| | SANTA ROSA & SAN JACINTO MOUNTAINS NATIONAL MONUMENT
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Meeting 2
April 4, 2002 United States Department of AgricultureUnited States Department of the Interior
MEETING LOCATION: PALM DESERT CITY HALL
73-510 Fred Waring
Palm Desert, CA 92260
DATE AND TIME: Saturday, April 4, 2002
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
LIST OF THOSE PRESENT:
MONUMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (MAC):
GARY WATTS, District Superintendent, California Department of Parks and Recreation
FRANK BOGERT, former Mayor, City of Palm Springs
BARY FREET, Palm Springs Fire Chief, resident of Cathedral City
TERRY HENDERSON, Councilmember, City of La Quinta
ROBERT BROCKMAN, Planning Director, City of Rancho Mirage
LARRY GRAFTON, Senior Planner, City of Indian Wells
BARBARA GONZALES LYONS, Vice Chair, Tribal Council, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
BILL HAVERT, Director, Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy
JEFFERY MORGAN, Sierra Club, Local Conservation Organization
EDWARD KIBBEY, Building Industry Association
BOB LYMAN, Regional Office Manager, County of Riverside
RUTH WATLING, Chair, Pinyon Community Council
Absent:
ALLAN MUTH, expertise in natural science and research, University of California, Riverside, Deep Canyon Research Center
ROB PARKINS, General Manager, Winter Park Authority
BUFORD CRITES, Councilmember and former Mayor, City of Palm Desert
STAFF AND PRESENTERS:
DANELLA GEORGE, Designated Federal Official and Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Manager
KATIE BARROWS, Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy
PETE SORENSON, US Fish and Wildlife Service
JIM FOOTE, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Recreation Planner,
TOM DAVIS, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
ELENA MISQUEZ, BLM Planning Coordinator
CONNELL DUNNING, BLM Community Planner
LAURIE ROSENTHAL, USFS District Ranger, San Jacinto Ranger District, San Bernardino National Forest
JIM KENNA, BLM Field Manager, Palm Springs - South Coast Field Office
AGENDA
WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS – Ed Kibbey
Welcome and introduction of BLM and USFS staff present.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
RAY BARMORE
JOE INGRAM
JOHN WOODS
HOUSEKEEPING, WORKGROUPS, UPDATE ON ONE-YEAR APPOINTMENTS, PER DIEM CLARIFICATION
Minutes from prior meeting were reviewed. Review of working groups and their purpose. Reappointment letters for those elected to one term will be mailed to BLM office.
Questions and Answers
TRAILS ALTERNATIVES FOR THE COACHELLA VALLEY MULTI-SPECIES PLAN AND THE BLM CDCA PLAN AMENDMENT- Katie Barrows, Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy
Status of the trails plan for the multi-jurisdictional Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan was provided. Jurisdictions involved and process for creating trails plan was summarized. Biologists have been meeting to identify Bighorn Sheep issues. Potential perimeter trails have been identified. Seasonal trail closures have been discussed. Those interested in following up on the status of the trails plan can attend the Project Advisory Group meetings that occur the fourth Thursday of every month at CVAG in Palm Desert.
Questions and Answers
USFWS EXPECTATION FOR THE MONUMENT PLAN REGARDING PENINSULAR RANGES BIGHORN SHEEP AND OTHER THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES – Pete Sorenson, US Fish and Wildlife Service
A history of the federal listing of the bighorn sheep and the creation of a recovery team was provided. A Recovery Plan was issued in October 2001 Specific criteria exists to determine if Peninsular ranges bighorn sheep can be delisted. Recovery tasks include habitat management, reducing mortality rates, maintaining captive breeding capability and research.
Questions and Answers
REVIEW OF RELATED PLANS AND THE BLM PLAN AMENDMENT – RELATIONSHIP TO THE MONUMENT PLAN – Connell Dunning, BLM Community Planner
The Legislation was reviewed. The plan will be a collaborative process involving the public and federal, tribal, state, county, and local governments. The Monument Plan will be consistent with city plans to the extent that is legally feasible. The Plan will incorporate much work already in progress in the multi-jurisdictional Coachella Valley Multiple Species plan. The monument plan will pull forward actions proposed through other planning efforts, the USFS Forest Plan Revision and the BLM's California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment. A series of potential issue questions was provided.
