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California Biodiversity Council:
Redding Local Group Forum
Round Table Caucus Report

March 9, 1994

1. Training needs - Kim Rodriguez
   • Group process
   • Technical (GIS, etc.)
2. Communication and information - Patrick Truman
   • Community-based GIS
   • Bulletin board with 800 numbers
   • Compilation of agency resource data
   • Increased coordination among agencies
   • Increased financial support among regional groups
3. Decision making process - Brett Kincairn
   • Increase visibility
   • Invert triangle: trickle down from local to headquarters
   • Local organization representation on BEC
   • Increase response mechanism
   • Different contracting protocols to increase local
   • Help in administering project funding

Discussion

1. Participation on interagency groups
2. Identify and eliminate barriers - reinvent relationships.
3. Identify how to get local involvement
4. Address how to get agency/field participation
5. Organize Council for a "one-stop" response system.

Report of needs by represented groups on round table

Alameda-Contra Costa Working Group - Jim Cutler

• Data and analysis capabilities
• Ecological protocols
• "Clearing house"

Yuba Watershed Institute - Jerry Tecklin

• Long-term guarantee to help develop local trust
• Technical expertise, esp. planning
• Implement old growth management strategy
• Fire information, education programs
• Coordinated information structure

Mattole Restoration Council - Jan Morrison

• Compile/coduct baseline surveys
• Infrastucture support (in-kind,funding)
• Contracting flexibility
• Reduce Agency "overlap"
• More active field staff assistance

Vision 2020 - Mike Evenson

• Recognize that local groups provide ground-truth
• Make agencies and locals both look good
• Agency funding for local personnel
• Funding for administrative overhead
• Direct more funds to the ground
• Share agency information with local people
• Recognize that this is a transition period

Northern Klamath Bioregional Group - Gloria Barnwell

• Education and training
• Need better communication to BEC and within the region

Quincy Library Group - Steve Self

• Top down pressure from FS to support local personnel
• Investments that return local dollars and human values
• Participation of National environmental groups

Trinity Bioregion Group - Joseph Bowers

• Healthy community and healthy forests
• Infrastructure needs
• Accomodate growing staff
• Technical assistance from Agencies
• RC & D Approval
• Support on ground for ecosystem management
• Early access to decision-making
• Trinity River Restoration support
• Local agency personnel suport

Shasta-Tehama Bioregional Group

• Travel budget
• Newsletter funds
• Funds for Forest Leadership Project
• Better communication regarding meetings - invitations received in advance
• View as a living laboratory
• To hear back from Agencies when comments/proposals submitted

Mokelumne Watershed Group - Russ Henly

• Group focus on water quality
• Wanting to reduce litigation
• Consensus-based process used successfully
• Have received external support -- now at point where local interests can begin to fully support

Siskiyou Bioregion Group - Felice Pace

• Funding needs to reach the ground
• Ecosystem investment in the woods - Jobs Council, tribal links, integration with K-12 schools to community college
• Biodiversity focus
• Information access and communication
• Measure of success should be based on performance on ground
• Agreement of definition of sustainabity
• Ecosystem management: ecosystem integrity comes first - management comes second
• Involve National environmental groups

Applegate Partnership - Jack Shipley

• Network flexibility - not more structure
• Vertical and horizontal technology transfer
• Better communication
• Top-down support for bottom-up activities
• Private and public cooperation
• Improve contract review process

Rogue Institute - Brett Kincairn

• Acknowledge and plan for the fact that you can have consensus until you go on the ground (e.g., to cut trees)
• Council should affect demand side (discussion has focussed on supply side) identify and communicate to the public the biological limits of a landscape/bioregion.
• Shift values and consumptive patterns

Panel and Discussion

Joan Reiss - environmental consultant

• Holistic approach necessary
• Public and private lands - neglected interface
• Re-evaluate timber receipts tied to schools
• Resources and economics tied in a poor way
• Where do you bring "wish list?"
• Consensus is good but tends to focus on easy issues first -- what happens for the larger issues where there is not consensus?
• Err on side of conservation

Robert Hrubes - LSA

• Everyone has a stake in all the state's natural resources
• Concerned about "home rule" - must balance with local/state/national concerns

Laurel Ames - Sierra Nevada Alliance

• Advocates local control yet concerned about local planning
• Have run into Natl. Environmental Group concerns
• How can we get local groups to believe they are effective?
• How to cope with community operations?
• Consensus-based rocess can work
• Get involved with fed/state agency budget process

Jack Hanson - CA Cattleman's Association

• Recognize the many active CRMPs as watershed groups
• Address issue of private property rights "upfront"
• Process should remain local
• Council should provide technical support
• Direct financial support to more effort on ground
• Provide better economic models
• Will welcome presentation of state and national goals

Kim Rodriguez - University of California Cooperative Extension

• Educate through example
• Open dialogues increase trust
• Don't claim success prematurely (the groups aren't there yet)
• Need to continue group nurturing
• Provide economic incentives for land owners (e.g. tax credits for road maintenance)

Harley Greiman - U.S. Forest Service

FS committed: Chief Thomas, Regional Forester Ron Stewart
• Level of commitment at ground level - manage and rely on people who know best
• The NF are national interest lands -how we come to consensus that reflects the local interests as well as the national interests an issue
• Agency people cannot relinquish their mandated legal roles when operating at the local level
• Have to review money allocation to help local efforts

Bill Dennison - California Forestry Association

• Believes in grassroots and coalition building activism
• To break barriers - need results
• Good bottom up process/structure has begun, but after 3 years should not be starting--should be doing
• Need to promote biological diversity and long term sustainability (biology/ecology)-- commended Doug Wheeler
• Need strong declaration of purpose
• Council needs to communicate the victories
• Council needs to offer liaison support
• Broadening local interests to be solved within a signficant watershed
• Quincy Library Group and Applegate are good models - they need to be a success otherwise will be a major setback for these processes--Expectations are high
• Personally working with Fish, Farm, and Forest community group
• All interests need to be included in local groups. No one should be left out at the table.

