WRIA 1 SALMONID RECOVERY PLAN

Update No. 2 – May 2004

This is the second issue of Whatcom County’s WRIA 1 Salmonid Recovery Plan Update. Whatcom County will send out this e-newsletter to report on the progress of the plan. As a local community member, business person, technical expert, policy maker, tribal, federal, state, or local governmental agency, we would especially like you to become more familiar with current salmon recovery planning issues and processes.

If you’d rather not be on the e-mail list, send an e-mail to Scarlet Tang at stang@co.whatcom.wa.us, or call 360/676-6876.

This month’s update topics include:

1. Stakeholder Group May 20 Meeting
2. Draft Recovery Plan Update
3. WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board
4. Shared Strategy June Deadline
5. How to Provide Input

1. Stakeholder Group May 20 Meeting

A Stakeholder Group meeting is planned for May 20 from 7 to 9 PM for the purpose of discussing how stakeholders can provide input to the preliminary draft WRIA 1 Salmonid Recovery Plan. Included will be a discussion of some of the local process developments that influence how and when the Plan will be completed and implemented. An agenda for the meeting will be distributed to Stakeholder Group members on May 5 and will also be posted at the Whatcom Salmon website at: http://whatcomsalmon.wsu.edu.

2. WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board

A clear decision-making structure is essential to guide the successful completion and implementation of the WRIA 1 Salmonid Recovery Plan. With that objective in mind, Whatcom County has been working with the small cities (Blaine, Ferndale, Lynden, Everson, Nooksack, and Sumas) and the salmon co-managers (Lummi Nation, Nooksack Tribe, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) to develop an interlocal agreement that forms a WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board. The Board will have a simple structure composed of two caucuses (local governments and salmon co-managers) that will be responsible for overseeing the completion and implementation of the Plan and that will also be designated the WRIA 1 Lead Entity for the purpose of salmon recovery coordination. Most of the affected governments have already signed on and the Board is expected to begin functioning officially in late May. The Board will operate on the consensus of the two caucuses and will provide recommendations to its member governments. It will not assume nor usurp the legally mandated functions of any of its members.

3. Draft Recovery Plan Update

Whatcom County received preliminary drafts of the WRIA 1 Salmonid Recovery Plan and WRIA 1 Salmon Habitat Restoration Strategy from the Nooksack Tribe on January 30 as deliverables under their contract with the County. The County worked with members of the Steering Committee to complete the unfinished sections of the Strategy. In late March, the members of the WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board (see item #3 below) agreed to use Version 2.4 of the Strategy during the 5th grant round being offered by the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Copies of the Strategy will be available at the May 20 Stakeholder Group meeting.

Work on the recovery plan itself has been more limited since January. The original timeline was to provide a complete draft to the Stakeholder Group for review by mid-March. This timeline has been delayed due to the formation of the WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board. The following points briefly describe the Plan status:

• The technical background and limiting factors sections are largely complete while the management strategies, action plans, and implementation plan will require fleshing out. This work has yet to be completed pending staff availability.
• Eight key actions have been identified based on the technical data presented in the preliminary draft. These draft actions identify projects, commitments and resources needed to do things within the next 5 – 10 years that will produce measurable results in recovering priority WRIA 1 salmonids. These actions along with the draft plan form the core of what will be transmitted to Shared Strategy by their June deadline.
• Members of the WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Board are currently discussing how and when recovery plan and key actions will be completed and formatted for submission to Shared Strategy.

4. Shared Strategy June Deadline

The Shared Strategy for Puget Sound is coordinating the development of a recovery plan for Endangered Species Act listed salmon stocks in the Puget Sound Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Each of the 14 affected watersheds are developing “chapters” that will be combined to form the overall plan for the ESU. By June 30, WRIA 1 will need to provide a description of our vision for salmon recovery, key actions to recovery salmon, the commitments and resources necessary to implement the actions, and the technical information that supports the strategy being proposed.

It is clear that the products provided to Shared Strategy at the end of June will not be complete and final. Revisions and refinement are anticipated following the NOAA Fisheries Technical Review Team review during July and August. This will also be a time for WRIA 1 SRB members to continue work with the Stakeholder Group and individual stakeholders to better fully inform the community about the plan and to continue to revise and improve the plan based on stakeholder input. For more information see the Shared Strategy website at: http://www.sharedsalmonstrategy.org/

5. How to Provide Input

There are several opportunities to provide input to the Plan.

• Attend the May 20 or June 16 Stakeholder Group meetings (future meetings may be scheduled – look for future updates)
• Comments can be sent directly to John N. Thompson at the contact information below.

For more information about the recovery plan, please contact John N. Thompson, Whatcom County Water Resources Division, 322 N. Commercial St., Suite 110, Bellingham, WA 98225, (360) 676-6876 or JNThomps@co.whatcom.wa.us.