Questions and Answers
REVIEW OF REVISED MONUMENT PLAN TIMELINES/ FUTURE SCOPING MEETINGS WITH THE PUBLIC – Connell Dunning, BLM Community Planner
Public Scoping meeting dates and locations were provided. Design and intent of the meetings is to capture public comments. Timelines for the completion of the Monument Plan were reviewed. Different assumptions accompanying different timelines were provided. A summary of planning will occur at each meeting. Advisory Members were encouraged to provide input during the entire planning process in addition to reviewing draft plans later in the year. A "popular" more readable version of the final plan was proposed in addition to the structured format already planned.
Questions and Answers
LUNCH BREAK
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT-Jim Foote, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner and Tom Davis, Agua Caliente Band of Cahilla Indians
High-resolution photography was described and its relevance to planning and monitoring was explained. We need more detailed maps to make informed management decisions. This project will provide a snapshot of the Monument that we can use many years from now. Several options exist to get a quality product. We need a hard and a digital product. Tom Davis provided examples of the product as Agua Caliente has already acquired high-resolution photography of some Agua Caliente lands. Tom Davis also offered to allow for the Monument to have access to the GIS data in lieu of financial participation
Questions and Answers
CURRENT MONUMENT BUDGET, MONUMENT STAFF/CONTRIBUTING STAFF, ANNIVERSARY EVENTS – Danella George, Monument Manager
BLM budget for the Monument was described. Budget process was described by Jim Kenna. Advisory Committee role is to get information on budgets and to provide recommendations on projects, not to allocate funding. Motion was passed to support high-resolution photography project. Discussion occurred about supporting a motion to recommend that BLM/USFS hire a GIS specialist dedicated to the Monument. Motion was made and then withdrawn.
Monument Staff and Contributing Staff were presented.
A meeting will occur on May 30th at BLM to discuss planning the Monument Celebration in October 2002.
COMMITTEE WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION
Each Working Group reported about what transpired since January 28th, 2002.
Acquisitions Working Group, Bill Havert. A map depicting acquisitions was passed around the room. The working group reviewed acquisitions within the bounds of the National Monument accomplished by various agencies. Vehicles for land acquisitions were identified. Different missions behind agencies acquiring land were brought forward.
Planning Working Group, Bob Brockman. The working group discussed the relationship between current planning efforts. Tom Davis summarized the Agua Caliente Planning and provided a timeline for that plan. Using GIS to answer planning questions was discussed and lack of a Monument dedicated GIS staff person was identified. A matrix comparing different plans may help identify inconsistencies.
Access, Multiple-Use, Recreation Working Group, Frank Bogert. The working group identified 28 trailheads that go into the Monument, not all have been designated. Three roads exist in the Monument, Dunn Road, Santa Rosa Road, and Sawmill Road, not all have been designated. Options for Dunn Road were presented. Need for signs was brought up. A Snow Creek area turnout was discussed. Additional trails were summarized by Jeff Morgan. Laurie Rosenthal presented the idea of Idyllwild as a Northern Portal to the Monument and trying to buy adjacent land to the Forest Service Office. Frank reported that the multiple use identified for the Monument was hiking, equestrian, and mountain biking with no off-road vehicle areas being identified.
Summary of Work Group Reports- Ed Kibbey. Ed proposed that BLM/USFS take comments presented today as suggestions for Monument Plan. Bill Havert requested that the Advisory Committee address any deficiencies brought forward by the planning presentation. Connell Dunning suggested that the committee could begin by looking at the list of preliminary issues presented previously and then addressing these issues in work group setting.
SUMMARY OF MEETING AND NEXT MEETING NEEDS FROM THE COMMITTEE-Ed Kibbey
PUBLIC COMMENTS
GAYLE CADY
NICK STEFFANOFF
DENA BARMORE
RAY BARMORE
MEETING ADJOURNED-Ed Kibbey
Complete minutes and all submitted written comments are available for public review at the Palm Springs/South Coast Field Office during business hours: P.O. Box 581260, 690 West Garnet Avenue, North Palm Springs, CA 92258; 760-251-4800
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