AMERICAN RIVER WATERSHED GROUP

October 20, 2005


The meeting of the American River Watershed Group (ARWG) meeting was called to order by Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator at 10:05 a.m. at the Auburn Recreation District Canyon View Community Center located at 471 Maidu Drive, Auburn.

Present: Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator; Robert Weygandt, Placer County Supervisor; Rich Gresham, Stewart Feldman, Greg Nau, and Katie Maloney, Placer County Resource Conservation District (PCRCD); Kevin Roberts, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI); Dan Bacher, Editor of The Fish Sniffer magazine; Kevin Cornwell, Sac State University Geologist; Edmund Sullivan, Placer County Planning; Rich Cuchetto, Folsom Lake College Chemist; and Surjit S. Toor, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-Sacramento County District Conservationist
Check-In:
Bill Templin led the “Check-In” procedure that entails telling who you are, how you are, if you have any time constraints, bring forth emergent issues, and express individual expectations.

Review & Approval of Minutes:
No minutes were presented for approval.

Additions to the Agenda:
No additions were made to the agenda.

Upper American River Watershed Foundation:
Bill Templin introduced Greg Nau, Director of the Placer County Resource Conservation District. He noted that Greg originally suggested he explore the formation of a foundation to address sustainability issues in terms of funding of stewardship activities in the upper watershed. He reported Greg sits of the board of the Henry’s Fork Foundation (HFF) dedicated to stretch of the Snake River in Idaho and heavily supported by the angling community.

Bill reminded the group that one of his workplan tasks includes the pursuit of sustainable funding for future watershed coordination and stewardship. He reported he has spent time talking to various stakeholders in the watershed about the idea of forming a foundation and has not received any negative comments and much positive feedback regarding the idea including offers to serve on the foundation’s board.

Bill asked Greg to take the lead in a discussion regarding the formation of an Upper American River Watershed Foundation.

Greg briefly reviewed the history of the Henry’s Fork Foundation and their success at raising funds for stewardship activities, many implemented in partnership with others. HFF is a collaborative effort that includes water purveyors, agricultural producers, and water users. The objective of the foundation is to get stakeholders involved in meaningful dialogue regarding resource conservation issues. One HFF issue revolved around the shut down of reservoirs that resulted in low flows during winter months. With drought conditions are being experienced, fry were unable to successfully over-winter resulting in reduced classes of fish. The collaborative effort to meet that challenge resulted in the establishment of minimum flows at 200 cubic feet per second. Stakeholders working together can find common ground.

Greg reported the angling community looks for and is willing to economically support a quality experience that would provide good access, accurate mapping, and pertinent information about conditions.

Greg gave the group a brief historical overview of watershed coordinators that through history have tended creeks and waterways to keep them free from debris and weeds as well as protecting the resources from poachers and critters like river otters and beaver that can be destructive to habitat. Sport fishing became popular in the 1500-1600’s with landed society in Europe and subsequently formed lodges and clubs around the sport. These organizations commonly hired stream keepers to promote and maintain the viability of local fisheries. Some of these organizations still exist today showing the resiliency of angling as a popular sport.

Interestingly, the 1770-1800’s saw anglers attempting to increase the insect population to provide a better food source in the belief that fishing will only be as good as the habitat that sustains it and cementing the relationship between sport fishing and good stewardship.

The 1800’s saw the exploration of the America’s where natural resources were abundant and the role of the sportsman further evolved into that of stakeholder/steward.

Today, conservation dollars continue to flow from both hunters and anglers. He pointed out the efforts of Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited and noted these organizations raise funds that can potentially be directed to watershed stewardship.

The question is how would a foundation like the Henry’s Fork Foundation translate to the Upper North Fork American River Watershed? A watershed that is wild, rugged, and scenically beautiful. A foundation could potentially provide information to anglers and other recreational users regarding trails, access points, water and weather conditions, as well as promote user stewardship. Science and research could be conducted to promote the best habitat possible, by identifying the limitations of existing fisheries and ways to maximize potential fisheries.

Greg encouraged the group to continue to move the foundation idea forward.

Dan Bacher, editor of The Fish Sniffer magazine, thanked Greg, especially for highlighting the historical information on the angling/stewardship connection. He also noted that Middle Fork hydrology would lend itself to improvement and stressed that wild trout fisheries are rare these days.

Bill noted the American River Watershed Group has historically been focused on forest health and land management for the reduction of catastrophic fire risk. Bill encouraged the group to widen their focus to watershed users and the potential to combine recreational use with stewardship.

Greg added the HFF has always been science driven with research efforts focused on providing science-based information in order to promote good decision making in regards to natural resources management.

Edmund Sullivan noted the need for independent organizations that can pursue stewardship activities without political constraints. He added anglers should be but one of the pillars the foundation should be built on and recommended the inclusion of other watershed users such as rafters and hikers.

Greg again stressed that anglers are active conservationists willing to finance conservation efforts. He noted he is a conservationist since angling opened his eyes to environmental issues.

Dan Bacher indicated rafters also economically support active conservation efforts.

Greg thanked the group for the opportunity to talk about the formation of a foundation and excused himself for another meeting.

Group discussion revolved around potential FERC re-licensing opportunities that could potentially improve fish passage, thereby improving fisheries. Also a topic of discussion was the potential for conflicting visions on how to best use the watershed’s natural resources.

Edmund again promoted a multi-user focus for the foundation.

Bill envisioned the potential foundation’s board will be responsible for steering the foundation and reviewed the interest and feedback he has received from stakeholders about a foundation.

Edmund stressed the importance of being a politically viable foundation in order to have any influence as an independent entity on issues.

Bill noted how a foundation might face the enormity of addressing issues such as mercury, still being worked through by individual agencies, but it was pointed out by Dan Bacher that those kinds of issues can also act as a catalyst for action that could positively impact the watershed.

Robert Weygandt commented the FERC re-licensing may provide a potential source of income, but that will be down the road. He felt the American River watershed is an under-utilized fishery and that while anglers could serve as a key stakeholder, the foundation will need to involve a variety of stakeholders in order to be successful.

Robert pointed out the HFF attracts those with economic means to visit the area for fishing and Placer County has the potential to develop the same type of boutique niche with similar area of affluence to draw upon.

Robert noted the Board of Supervisors will be assessing Phase I of the Placer County Conservation Plan (PCCP) effort in January or February. Phase II of the PCCP will encompass portions of the American River watershed. While the PCCP effort epitomizes a collaborative effort and for the most part has been successful, land use issues have been a hot topic. This is a pivotal moment in Placer County history that will guide how the county will evolve and what it will become in the future. Robert stressed the economic benefits of attracting passive recreational users like birders and cyclist to the area.

Group discussion moved on to next steps and the development of a foundation board to guide the effort along. Bill solicited interest in serving on the board and potential contacts were shared.

Dan Bacher promoted the lower American River watershed as the premier trophy trout fishery.

Kevin Cornwell recommended the Center of Regional Science and Technology should be a key player in any research effort in which the foundation may become involved.

Activity Updates: Updates were deferred due to time constraints.

Next Meeting:
The next regular meeting will take place on November 17th at the Canyon View Community Center.

Agenda Suggestions and Open Discussion:

Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 11:57 a.m.

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