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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-02-10 KRSMA Board MinutesKENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAG AREA. ADVISORY BOARD Thursday, February 10, 1994 Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association I. CALL TO ORDERfFtoll Call Members Present: Jim Richardson, Pat Bower, Rich Underkofler, Dale Bondurant, Sam McLane, Jack LaShot, Warren Hoflich, Mark Wenger for Duane Harp, Ben Ellis, Kent Hueser, Bill McDermid, Peggy Mullen, Dan Doshser, Dave Athons, Claudette Knickerbocker. Members Absent: Dennis Rands. B. Approval of January 13, 1994 minutes: The minutes were approved as written. C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC CO11rIMEIdT III. OLD BUSINESS A. Carrying Capacity Management Alternatives Discussion A handout was given to each board member outlining the process for development of management alternatives. Efforts to work on management alternatives in the past couple of months have not been very successful, so a more organized process has been developed to help getting the effort back on track. Chris explains the KR~~~vIA mission is twofold; one is to protect the resources and the second is to insure the public of an enjoyable experience on the river. Because of the Kenai River Carrying Capacity Study we have an idea of how the crowding affects people recreating. Now our job is to look at management alternatives. Chris then poses the question to the board "What makes a quality recreational experience to each person here tonight?" Ideas from the board and the public included: Relatively natural setting. Catch the big fish. Relatively uncrowded conditions of the river. Opportunity to catch _isn. Good company. Minimum of conflict. Opportunity to fish and to catch fish. Scenic vistas and oppor-unities to view wildlife in a natural setting. KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY 2 BOARD MINUTES -Thursday, February 10, 1994 Quiet, peaceful. Sound of the river. Good social experience, experience with boats around you. Boating. Share other peoples' enjoyment of catching fish, the excitement of catching fish. Reasonable and appropriate fishing regulations. Lots of fish. Access to the water. Restroom facilities. Campfires. Relatively non stressful. Orderly flow in fishir_g. Extension of the total period of fishing. No bugs. Cooperation of the other fishermen. Water quality. Natural vegetation. Better cooperation ar_d seamanship and safety in boats. Courteous boaters. Reasonable adherence ro fishing regulations. Preservation of the ricer. Sound river ecosystem. 35 horse power rule. Opportunity for a quie~ float. Chris then adds a chaiiznge to the board. She states the a'oove ail represent a quality experience on the ricer. Chris notes if we do nothing than many of the things that make the river a quaii~° recreational experience are going to disappear. Our charge is to figure out a way ~ decide what the river will look like for us and since the river has so many segmer_ts and times of season we need to separate them and set management goals from this. The next step is to identify problems which diminish recreational experiences, followed by developing solutions. Dale suggests lumpiag the problems into 3 areas: habitat, resource and the users. A list of a number of problems suggested by the board are attached at the end of the minutes. KENAI RNER SPECIAL MANAG AREA ADVISORY 3 BOARD MIId'UTES -Thursday, February 10, 1994 Chris recommends we need to form two or three sub committees to come up with solutions. It is suggested that committees be formed under the headings of: 1) IIABITAT/RE5OURCE 2) USER CONFLICT 3) EDUCATION Sam thinks it is an excellent idea, as long as each sub committee is charged with certain duties and it will be done by the next meeting rather than developing standing sub committees. He encourages everyone to be as pro-active as possible on this because we are an advisory group. He would like to see the board get as many ideas out on the table as possible even though the board is not a1195% in favor of it. We are in favor of one Thing. There is 100% agreement in this room on how important the river is to each and every one of us. Chris also would like insure that we get wider public participation on this process. If there are people from outside the advisory board interested in being on a committee, they are welcome. Kent voices concern about regulation changes. Chris notes next fall the division will be going through regulation changes. So we need to keep this in mind as we progress through the study. If some of the solutions presented by this group involve