Jerry Duffy - SHARE

• If forest health the focus, agencies need to manage for that locally
• Who is going to do the job--volunteer groups instead of FS?
• Need to identify what we define as success
• Professionals need to compliment the volunteers - provide a "jump start". Volunteers cannot provide more than oversee operations.
• USFS suffering from micro-management

Jonathan Kusel - University of California

• Too early to judge success
• Groups have "healthy" tension
• Groups will collapse if resource and community issues not addressed
• Role of council: immediately begin discussions with partnership groups. Act as liaison to partnership groups--have issues brought back to the Council.
• Act as ombudsman for watershed groups
• Some agency negative input
• Are local and national interests different?
• Fear of National Environmental Groups.
• No one group can claim moral high road, especially with respect to environmental health and economic well-being
• Models not needed -- instead need specialized skills
• Local participation (open process) should be the focus-- different than local control or home rule
• Groups speak different languages - changing language
• Participatory democracy will always have problem with representation

Summary Points/Conclusion

• Presentations reveal more consensus around table than initially apparent from individual remarks
• Rethinking our institutions when there is no money available
• Commit to define new models and approaches
• Working together tends to be the last alternative
• Need to carefully examine the few good models (e.g. Mattole)
• May not be able to define results in advance
• Need to be careful and compelling when dollars are spent

Facilitated session - What council and signatory agencies can do for groups

• Need for active participation by agencies - make a priority with agency and staff people - participate with the local people.

  Rich Elliott - DFG

• Have requests to be involved with local groups and doesn't have staff to commit -- Need DFG Director to identify as priority
• Determine local issues and commit to the ones we can participate in -- need to be given information on the higher priorities meetings requiring attendance
• Lack of attendance doesn't mean we don't support the effort
• Wants to be up front about what DFG can offer

  Rick Rayburn - Department of Parks and Recreation

• Establish fire as a natural process
• Parks represent core areas where the species composition is high as any areas on the coast - can build on these areas
• DPR trained individuals can assist during implementation phase of large and small projects - staff expertise offered
• Can sponsor seminars on resource management
• Do land use plans on a regular basis - planners can be of assistance to watershed restoration plans - can call upon DPR planners to facilitate seminars

  Don Erman

• Groups not asking to take away from mandated programs that have to meet certain things with resources - instead asking to pull back and evaluate allocation of resources

  Lloyd Keefer, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

• Strategic Planning Program provides direct support to the Executive Council.
• At the field level - only able to provide support with the current resources. Field people are encouraged to attend local meetings and provide local support.
• Fuels management - focusing on treated acres rather than burned acres - community fire safe programs. Receptive and willing to implement the inclusion of locals in the fire planning process.

  Robert Molleur, USDA ASCS

• Financial assistance available through multi-agency Forest Stewardship Program.

  Al Wright - Bureau of Land Management

• Watershed Assessment Program in McKinleyville identifed as another program to offer local assistance and involvement.

  Lynn Jungwirth, Trinity County

• Need support from Dept of Labor to do a training program - need to respond to requests and talk to each other to figure out how you can make it happen. Local groups need a point of contact.

  Michael Mantell, Resources Agency

• Need local agency representatives to advocate proposals suggested.

  Leah Wills

• Bridge restoration and economic viability

  Chuck Pritchard, CARCD

• RCD bridge private and public sectors

  Steve Self

• Take CDF vegetation database and overlay on DFG database and start addressing fishers in the Sierras

  Lin Brooks, SCS

• Salmon initiative - put biolgist in Trinity on Coho to address issues

  Chuck Pritchard

• Contradictions in regulation

  Tara Wood - Fish and Wildlife Service

• Planning groups let us know of critical information

  Don Erman

• What can agencies do?

  Mantell

• Lead roles among Council members
• Need clear responsibility and reporting back

  H. Grimes, Forest Service

• No system of communcation across agencies
• Sorting "urgent" and "important"
• Need to set priorities and obligation
• Draft plan development

  Chuck Pritchard

• Mobilize project teams

  Michael Mantell

• Who will take the lead?
• Subject and geographic
• How does funding cut across agencies?

  Chuck Pritchard

• Training - facilitation corps

  Don Erman

• How to do deal with requests - once a month, once a year, written, etc. Other requests - spur of the moment - practical decisions

  Mantell -

• Form Five person team who reports to a council member to be on-call to respond to information and communication, funding, technical assistance, breaking through FEMAT, assistance with Congress
• Council come to various parts of the state for their meetings

  Tara Wood

• Need success stories from the Council

  Joan Reiss

• Designated agency person to pass information up

  Chuck Pritchard

• Send appropriate people who represent agencies who can make decisions

  Anna Sparks

• Coordination - interagency tracking

  Chuck Pritchard

• Develop standards
• Where do we locate Executive Council representatives?