Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-11-15 KRSMA Board Packet1 Spe~iai ~anagecnees4 Area "Working POgePhec..tor the river" ~~ QD V ~VO~ LJ ° O(rl1~D Thursday, November 15, 2001 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call B. Approval of 10/18/01 minutes C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT III. NEW BUSINESS A. Cooper Lake Dam Reiicensing -Process Introduction, Tom Baxter, Longview Associates B. Kenai River Recreation Use Monitoring, Dr. Greg Brown, APU IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Board Vacancies B. Lower Kenai River Boat Launch Proposal, Chas Degernes C. MP 45-60 Sterling Highway Project Report i. Stakeholder Sounding Board Report, Janette Cadieux ii. Agency Consultation Committee Report, Chris Degernes D. Committee Reports: i. Commercial Operators Committee ii. Water Quality Committee iii. Legislative Committee E. Kenai River Center Update, Suzanne Fisler V. PUBLIC COMMENT VI. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. DatelAgenda of Next Meeting Committee Meetings: 11/18 at the KRC: Commercial Operators Committee (tulle to Suzamle Pinter, 260.4896, for committee meeting time), Water Quality Committee, 5:30 p.m. < Kenai Area Otfice, Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-5587 Kenai Peninsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-4441 i l p Alaska Division of Parks and Outtloor Recreation, Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough. ;,r' KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA AI?VI3ORY BOARD 'Thursday, October 18, 2001 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL'TO ORI3IJR A. Roll Cali Present: Jeff King, Ann Whitmore-Painter, Paul Shadura, Jim Golden, Brett Huber, Janette Cadieux, Charles Quarre, Tim Navarze, Rick Wood, Robin West, Bill Shuster, Lance Trasky, Chris Degernes, Deric Marcorelle Absent: Linda Snow, Ted Wellman B. Approval of 9!20/01 minutes Approved as written. C. Agenda Changes aerd Approval No changes. IL PUBLIC c®MMENT IIL NEw BuslNESs A. HB 165, KRSMA Lands Additions, Rep. Ken Lancaster Rep. Lancaster stated that the big challenge this coming Legislative session will be to get HB 165 introduced and heard in the Senate. He wanted to make sure the board is still in support of the bill. Brett H. said the board is on record as being in support of HB 165. Chris D. gave a brief history of the board's involvement in HB 165. Brett H. suggested the board send a letter to request the bill be put on the schedule for a committee heaa-~ing. Tim made a motion for the chair to send the letter. Ann W-P. seconded the motion. Rep. Lancaster suggested it be copied to the committee members for more weight towards a committee hearing. The motion passed with unanimous consent. B. Russian River - CIT2I Land Selection, Robin West Robin gave a Power Point presentation to the board regarding a recent agreement struck between the federal government and Cook Inlet Region Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 1 October 18, 2A01 Meeting Minutes I11C. CIRI and various federal agencies have been negotiating how to resolve CIRPs ]and claims in the Russian River area for many years. It is well known that Native use of the Russian River area has been extensive for thousands of years, and it is believed that Natives used the area for the last 8,000 - 10,000 years. The Bureau of Indian Affairs certified 1000 eligible acres around the most popular fishing areas, and BLM has been charged with settling all of the proposals. Terms of the agreement include 2 parcels containing 42 and 20 acres respectively, which will be conveyed by title to CII2I by the USFS. Archaeological and cultural resources on 502 acres in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge will be conveyed to CIRI by the USFWS with the remaining interests to be retained by the USFWS. This agreement authorizes, but does not require an equal value land exchange if needed. CIRI will also be authorized first right of refusal for revenue producing visitor services located on USFWS land. A provision in the agreement also allows CIRI to have one of the 18 scenic float permits on the upper Kenai River. The agreement includes the establishment of the Sgilantnu Archaeological Research Center and a joint CIRI, USFS, USFWS visitor interpretive center. Legislation will be needed to enact the settlement a~~eement. 'Ihe funding will include approximately $13.8 million for these proposed projects. The proposed settlement will resolve longstznding land claims at the Russian River while allowing for the continued use and enjoyment of the area, and long-term protection of the area's unique cultural resources. Brett H. asked if the agreement is on the table in the legislative process or if is a "done deal". Robin said it is not on the table but the legislation will probably be a 2- 3 sentence bill or language to ratify the agreement as written, with authorization for the Secretary to move forward on it. C. Keraafl IBiver Watershed Nutrient Study, Brett Huber Brett H. reviewed the information that was included in the mahout packets, starting with a short history of the study. Phase one of the nutrient study consists of a literature review, gap analysis and structuring the mechanism of a study plan. The contractor is the University of Victoria with Jim Edmondson (ADF&G) who is doing Ph.D. work at the university. The working group represents a number of agencies, non- profits and interested people. The next meeting of the working group, the steering committee and the contractor will be during the EVOS workshop this winter. The timeline for completion of Phase One is September 2002. Chris D. asked when a draft study plan might be available for the board to review, with Brett replying that it might be ready in January 2002. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 2 October 1Z;, 2001 Meeting Minutes Jim G. asked if this has major national ramifications for other rivers. Brett said the Kenai River will be a good river to shady as it is still functioning with its natural processes, unlike many salmon rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Brett H. also added that the $44,600 will complete Phase One only. ~. Y~enai River Field Report, 2001 Season, Ranger Bill Berkhahn Bill started his report by Calking about the large number of volunteers from all over the country who conti7buted thousands of hours performing visitor information services and facility maintenance for the Kenai River park units. There were three park rangers and two Alaska Conservation Corps employees working in the River District this year. Ranger Don Barber, who was the Upper River Ranger, was reassigned to concentrate on the middle river this year to help fill the gap left by the Middle River Ranger who left fora 12-month rangerjob in Mat-Su area. Ranger Toe McCullough started this year on the lower river, having transferred to the river from a Park Ranger posttion in Anchor Point. Joe filked the vacancy created by Rick Conover resigning to leave the state. Joe is one of the Division's Boating Safety histructors, and has been a leader in the Kenai River District in visitor contacts on the river this year. ~ACC'er Maryanne Rogers has assumed a role of coordinating all of the volunteers and taking charge of all of the facility maintenance in the District. Another ACC'er was hired this year to assist Maryanne Rogers with maintenance projects. Bill B. said the Rangers try to balance the jobs they do which include boating safety enforcement and education, interpretive programs, patrolling Iu0+ miles of the Kenai River, educating the public about angler etiquette and habitat protection, ensuring the parks are clean and well maintained and performing a variety of law enforcement contacts. Other programs promoted by the Park Rangers include the "Kids Don't Float" program, the Rental Boat Business Owner Orientation and rental boat inspection and the yearly Guide Orientation programs. Bill B. said law enforcement patrols and maintaining an effective Park Ranger presence on the river is a priority. Thousands of visitor contacts were made this year, resu]ting in about 140 citations being issued and hundreds of verbal warnings. Bk11 B. said the violation list includes a couple of citations to guides, various horsepower violations and an assortmenC of boating safety and boat registration problems. The conflicts between user groups continue to be a problem, usually with property owners and bank fisherman, and back trollers and drifters. Anchoring in channels and lower river complaints have diminished this year due to previous work in the areas. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 3 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes This has also been a safe year for Rangers and visitors in the parks. A couple of boats capsized this year, but there were no fatalities, and no reported injuries, which is an improvement over past years. This winter the Boating Safety education program will be Expanded to additional schools with Rangers providing this training during months they would normally be on seasonal leave. Areas like Izaak Walton State Recreation Site have been improved with new latrines, asphalt pavement repairs and hazard tree removal. The trees being removed are infested with the spruce bark beetle. Small spruce trees have been transplanted each year in all parks where hazard trees are being removed to replace the many spruce trees being infected by the spruce bark beetle. Next season, the River staff plan to complete phase three of the Slikok Creek project by restoring an additional section of river bank, plus construct a second new latrine for Izaak Walton campground. Staff also constructed new walkway lifting systems for the docks at the Ciechanski and Big Eddy access units to make the annual placement and removal of the access ramps safer and easier for staff. Bill B. mentioned a proposition that was brought up earlier this year regarding the Pipeline Crossing. He would like to add to the park's visibility from the river, work on the trails and bank maintenance and change the name of the site to something more appropriate. EIe asked the '_ Board to think about a name change for this park land unit. Paul S. asked about night pahols and the number of hours spent on the river in July. Bill said all three River Rangers spend nearly all of their time on the river during July, in particular, and spend time from early morning hours to late at night, in various sections of the river. However, with over 100 miles of river to pah~ol, it is hard to be everywhere at all times and invariably, there are complaints about not enough law enforcement coverage. Ann W-P. asked if the high water