regulation changes we are going to need to know this before fall. Pat suggests that when these committees start working, they need to not only come up with solutions but to rank each solution. This way an action plan could be written for the first 5 or 6 solutions and then present them to the full board. The following board members signed up for the following committees: HABITAT/R,ESOURCE: Pat Bower, Warren Hoflich , Peggy Mullen, Sam McLane USER CONFLICT: Dan Doshier, Jack La Shot, Bill McDermid, Ben Ellis, Jim Richardson, Kent Hueser, Rich Underkofler, Dale Bondurant EDUCATIONAL: Pegg~° Mullen, Dave Athons, Kent Hueser, Jeff King Jim suggests the committees have one meeting before the next Kenai River Advisory Board meeting. A chair person should be suggested for each committee. Ben is nominated for USER. Pat for HABITAT, and Suzanne nominated as educational committee person. KEI~TAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEIVIENT AREA ADVISORY 4 $OARD S -Thursday, February 10, 1994 USER committee to meet February 18 at 1 pm at Soldotna City Hall. HABITAT committee to meet February 15 at 7 pm at Cook Inlet Aquacuiture. EDUCATIONAL committee to meet February 17 at 9 am at Cook Inlet Aquaculture. Chris thanks the board for helping to get the process going again. B. EDUCATIONAL BROCHURES Suzanne talks about *~e educational ideas draft that was mailed to board members. Wants to know if there are any additions, deletions, etc. to the brochures. If you have corrections please get them to Suzanne, or come to meeting. This is a good start for the educational committee to take a look at. Appropriate for staff to do, circulate them to other related agencies and see if there is any duplication of efforts, etc. Sam McLane suggests we use our Campground hosts to distribute and educate folks on river etiquette. Ben Ellis wants to mention that the brochure titled "Loving the River To Death" will be reprinted soon. He also notes that Jon Lyman of ADF&G is interested in setting_ up a modified stream watch program to address river issues. HabPro is also working on a 30 minute video, a 30 second television PSA, the 1994 Tidebook that has habitat concerns and mitigation steps printed in the front and back and middle sections of the book. HabPro also has some handouts relating to proper bank fishing from gravel bars to board walks, etc. Kena1 River Spc ~ sh, li~c. has pet2tloned DOT for a Sign on the Sterling Highway pullout opposite the Kenai Princess Lodge sign. This would be an informational sign in three segments: in the middle would be the map of the entire Kenai River with certain areas identified, noting that it is the most productive river in the world for world class fishing and noting the records, etc.; on the left hand side some information that would talk about what has caused this to be unique, water quality, temperature, bank consistency; and on the right hand side it would have steps that all the public and observers can do to protect and guarantee that this habitat will continue. The Kenai Eagle award will be presented to Eric Eamons and Dean Schlehoefer, King of the River Guide Service, some time this spring. Leo Oberts wants to know if some type of sign could be developed to denote a fragile area, so fishermen us?ng an area would know that that area is being protected and to proceed with caution. It could be one of those green and white signs with a symbol. Pat agrees that is a very good suggestion. C. RESOLUTION 94-1 Taz Relief for Property Owners SB24Q/HB306 KENAI RIVER. SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY 5 -BOARD S -Thursday, February 10, 1994 The board is asked to look at the handout titled "Resolution #94-1". Senator Drue Pearce's Senate Bill 240 and Representative Gary Davis' House Bill 306 have been introduced. This will be a tax credit for river improvements for habitat and restoration on the Kenai River. Rich explains about the process on the tax relief proposal and leads the board through the attachments in detail. Motion to endorse resolution by Ben Ellis, Claudia Knickerbocker seconds. Sam notes we need a friendly amendment to Resolution #94-1 that states "as proposed for amendment, a copy of which is attached herewith'°. The motion passed. Jim then asks if the board approves sending the letter drafted by staff advising ADF~G Commissioner Rosier against the State purchasing 7.