North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity
Selinda Barkhuis, Coordinator
www.NOPLEgroup.org
Clallam County Courthouse
223 E. Fourth Street, # 5
Port Angeles, WA 98362
Phone direct (360) 417-2430
North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity
News, Events & Grants, V1 E3, dated Monday, October 4, 2004
News
· Continued hearing dates on the proposed WRIA 18 watershed management plan: Wed., Oct. 6th, 6pm, Carrie Blake Park & Tues., Oct. 12th, 10:30am, Board Meeting Room in the Courthouse. A decision may be made on the 12th. Written comment deadline is AT THAT hearing on the 12th. The plan itself is available at http://www.clallam.net/environment/html/wria_18_draft_watershed_plan.htm
· Do dams really pose a threat to salmon? A Federal judge Tuesday questioned the Bush administration's recent conclusion that dams pose no threat of driving endangered salmon extinct (Duh!). Read all about it at http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1096459407252200.xml.
· A mammoth bloom of toxic algae is swirling 15 miles off the northwest coast of Washington, the largest and most lethal growth yet found by local scientists studying the Juan de Fuca eddy. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/192901_algae29.html
· Steelhead Moratorium Reversed. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission reversed a measure it approved last February that imposed a two-year moratorium on retaining any wild steelhead caught in state waters. By a unanimous vote, the nine-member commission instead will allow anglers to retain one wild steelhead per year on a dozen rivers – all but one of which is on the Olympic Peninsula – affected by the moratorium. The new annual limit for those rivers takes effect Oct. 3. For more info, http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/sep0204b.htm
· Hoh Acquisition Project. The U.S. Department of the Interior has approved a grant of $3.7 million to purchase 1,755 acres of privately owned lands along the Hoh River as part of a strategy to preserve critical habitat for salmon, bull trout, murrelets, owls and other threatened and endangered species. For entire story, go to http://www.dnr.wa.gov/htdocs/adm/comm/nr04_085.htm
· Check out these on-line resources:
o The WDFW Habitat Technical Applications (TAPPS) Division (“A watershed restoration approach to the recovery and perpetuation of wild salmonids”) has just launched updated web pages providing access to the latest resources at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/tapps/index.htm.
o USGS aerial photos to 1 meter resolution and topo maps to 2 meter resolution are available for free public access at http://terraserver.microsoft.com/
o Federal funding news update by NWIFC indicates that the Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund is earmarked for only $80 million for FY 2005, down from last year’s $90 million, at http://www.nwifc.org/newsinfo/newsrelsdet.asp?ID=264
o Keep up to date with Shared Strategy by reading their monthly e-newsletters at http://www.sharedsalmonstrategy.org/e-bulletin.htm
Upcoming events
· LWV hosts Candidate Forum for Commissioner of Public Lands in an Online Chat Room: On October 12, 7:00 PM, the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County, in partnership with KING5.com, will hold an online chat for the Commissioner of Public Lands candidates. Doug Sutherland (R), the incumbent Commissioner and Mike Cooper (D), State Representative and Steve Layman (L) will participate in this chat. The Commissioner of Public Lands oversees the Department of Natural Resources. Among the many resources managed by the DNR are the state trust lands, which help fund our schools and universities. This is a great opportunity for us to submit questions to the candidates. Interested voters can join this public forum from the comfort of their own homes anywhere in the state. We hope that you’ll go to http://KING5.com on the afternoon of October 12 -- no need to wait until 7:00 -- and enter a question for the candidates. At the sign-in page you'll give yourself a screen name and enter your question. You'll see information about the candidates and, beginning at 7:00, the public's questions and the candidates' answers. After the chat, you can view the chat transcript by visiting KING5.com. This chat room candidate forum is part of the League's online voter education outreach. The Washington Voter website at www.washingtonvoter.org offers voters the most extensive and useful election coverage possible.
· Invasive Knotweed Symposium: Invasive knotweed species are rapidly invading and causing wholesale destruction of western Washington’s riparian ecosystems. To learn more about this epidemic and what is being done about it locally, you are invited to attend this symposium and learn about Identification of invasive knotweeds, Treatment Methods and Effectiveness Over Time, Preliminary Research Findings, Potential Funding Sources, and Cooperative Weed Management Areas. Wednesday November 10, 2004, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (registration & coffee 8am-9am; BYO brown bag lunch). P.U.D. Training Center Auditorium, 2320 California Street, Everett, Washington. To register, email lois@snohomishcd.org or call Lois at (425) 335-5634 ext. 4. For more information about knotweed and this symposium, go to the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board webpage on knotweed at http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/PNWKNOTWEED/PNWknotweed.htm.
Grants
· NOPLEgroup.org Landowner Resources provides links to assistance and incentive programs available to landowners on the North Olympic Peninsula at http://noplegroup.org/NOPLE/pages/landownerresources.htm
· Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act (FRIMA). This is a voluntary, cost-shared fish screen construction program for water withdrawal projects in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and western Montana. This program is being implemented by the Service in cooperation with state and tribal partners within the Northwest. Water diversions send water from streams and rivers to crop irrigation, drinking water, industrial use, power generation, and other beneficial uses. However, nearly 80 percent of the water diversions in the Pacific Northwest are unscreened. These unscreened diversions can pose a major risk to the juveniles of endangered species like salmon, steelhead, and to endangered or declining trout such as the coastal cutthroat and bull trout and other native fishes. Diversion structures can also block the upstream and downstream movement of juvenile and adult fish, resulting in further mortality and lost production. This program is thus a powerful new tool to reduce fish mortality and blockage of fish passage at water diversions. More information at http://www.r1.fws.gov/Fisheries/Fish%20Passage-Screening%20Program.htm, or contact Brian Peck, brian_peck@fws.gov or (360)753-9560. Due to a lower than expected initial turnout, the applications due date has been extended to October 15, 2004.
· Landowner Incentive Program (LIP). The second round of LIP grant competition opened this month, with about $760,000 available to small forest landowners for fish passage, near shore marine birds, and local watersheds. Applications will be received until December 31, 2004.. A downloadable application form with instructions is available on WDFW's website http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/lip/index.htm
· DOE Water Quality Grants and Loans for Fiscal Year 2006. Funding applications and instructions are available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/funding/2006. Organizations should send completed applications to Ecology by November 1, 2004. Ecology and other environmental organizations will review the applications and make proposed funding decisions in early 2005.
· Aquatic Weeds Management Fund Grants. Projects must address prevention and/or control of freshwater, invasive, non-native aquatic plants. The types of activities funded include: Planning, education, monitoring, implementation, pilot/demonstration projects, surveillance and mapping projects. Cities, counties, state agencies, tribes, and special purpose districts (does not include lake management districts) are eligible to receive grants. Lakes groups and other private organizations must work in conjunction with their local governments to receive funding for projects. Local sponsors are required to provide 25 percent of the eligible project costs as a match to state funds. For more info, http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/grants/index.html, or contact the Washington Department of Ecology, Kathy Hamel at (360) 407-6562, or email kham461@ecy.wa.gov. Grant applications are accepted from October 1 through November 1 of each year during a formal application process.
For previous newsletters with additional grant information, go to www.noplegroup.org