to the Regional Office in order that the RO can help them with this effort. On June 16, the Deputy Regional Directors will be meeting to coordinate the flex fund proposal process.

Sherry described the Region 5's reorganization. R5 will be assigning each member of the RMT to be a mentor/advocate for one team. The Special Assistant for Ecosystems was currently vacant; individuals would be detailed to position through this fiscal year. She reported that the Washington Office was setting up an ecosystem team that would assist in getting the WO more involved with the approach.

FY2000 Coastal Program Status - Tom Busiahn & Craig Czarnecki Tom and Craig presented the projects that were being funded this year through the R3 Coastal program money. The projects represented a range of activities from on-the-ground habitat restoration to outreach and were located throughout the R-3 Great Lakes coastal areas. The coastal program money was new this year to the Region, and Tom and Craig had very little time to solicit and choose projects. In the future, there may be a role for the team in the process.

Action: The Great Lakes Coastal Program will be an agenda item for the November meeting. The discussion will center on the team's role in selecting projects and how to grow the program.

Action: Coastal Program FY 2000 projects will be posted on the team web site.

Watershed Restoration Working Group - Heather Enterline & Kofi Fynn-Aikins The focus of this presentation and discussion was to provide information about the opportunities for the team in this area, in order that the team could decide if watershed restoration should be a team committee focus (see February 2000 minutes). The group suggested centering the teams' focus in the area of watershed restoration on the ecosystem approach, trust resources, partnership projects, and training needs, among others. Team training opportunities in watershed restoration include a course from NCTC on stream restoration techniques or a course from Dave Rosgen. Heather outlined numerous funding possibilities for watershed restoration including opportunities from the FWS's Private Lands, CWA, NFWF, EPA, NAWCA, states, etc. Future goals for this group could include GIS-mapping of trust resources, providing training opportunities, looking for partnerships, creating a unified approach for the FWS, and developing and submitting proposals.

In the near future, the working groups needs someone to attend the September 25-29 NCTC course on stream restoration techniques and report back to team at the next meeting on its applicability/use for the Team. If the team decides to go ahead with a similar course for the team, the group would need to provide NCTC with a detailed description of needs for a Great Lakes course and a geographic location for the course.

Before the team makes a decision on whether a committee should form around this issue area, they need to decide if the focus should be stream restoration or watershed restoration. There is a significant difference between the two, and it's not always clear whether a problem is on a local-scale or watershed-scale. The focus of this committee could be the identification of specific watersheds and/or the development of tools.

Action: The watershed restoration working group will develop and present recommendations to the team and develop an agenda for a discussion at the next meeting in order to pursue what actions the team should take regarding watershed restoration and whether it should be a team committee.

Action: Doug Spencer or someone from his station will volunteer to attend the NCTC Stream Restoration Techniques course this fall and report back to the team. If no one is able to attend from Shiawassee NWR, Doug will inform the team so that another team member can make plans to attend.

USFWS Fish Passage Program: National Inventory of Barriers - Chris Castiglione

Ecological Overview of the St. Lawrence - Tom Jasikoff

Creating Culturally-based Environmental Protection Processes - James Ransom; Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

SOLEC Indicators - Paul Bertram; EPA
The purpose of this presentation was to inform the team about the SOLEC process and indicators, identify opportunities for team involvement and the resulting benefits, and to identify obstacles and drawbacks of team involvement. Paul reviewed the history, purpose, and organizing principles of SOLEC for the group. Trough the SOLEC proces, 79 indicators have been identified that have been deemed necessary and sufficient to characterize the state of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Paul and his colleagues are currently looking for individuals who would be willing to be responsible for monitoring the status of each of the 79 indicators. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and, in particular, the GLBET, may be a good match for some of the SOLEC indicators that pertain to fish and wildlife resources. There will be a SOLEC meeting this fall by which time Paul intends that experts will be assigned for most indicators.

Action: A team will be formed to address the role of the GLBET in assisting with SOLEC indicators. This team will be composed of Craig Czarnecki, TJ Miller, Bob Krska, Rich Greenwood, Kofi Fynn-Aikins, Doug Spencer, John Gannon, and Leslie TeWinkel. Specifically, the team will convene a conference call by June 23 to conduct a preliminary survey of data FWS collects that is related to SOLEC indicators and for which the FWS could take a lead. The group will present findings and recommendations to the GLBET ExCom at their retreat in August. Paul Bertram - EPA can be contacted for guidance

Thursday, June 1

GLBET Meeting Frequency: full team vs. focus area groups - Bob Krska

Action: The team will be meeting as a full team two times in the next year-in November and March. Team committees and focus area groups will have at least one meeting during the year, instead of a third full-team meeting. Full-team meetings will be organized so that committees have a 1/2-day time slot to meet before the meeting begins and also after the meeting ends.

