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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013.10.08 Forest Lands Commission Minutes Minutes FOR A MEETING OF THE A SHLA ND FORES T LA NDS COMMISSION Tuesday, October 8th 2013 5:30PM to 7:30PM Fire Station #2 Conference Room 1860 Ashland Street I. CALL TO ORDER: 5:40 PM Marty Main, Jeff McFarland, Dave Brennan, Chris Chambers, John Williams, Dan Maymar, Frank Betlejewski, John Karns IL INTRODUCTIONS III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: September loth minutes Page 2, Forest Plan Revision, add web link to the Shibley report instead of (Shibley, 2012). Brennan motioned to approve as amended, second by Maymar all voted in support. IV. PUBLIC FORUM V. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA VI. BUSINESS A. Trails/Recreation Update McFarland said that Parks finished the middle Uhtoff trail. The last thing that happened with the private landowner easements on the Alice in Wonderland trail is that two of the three owners had signed or are ready to and the last owner was invited by AWTA to review the location of the proposed trail. Parks is presently waiting for all the easements to come in before accepting them. Main and his workers obliterated the firelines from burning last spring. Chambers brought up an illegal trail that connects from Crowson Reservoir to the BTI trail area. He encouraged the group to look at the trail and consider what to do with it. McFarland suggested having a geologist look at the current trail to create a feasibility report. McFarland suggested Main go ahead in putting in water bars on the Alice trail above the junction with BTI. B. Ashland Forest Plan Revision Williams is getting close on his section and was wondering how we'd integrate the whole document and edit it. Williams said he could format the document and put it in the Google Docs platform so everyone can see and edit it. Frank suggested that we lead off the document with the social chapter. Maymar is looking forward to working on his section. Chambers explained his meeting with Jason Wegner of City GIS about data management. Brennan and Frank talked about the discrepancy in acres between what's in the 1992 Forest Plan and the current accounting. Brennan did the math and came up with 160 acres difference, where Frank had come up with 140 acres G:\fire\Forest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2013\October 8th final,2013.docx previously. C. City Council Presentation Williams is on the agenda with the commission update at the next City Council meeting. Karns suggested that the map was the last thing presented to Council so we might start there. Williams will give an update on the activities like the Winburn Parcel Phase III implementation, partnership with AWTA, and the Forest Plan update. D. AFR Project Update Main mentioned that planning activities had been going full steam, but are now halted by the government shutdown. Karns explained a partnership with the GEOS institute in Ashland to analyze the costs of not doing mitigations to prevent a high intensity wildfire versus having to recover from a wildfire through highly engineered solutions like dredging or water processing. The AFR partnership is meeting to plan the next round of work, which will be mostly understory thinning and pile burning this fall and winter and then moving into prescribed underburning and commercial roadside thinning by next spring and summer. E. Fire Adapted Communities Chambers explained that the national approach to wildfire prevention, response, and suppression has evolved into the National Wildfire Management Cohesive Strategy. The Cohesive Strategy involves three main components: Wildfire Response, Creating and Maintaining Fire Resilient Landscapes, and Fire Adapted Communities. The Fire Adapted Communities approach is being embraced by the federal government, states, counties, and cities nationwide. Ashland has all 3 components of the Cohesive Strategy at work, though we have some notable pieces missing. Through the Fire Department, and using the Firewise Commission as a steering committee, we will engage in updating the Community Wildfire Protection Plan to incorporate a more comprehensive, prioritized view of Ashland's wildfire prevention, mitigation, and response activities. Chambers will work with the steering committee to bring in stakeholders to inform the rewriting of the CWPP and keep the Forest Lands Commission up to date on progress and the need for their input. F. Watershed Outreach Plan Discussion Williams would like to table this item until the Forest Plan revision is completed and folks have more time to put into the outreach plan. Chambers mentioned the Salmon Festival was very busy and he handed out more than a few of the watershed maps. Karns described the upcoming Chamber of Commerce dinner with the watershed as a theme. They will be featuring a map project that highlights the watershed and the AFR project in addition to local ecology and trails maps. The Chamber is looking for local groups to contribute to the initial printing. The map project revenue will an toward the AFR project in a matching grant program through the National Forest Foundation. VII. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS VIII. REVIEW AND SET COMMISSION CALENDAR/NEXT MEETING G:AfireTorest Interface DivisionTorest Lands Commission\MINUTES\2013\October 8th final,2013.docx A. Next Regularly Scheduled Meeting, November 12th 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\October 8th final,2013.docx