[MtnGoat]

[MtnGoat]

[MtnGoat]

[Ski]

Thursday November 01, 2018 16:37 PDT WDFW NEWS RELEASE State seeks new advisory committee members for Teanaway Community Forest OLYMPIA – The Washington state departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) are seeking applicants for three vacant positions on their citizen-based Teanaway Community Forest Advisory Committee. The 20-member advisory committee provides input to the agencies on the ongoing management of the community forest. The committee represents the interests of governments, communities and stakeholder groups and reflects the priorities of the broad cross-section of Washingtonians who cherish the forest. The departments will accept applications from interested citizens and nominations from organizations. Preference will be given to individuals who can speak for a broader group of stakeholders (formally or informally) and are committed to balancing the five goals of the community forest. Individuals with working forest lands or range lands background are encouraged to apply, however, all interests and backgrounds will be considered. The new committee members will be expected to attend quarterly meetings, typically held in Cle Elum, over the next two years. The deadline to apply is Nov. 16. Applications and submission details are available on DNR's website at dnr.wa.gov/Teanaway. Send completed applications with a resume to teanaway@dnr.wa.gov or by mail to 713 Bowers Road, Ellensburg, WA 98926, Attn: Larry Leach. For more information, contact Larry Leach, DNR Assistant Region Manager for State Lands, at 509-925-0924 or Mike Livingston, WDFW Regional Director, at 509-457-9325. The next steps for the advisory committee will be to advise the agencies on habitat restoration and grazing management, foster strong engagement with the public, and begin implementing the recreation plan. Also, the agencies expect to begin developing a forest management strategy in the new year and will be seeking input from the advisory committee during the process. Located in the Yakima River Basin headwaters, the Teanaway Community Forest is managed through a partnership between DNR and WDFW. The 50,241-acre community forest is an important source of water and wildlife habitat, as well as a statewide recreation destination in the heart of the Cascade Mountains. Acquisition of the Teanaway was a key step in implementing the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan—an initiative developed by a coalition of public and private organizations to safeguard the basin's water supply, restore fisheries, conserve habitat, preserve working lands and enhance recreational opportunities. Contact: Mike Livingston, WDFW, 509-457-9325; Sarah Dettmer, DNR, 360-902-1066 -WDFW- -Washington State DNR-

[Ski]

^ Can I nominate Kim for this gig?

[Ski]

[Randito]

[Kim Brown]

[Ski]

[Kim Brown]

Are you looking for hypocrisy in the plan? Because I can see how the determination that no new trails be built because of environmental concerns vs keeping existing environmentally damaging trails open would be viewed as wonky. I think the local objections to motorized use may have nixed any studies for new motorized trails, so new trails was DOA fairly quickly; but they aren't interested in removing motorized use, which would create a lot of backlash against the plan as you stated earlier. I haven't seen any appendices that include studies. DNR's site probably has good information on fish habitat there. Perhaps the streams are dry most of the year (I don't know, though). As you know, taking is allowable for the benefit of recreation. Perhaps the partners all agreed to allow current use, considering take.

[Ski]

No, I'm not looking for hypocrisy in the plan. I am wondering if what I think I'm seeing on the maps is what I think it is: motorized vehicles crossing through a body of water. If they're ephemeral streams, and the activity is limited to those periods in which the channels are dry, that's a different deal. But for all the same reasons that any in-stream work performed for the purposes of riparian zone rehabilitation (i.e., placement of man-made log structures) is limited to low-water periods - generally late summer and early fall - motorized vehicles have no place in the water - it rips up the streambed and increases the sediment load downstream and (more often than not) introduces toxic contaminants into the water. If it's spawning habitat, it destroys redds. I find it difficult to believe they'd actually allow that to happen. There have been motorcycle and 4x4 trails closed/ditched/bermed/blockaded all over for exactly this reason. (Oak Creek Wildlife Refuge, Cispus River mainline just below the confluence with the North Fork Cispus, ad infinitum.) And make no mistake: I am not one of those opposed to motorized recreational use of public lands. We were just arguing that up-thread a day or so back. I am adamantly opposed to motorized recreational use of public lands where it degrades habitat for fish - running a motorized vehicle through a stream does exactly that.

[Kim Brown]

I don't think DNR has done a lot of environmental work in that area. I don’t know that to be the case, however. Commissioner Franz is different from the previous Commissioner (I keep wanting to call the previous one Commissioner Gordon, but I know that’s not right). I once heard him on the radio after DNR was mandated by a judge to correct an environmental issue about marbled murrelet habitat – the Commissioner's response to the Order was that the beneficiaries of the trust lands come first, before environment, and he wasn’t planning on complying with the judge's order. I don’t know if DNR has changed since Franz was voted into that office; I haven’t paid much attention to it. Perception of the Franz administration (from Seattle, one time head of Futurewise) might be a concern with the people that were interviewed in the original poster’s article, if they are in tune with DNR, how it works, and who the Commissioner is.

[Token Civilian]

Seems like some bridges over those fish bearing streams on the moto trails are in order. Problem of moto's crossing water solved. User group gets to keep their trails.

[Ski]

^ Bridges cost a whole lot of money, probably more to install three bridges than they've got budgeted. Washington State DNR Commissioner prior to Hilary Franz was Peter Goldmark. Environmental community had a favorable view of the guy, if my understanding was correct. Prior to Goldmark DNR Commissioner was Doug Sutherland. Environmental community did not give him rosy reviews.

[Kim Brown]

Thanks. Never could remember Goldmark's name. I have met him at a few events, but can't get Commissioner Gordon out of my mind. I think that was a Batman character. So far as I know Goldmark wasn't a bad Commissioner for the environment. Except for that murrelet issue down south. And you are right about bridges. One very small tiny minute one would probably cost 50,000, and that's a conservative number. Studies, an overbuilt design, and whatnot. Don't forget to include the overbuild and whatnot. A rogue bridge that works but draws attention is worse than doing nothing.