Identifying landscape-level team priorities for funding by team kitty, flex funds, etc. - Bob Krska
How should the team encourage and foster landscape-level activity and planning? If the entire team works on one or two issues, the effect could be synergistic. The team should concentrate on issues to which it is best suited to address. It's possible that the team is already doing the right things and spending their kitty money in the right places. Last year some money was spent on smaller projects such as demonstration or pilots projects. A portion of the funding was also spent on larger-scale activities such as hiring someone to do the GIS inventory. Another portion was spent on information transfer such as the sturgeon brochure. Thus, the team has been thinking about ecosystem-wide issues such as invasive species and GIS analysis. Perhaps, the team just needs to renew its commitment to team priorities and revisit team goals. The committees and geographic focus area groups can be the operational mechanisms for getting ecosystem-wide issues addressed. In addition, just because a project occurs at a station does not mean that it isn't an ecosystem project; this needs to be communicated. The team needs to make it clear that proposals were thought of and put together using an ecosystem approach.

Action item: The team will maintain their current path regarding the team kitty using a combination of small localized projects and larger-scale, landscape-based projects. The smaller projects may serve as pilots for other projects across the basin.

Action item: Committees will begin to coordinate flex fund priorities and projects by August 18. Committee chairs will report on these projects to the ExCom at their retreat in August.

Action item: Leslie TeWinkel and Chris Lowie will contact R 3 and R 5 fund managers 1) to communicate the team's general approach for this year; 2) share team priorities (biennial work plan); and 3) discuss ideas for how the Great Lakes team to be competitive in their proposals. Leslie and Chris will then share their findings with the committee chairs by July 15.

Effects of Water-Level Regulation on Wetlands in the St. Lawrence Basin - Steve Lapan: NY Department Environmental Conservation

Committee Updates - Committee leaders

Migratory Birds - Mike Tansy This committee has been focused on the cormorant issue in the recent past. They plan to re-engage in other migratory bird/trust responsibility issues soon.

Cormorants - Larry Martin The cormorant video is out. Many of the fact-sheets are also complete. Individuals that have attended the public meetings are very passionate about the cormorant issue. Steve Lewis from R3 has money to increase the scope of work on cormorants in the upcoming year.

Lake Sturgeon - Chris Lowie The lake sturgeon brochure that was funded through the kitty money has been finalized and is at the printer. The design was enhanced since the first version; as a result, the brochure is easier to read, etc. The committee has not decided yet how many copies to send to each field office. 10,000 copies are being printed. The lake sturgeon web site has been upgraded thanks to Tracy Hill. The site looks good and contains a wealth of information. Funding was received from the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, Review Committee for the first phase of a four-year proposal to continue Great Lakes lake sturgeon genetics work. Chris and two geneticists are working collaboratively on the project.

Invasive Species - Sandra Keppner The committee is back on track and has recommitted to focusing on this issue. Some of the committee's plans include working with the outreach committee to develop a web page and drafting a proposal for a workshop on invasive species that will target refuges and ES staff.

GIS/Islands - Patti Meyers The inventory of databases sponsored with kitty money has begun. After the list has been completed , it will be prioritized, and the committee will determine what activities are feasible and what funds may be available for the project.

Progress on team web site - Joan Guilfoyle & Jim Hudgins The outreach committee met in Minneapolis this past spring and decided to focus their efforts on enhancing the team's web page. The committee developed a tentative design for the web site and have approached a contractor to complete the first phase. The committee will be requesting that team field offices donate to meet the cost of this work.

Action: Joan will send the team an email requesting money to fund the web page enhancement.

Urban Conservation Treaty in Chicago - John Rogner The city of Chicago recently signed a urban conservation treaty for migratory birds with the Fish and Wildlife Service. Chicago was chosen as one of the first sites for this treaty because of the city officials' commitment to the project. The effort focuses on conserving birds through education and habitat improvement. The Service assists the city in its effort by providing challenge funds and technical assistance. In the future, other cities will be able to apply to participate in the program.

Cleveland Livability Initiative - Larry Martin Larry gave a brief report on this initiative. The item will be on the agenda at the fall meeting in Cleveland. The River Navigator will be invited to attend.

