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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013.05.14 Forest Lands Commission Minutes Minutes FOR A MEETING OF THE A SHLA ND FORES T LA NDS COMMISSION Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:30PM to 7:30PM Siskiyou Room, Community Development Building 51 Winburn Way I. CALL TO ORDER: 5:30 PM John Williams, Dave Brennan, Marty Main, Frank Betlejewski, Jim Berge, Stefani Seffinger, Chris Chambers, Albert Pepe, Jeffrey McFarland, Dennis Slattery IL INTRODUCTIONS: New Commissioner Dave Brennan III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: April 9th minutes Brennan moved to approve as submitted, Pepe seconded. Approved with all ayes. IV. PUBLIC FORUM V. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA VI. BUSINESS A. Trails/Recreation Update a. BTI Reroute Application An application hasn't been received from Bill Rousell for the reroute so nothing has happened in the past month. b. Alice in Wonderland Relocation Application Karns said there is reason to tier the application process for the level of review required. An"add package"may be approved for the trails master plan in the coming City budget. City attorney is working on the easement forms for the trails easement across the private properties. A survey has been proposed to locate the easements across the private properties for both the Bandersnatch and Alice in Wonderland trails. B. Ashland Forest Plan Revision Frank reviewed the Ashland Forest plan revision process for Brennan's sake. Frank stressed the need for GIS input on the Plan and would do some of the work himself if needed. SOU students are an option as well. He estimated 8- 10thousand dollars for the GIS work. Chris needs to send Frank and Dan the City interface parcel maps. The Lithia Hillside will be included according to McFarland and Seffinger. A map was handed out that outlines the 51 acres of Lithia Hillside. Frank will make the contact with SOU and also would like to contact the City of Corvallis about their forest plan update. Frank reviewed the assignments and areas of responsibility in the update for each commissioner. Jeff gave Albert the master trails plan from Parks, which is on the website. Timeline for the update is likely a year plus, maybe up to two years. G:\fire\Forest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2013\May 14th,2013 Final.docx Seffinger would like to have everyone go through the document and talk about what topics they feel apply to their area of work in the update. Main suggested that each person list what they feel is their area, what is questionable, and what is definitely not their area. Main has older information that should be included with the updated plan. C. City Lands Thinning and Burning Update The Winburn project is nearly complete, there are one to two log trucks left for tomorrow. Marty's crew is working to cut up the slash left behind in the Winburn units before fire season starts. Piles will be burned in the next fall/winter. Main would like to see a tour to the property once work is completed. Data will be collected at the permanent plot points to quantify the results and encourage adaptive management. Chambers explained that The Nature Conservancy grant that has funded the Winburn helicopter thinning will back fill a smaller amount of the operation than anticipated so has freed up grant dollars for additional work on City, Parks, and private lands around the watershed. Work will be starting in Siskiyou Mountain Park in the next couple weeks. Seffinger asked about the number of trees that need special consideration in Siskiyou Mt. Park. McFarland said there are many areas where maturing trees need additional space including oaks for Pacific fisher habitat, madrone, pine, and larger Douglas-fir. Main talked about the City controlled burning done recently. Last year, the City burned two units under the TNC grant program, and this year we burned two units and are working toward two more with Grayback Forestry. Last year's burns were on the cool side of the anticipated conditions and this year's work has been more aggressive to promote fire safety and fire reintroduction. If the weather works out, burning in units P/Q and unit H would be pursued next week. Both are strategic units from a landscape level for fire management during the summer. Monitoring will be important to follow our objectives and results and will be implemented in the recent burn units this spring. McFarland asked about the social acceptance. Main said that this year's burns appear more "black" and may cause some concern, though the burns did go according to plan. There is an opportunity to provide some education at this point. Chambers commented on the trade off between spring and fall burning. This year's spring happens to be one of the driest on record, though the fuel moistures for burning are still in the windows when precipitation falls. Global warming may or may not be contributing to this year's dry conditions. Pine is a good tree for drier areas, though Main stressed the larger system's approach. D. AFR Project Update Chambers explained the utilization of firewood across AFR areas, including a public firewood offering in the near future. Much of the slash has been mulched but others will be burned next wet season. The City is advocating for AFR funding by proposing to raise the tax rate to the maximum amount, though it would only generate a small percent of the dollars needed over the G:Afire\Forest Interface Division\Forest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2013\May 14th,2013 Final.docx next few years, but could fund maintenance in the long term. Meeting Adjourned E. Watershed Outreach Plan Discussion VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS VIII. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING A. Next Regularly Scheduled Meeting, June 11 th 2013 IX. ADJOURN: 7:30 PM In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting,please contact the Public Works Office at 488-5587 (TTYphone number 1 800 735 2900). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting(28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title I). G:Afire\Forest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2013\May 14th,2013 Final.docx