$ acres of wetlands from the Pedersens on the Moose River. Conservation easements are suggested instead. The board is in approval. N. PUBLIC COMME,'~T V. ADJOURNMEN'P A. Board Comments Dave: 20:00 p.m. ±a 70:30 p.m. !s a good tli^ze to end the irleet:rlg. Dale: Wants to know what has happened to committee on the $3 million F&G acquisition money. Suzanne states that Chris and 4 members have been suggested for the committee but no one has been notified of a formal meeting as yet. Dale wants to have suggestions ready for this committee right now. Suzanne suggests we add this to the agenda to select suggestions for this committee. Dale feels we should be the first ones through the door. Ben: Paul Skvorc, hydrocoustic engineer 'for ADF&G, had written a letter to Commissioner Rosier and also to the Board of Fish concerning problems with hydrocoustic testing on the Kenai River and Skilak Lake. Just to advise everyone Paul is going to be talking in Anchorage on Wednesday at the Sourdough Mining Company before an organization of electrical engineers. Peggy: For those interested on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., there will be a river festival planning session. KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY 6 BOARD MINUI`ES -Thursday, February 10, 1994 Rich: States the City of Soldotna is one month behind schedule; applying for permits now. The goal is still to have construction start right after break up. Jack: Wants to know when selection of committee for ADF&Gs $3 million project will occur. Suzanne lets the board know we might be getting $1000 in grant money transferred to us from DEC for Kenai River clean-up. B. DATF,~AGENDA OF NEXT MEETING March 17 at 1 pm at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association Submitted by Denise Dutile 2,/16/94 HABITAT USER CONFLICT Overcrowded Competition for Development of fishing spots; Use private and public is concentrated in property several areas only Bank misuse River accessible Private and Public Accessible to 700 development of Alaskans Bank fishing Lack of respect of the public to Preserve private property vegetation Bank Fishermen vs. Lack of education boaters for protecting habitat Number of fish dictating number Lack of action tc of fishermen protect riverbanks Competent boat Cost to drivers vs. novice rehabilitate banks drivers is very high Guide vs. non- e Guide users Finest rainbow fishery that is easily accessed Motorixed usres vs. non-motorized users Conflicting fishing styles/methods Too many people/not 'enough space RESOURCE Double runs of salmon are unique Mitigating human impact on the resource Mixed stock of fish Subsistence Education on protection of resource Preservation vs. revegetation World Class sized Kings Major rainbow trout fishery Competition for resources by many user groups KNAI Rli/R ,Special Management Area "Working together...tor the river" Q~ V Q~~Q 1! ° ~L~1Q~ RESOLUTION #94-1, February 10, 1994 A Resolution related to tax assessments on lands along the Kenai River Introduction: It is the mission of the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board to assist the Department of Natural Resources in preserving and protecting the fish and wildlife habitat and resources on the Kenai River, and to promote the recreational opportunities on the river. Whereas since the inception of the KRSMA in 1984, we have found that: 1. Protecting existing riparian river habitat in its natural state is extremely critical for the habitat needs of Kenai River fish; and 2. Valuable riparian habitat along the Kenai River is being subjected to more and more development pressure as private property is developed for commercial and private use; and 3. Encouraging river bank landowners to voluntarily protect the river banks and rehabilitate damaged riparian habitat lands is a high priority for restoring the full vitality of fish habitat on the Kenai River; and 4. Property tax assessment laws require that any improvements, even for rehabilitating damaged river banks, be taxed at their full and true value, And Whereas Senate Bill 240 and House Bill 306 will allow municipalities to provide tax credits to or"fset the costs of certain Kenai River habitat protection improvements, so long as the improvements meet certain criteria established by the Department of Fish and Game, Therefore be it resolved that the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board encourages the Alaska Legislature to pass Senate Bill 240 and House Bill 306, as proposed for amendment in attached copy. Adopted February 10, 1994 by the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board. Richardson, Vice President, KRSMA Advisory Board ~ Kenai Aga Offic& 0ox 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-5581 Kenai Fe^-~sula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 2624441 p Alaska Olvlslon of Porks arb G.-~»~ Facreehan, Department of Natural aewuicea in coope2tion with tha Kenai PeninsuW Borough.