Great Lakes Conservation Fund - Leslie TeWinkel Funding will soon be available from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Great Lakes Conservation Fund. The money in this fund comes from law enforcement cases in which the defendant is required to pay a fine for mitigation purposes. A process to apply for these funds is being developed. This process will be announced sometime this summer. At this time, there is money available in the areas of Great Lakes fishes and colonial water-birds.

Schedule next meeting dates and location - Bob Krska The next full team meeting will be on November 14-16, 2000 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Meeting evaluation - Bob Krska
Positive Aspects of the Meeting:
Participation of local staff
Location
Location
Location
Excellent facilitator
Outside Speakers
Music
Boat trip
Food
Discussion
Attendance
Marvin's presence

Aspects to Change for Future Meetings:
Fewer Agenda items
Sufficient time for discussion
More time for breakouts
Schedule specific committee breakouts on agenda prior to meeting
Stagger breakouts

Action items:

• The team will be meeting as a full team two times in the next year-in March and November. Team committees and focus area groups will have at least one meeting during the year, instead of a third full team meeting. Full-team meetings will be organized so that committees have a 1/2-day time slot to meet before the meeting begins and also after the meeting ends.
• The watershed restoration working group will develop and present recommendations to the team and develop an agenda for a discussion at the next meeting in order to pursue what actions the team should take regarding watershed restoration and whether it should be a team committee.
• Coastal Program FY 2000 projects will be posted on the team web site.
• Doug Spencer or someone from his station will volunteer to attend the NCTC Stream Restoration Techniques course this fall. If no one is able to attend from Shiawassee NWR, Doug will inform the team so that another team member can make plans to attend.
• The Great Lakes Coastal Program will be an agenda item for the November meeting. The discussion will center on the team's role in selecting projects and how to grow the program.
• Team members will provide comments on the documents with R 3 roles of positions (in the new organization), things the team needs from the RO, and things the team doesn't need from the RO to Leslie TeWinkel with a cc to David Stilwell by June 30.
• A team will be formed to address the role of the GLBET in assisting with SOLEC indicators. This team will be composed of Craig Czarnecki, TJ Miller, Bob Krska, Rich Greenwood, Kofi Fynn-Aikins, Doug Spencer, John Gannon, and Leslie TeWinkel. Specifically, the team will convene a conference call by June 23 to conduct a preliminary survey of data FWS collects that is related to SOLEC indicators and for which the FWS could take a lead. The group will present findings and recommendations to the GLBET ExCom at their retreat in August. Paul Bertram - EPA can be contacted for guidance.
• The team will maintain their current path regarding the team kitty using a combination of small localized projects and larger scale, landscape-based projects. The smaller projects may serve as pilots for other projects across the basin.
• Committees will begin to coordinate flex fund priorities and projects by August 18. Committee chairs will report on these projects to the ExCom at their retreat in August.
• Leslie TeWinkel and Chris Lowie will contact R3 and R5 fund managers 1) to communicate the team's general approach for this year; 2) share team priorities (biennial work plan); and 3) discuss ideas for how the Great Lakes team to be competitive in their proposals. Leslie and Chris will then share their findings with the committee chairs by July 15.
• Team members will share meeting results with their offices and encourage them to participate and follow through on commitments.
• Team members will re-commit to efforts to address team priorities.
• Joan Guilfoyle will email GLBET Project Leaders to request funding for the first phase of the team website enhancement.
• The ExCom will have a retreat on August 21(afternoon)-22 (all day) at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Minneapolis.
• The next full team meeting will be on November 14-16, 2000 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Attendees: Lyn Grillo, Rollin Siegfreid, Scott Johnston, David Stilwell, Joe Dowhan, Bob Krska, Kofi Fynn-Aikins, Sandra Keppner, Rob Elliott, Jon Parker, Geraldine Larson, Heather Enterline, Chris Lowie, Chris Castiglione, Cyndi Duda, John Rogner, Craig Czarnecki, Tom Busiahn, Leslie TeWinkel, Patti Meyers, Janet Smith, Bob Lamoy, Walt Quist, Nancy Milton, Maeve Taylor, Dave Bryson, Sherry Morgan, Rich Greenwood, Mike Tansy, Larry Martin, Tom Jasikoff, Doug Spencer, Joan Guilfoyle, Fred Griffiths, Jim Hudgins, Russ Peterson, Marvin Moriarty

Draft minutes: 27 June 2000

Final Minutes:18 July 2000