that we experienced this past summer affected the numbers of visitors on the river. Bill B. said that it did not seem to change use patterns. Chris D. said there were far more requests from land owners to close the river during the high water times. State Parks worked on educating boaters about responsible power boat use and being aware of floaring hazards in the river. D. Board IVlember Nominations Brett said there is one vacancy now in addition to three seats up for renewal. Ted W. and Paul S. said they want to be rearominated and Jeff K. does not. Two applications have been received so far, from Joe Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 4 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes Conners and Pat Carter. Dave Westet7rtan, who is in the audience tonight, has also expressed interest The applications will be passed on to the Commissioner. Brett H. asked how board member replacements were recruited. Chris D. said a number of groups in the local. area and Cooper Landing were contacted to suggest potential applicants. Chris D. also said she will send out a Media Release requesting applications from interested parties in case there are persons who may not have heard about the vacancies. Bill S. made a motion to submit these three applications, send out a Media Release and then forwud any additional applications to the Commissioners Offica. Ann W-P. seconded the motion. Brett asked if there was any opposition to the motion? No opposition, so the motion passes with unanimous consent. IV. OLI) BUSdIdPSS A. Lower Kenai River Boat Launch Proposal, Chris Degernes In the last meeting Ted W. felt there needed to be more information on the topic before a decision is made. Chris D. prepared a briefing paper for the Board that addresses some of the history and issues related to this proposal. Chris said the river front of the 10.4-acre parcel proposed for purchase by the Legislature is primarily wetlands. Consequently, permits for a boat ramp will be impossible or nearly impossible to acquire. Four Lots within the Wildrose Subdivision that are immediately downstream from Cunningham Park are undeveloped and available, and might he a better site for a boaC ramp. 1 hese parcels do not have permit problems as significant as with the upstream lot as there a~~e no wetlands, plus being adjacent to a park will reduce the management challenges. Cunningham Park had a semblance of a boat ramp until a couple years ago and the City of Kenai has said they would take on management of this new park if constructed next to their Cunningham Park. Some concerns raised during various discussions over the summer include conflicts with user groups in the area, including bank anglers and nearby neighbors, if the ramp is built. The Kenai City Council requested that State Parks develop a conceptual site plan to show how the parcels might be developed, as there were council members who felt the parcels available would be too small. The site could include the ramp toward the downstream end of the parcels where there is good gravel and no evidence of peat. A parking area able to accommodate up to 40 vehicles with trailers could be constructed. This would be the same size as the existing Bings Landing Boat Launch parking area. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 5 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes Discussion about drift only or multi-purpose continued with a lot of questions regarding whether Chere is a real need for another boat ramp in the area. Designing a facility to best suit the uea while minimizing impacts on neighbors was also a concern raised. Brett H. said he sees 4 decision points: support the original Legislative parcel of land, support the Wildrose Sub. Parcels, consider another area for a boat rarnp, or recommend no new boat ramp be constructed. He asked what the Board wanted to do about this. Tim. said he was at a recent Kenai City Council meeting; they are going to approve this new idea and supporC this location now by resolution. He hopes the board will support this. Board members further discussed whether they should make any decision at this moment, if a new boat ramp is needed for either drift or powerboat uses and if a private party bought the land would they be able to get the permits for a boat launch. A suggestion was made that it would be important to consult the Kenai River Comprehensive Management Plan thoroughly to see how it addresses these types of issues. Ann asked if there is a timeline for this proposal. Brett said the Legislature would need to approve any proposed changes if our decision is to pursue another piece of land. And, since the Legislature won't be meeting until January, we could take some time to make sure we're comfortable with our position before we make any recommendations to the Legislature. 7anette C. would like to talk about this item again and wants Parks to provide a synopsis of the KRSMA Plan concerning another boat ramp. Brett H. asked if the board would like to reschedule this item to a later date with additional information added then. 7anette said we should be specific about the information we ask fm- in the future. She said we need to hear more about the other parcels proposed also. Tim N. said the Legislature has directed DNR to conshuct a new boat ramp on the river and we should decide on the area to put one and look at the alternatives, not say no. Brett H. said we will wait for more information and reschedule this item for the next board meeting. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 6 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes II. Boat Wake Study -Update/Status, Lance Trasky Lance T. does not have a firm date from the Corps on when he will have the Boat Wake Study Final Report. He expects to have it by the next meeting and needs to know how many copies the board wants made. 100 copies was the corsensus. Lance also said he will try to put it on the Web. Lance talked to the USGS and they are looking at doing phase two of the study next summer. He will meet with the USGS before the next board meeting to discuss what we want them to do and identify funding sources. Lance also said the board needs to form a new committee to work with USGS on phase two of the study. Interested board members are Chris D., Paul S., Brett F3., Lance T. and 7anette C. said Monday's or Tuesday's would work best for her. C. Committee Reports: a. Recreation Study Committee Chris gave a brief overview of the committee's Recreation Study options, with three potential directions to consider: « To do nothing ® Pursue the Capital funding request to the Alaska Legislature that has been submitted, which would mean a study done in 2003 ® To conduct a low cost, efficient study consisting of a GPS monitoring program, onsite survey of anglers and a video monitoring of key places and times. The Committee recommended pursuing the third option so that iC would be more likely to be accomplished. A lower cost study would take advantage of volunteer labor and contributions by the Alaska Pacific University, with minimal state funding to purchase some equipment and pay a university student. The objective of this focused shady would be to monitor the recreational use of the river and develop a sense of how the user groups are uti]izing the river, and survey them about their opinions about their experience. Professor Greg Brown, of the Alaska Pacific University has expressed considerable interest in assisting with this work, as it could be incorporated into his course work. Chris said a committee recommendation was to invite Greg Brown to the next meeting to discuss this study. Chris also stated the board needs to decide whether this committee should keep working on this study. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 7 ®ctober 18, 2001 Meefing Minutes Paul S. made a motiml to pursue both capital funding from the Legislature as welt as pursue a simple monitoring effort, as outlined above. Ann W-P. seconded this motion. Janette C. suggested inviting Dr. Brown to the next board meeting to give his insight on this study. Motion is passed. b. Commercial Operators Committee Jeff K. said there was a great turnout at the meeting Coday. They reviewed this season and identified some problems to deal with in the stipulations for next year such as registering and un-registering boats and guide behavior. The Guide Orientation sessions are working great and the new stipulations will be done by the first of the year. c. Legislative Committee Brett H. said the committee did not meet yet. d. Boroagb Committee Tim N. said he would introduce an ordinance to the Borough Assembly to adopt the KRCMP as a working tool for the Borough, if preliminary discussions work out with the assembly. He will introduce it in December to the assembly and it could be enacted in 7anuary. Tim said he would need as many people to support the introduction as possible when that time comes. e. Water Quality Committee Charles Q. said at the last meeting that Robert Ruffner gave a presentation on the water quality of the Kenai River. The Committee has not met again yet as Robert Ruffner has been on vacation, but the committee will meet before the next board meeting. D. Kenai River Center Update, Suzanne Fisler Suzanne said the City of Soldotna's bank restoration project at Centennial Park needs more discussion on the appropriate restoration techniques to be used before the permits can be made final. The City of Kenai's Erosion Project has been temporarily suspended by DGC. The USFWS and the IvTational Marine Fisheries commented negatively on the Federal portion of the coastal review to the Corps of Engineers. There has been no action on the Unity Trail since last month. Next month we should have a report on the Cooper Landing/DOT road project. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 8 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes V. ~'Ut$LIC C~MMEh'T The new ADF&G - Sportfish Area Management Biologist Mark Gamblin introduced himself and stated that the Board would be seeing a lot more of him in the future, and is looking forward to working with the Board. Vi. AD,~~URNN~N7 A. board Comments Paul said that at the last meeting he requested the Kenai River Habitat Review report and that has not been presented yet. ~. Date/Agenda of Next lYleeting November 15, 2001 - 7:00 p.m., Kenai River Center Meeting Room Agenda should include a discussion with Dr. Greg Brown, APU, regarding a recreation use monitoring study, additional discussion on the Lower River Boat Launch, and a status update on the Sterling F~ighway MP 45-60 project. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory IIoard Page 9 October 18, 2001 Meeting Minutes