**Bureau of Land Management**

Northwest California Resource Advisory Council

**Field Tour and Business Meeting**

Thursday and Friday, Sept. 20 and 21, 2007

Redding, California

**Summary Minutes**

**Opening Business**

Attendance

Category One: Charlene Wardlow, Bob Warren, Don Klusman. Absent: Stan
Leach.

Category Two: Michael Kelley, Diane Beck, Ryan Henson, Rondal Snodgrass.

Category Three: Bill Radtkey, Kendall Smith. Absent: Gene Parham. One
vacancy.

> *There is no majority present in category three, and therefore, no
> quorum of the advisory council.*

BLM Staff: Deputy State Director Tony Danna, Arcata Field Manager Lynda
Roush, Redding Field Manager Steve Anderson, Ukiah Field Manager Rich
Burns, Norcal Public Affairs Officer Jeff Fontana.

Agenda approval: The agenda was approved as mailed. Michael asked to add
an item for discussion of a RAC resolution indicating support of BLM
activities.

Minutes Approval: The minutes from the June meeting were approved as
written.

**State Office Report**

Tony Danna presented a written report (attachment). Highlights:

-   The Senate has approved new BLM Director Jim Caswell of Idaho. His
    top priorities are the Healthy Lands Initiative, Managing for
    Excellence, the National Landscape Conservation System and grazing
    regulations.

-   Deputy Director Jim Hughes has retired after a long career in the
    BLM and the Department of the Interior.

-   Henri Bisson is the sole deputy director in BLM currently. There are
    usually two deputies.

-   The Healthy Lands Initiative is a program that provides funding for
    resource conservation particularly in areas where energy development
    is occurring.

-   California has submitted its proposal to move to a three district
    organization -- northern California, Central California and the
    California Desert -- from the current two-tier structure. The shift
    is part of the Managing for Excellence Initiative.

-   There is proposed legislation to codify the National Landscape
    Conservation System. The legislation would create a BLM system
    similar to the National Park System and National Forest System. It
    would include BLM's special areas including wilderness, wilderness
    study areas, national monuments, national conservation areas and
    others.

-   The budget appropriation process is underway. There may be a
    continuing resolution at the beginning of the fiscal year if
    Congress does not act on the appropriation bills. It would limit
    spending to this year's level.

-   Congressional debate continues regarding proposed changes to the
    1872 mining law.

-   Bob Warren and Don Klusman were selected for membership on the
    Forest Service-BLM Recreation Advisory Council. It will focus on
    review of fee proposals for BLM and FS recreation sites.

Don Klusman reported on a proposal to restructure the California Off
Highway Vehicle (OHV) grant program and the OHV commission. If pending
legislation is approved the OHV commission makeup and function would
change. A major change would be shifting the OHV commission's role to
advisory, eliminating its current function of distributing "green
sticker" grant funds. It would also change the proportion of funds made
available for various functions such as operations and maintenance, law
enforcement and acquisition at OHV sites. If the bill is approved
regulatory changes will be required to implement the changes.

**Management Plan Updates**

Lacks Creek: Lynda Roush updated the council on the status of management
plan development for the area northeast of Arcata. Highlights:

-   Development of the draft is delayed while the field office planning
    coordinator assists with development of the Carrizo Plain management
    plan. The planner will return to Lack's Creek work at the end of the
    calendar year.

-   The staff is working on a range of alternatives and may have some
    material ready for RAC comment at the winter meeting.

-   The field office has opened one area for firewood cutting.

**Cow Mountain National Recreation Area:** Rich Burns said the field
office and partners continue working on the plan, and have received
input about the need for trail development and improvement on areas of
the mountain used for motorized and non-motorized activities. Various
constituency groups are continuing to submit maps with various trail
improvement suggestions. There is great interest in loop trails.

Access to Cow Mountain is a major issue and work is underway to develop
improvements. Access on the east and west sides is on narrow county
roads. Burns said the BLM is interested in working with the City of
Lakeport on improved east side access. There may be an opportunity for
the field office to partner with Lake County in acquisition of private
property, the Green Ranch, where the new county fairgrounds could be
located. The site is adjacent to Cow Mountain's east side and could be
used to replace the current Scott's Creek access. There is potential for
more parking, with room for trailers and recreation vehicles. The
proposal is in the very early discussion stages.

Work is also proceeding on develop new signs for the Mill Creek Road
access route to Cow Mountain to encourage visitors to drive safety and
to be safe with fire. The intent is to protect visitors and to slow
traffic through the adjacent residential site. New signs will be
installed soon. Diane Beck suggested using wide bumps to calm traffic
speeds, as has been done on old Arcata Road on the north coast.

Lynda also noted that \$3 million as been appropriated for cleanup of
the Centerville Naval Station, which is slated for transfer to the BLM.

The RAC discussed options for supporting appropriations for trail
improvements in the King Range, including the Paradise Ridge Trail.
Kendall suggested that individual RAC members could contact their
congressional representatives, including Congressman Mike Thompson, to
suggest support for King Range trails.

**California Coastal National Monument**

**Trinidad Gateway:** Lynda Roush updated the council on the gateway
community efforts in Trinidad. The local committee has developed a
gateway brochure that links the coastal monument with the local features
and associations with the offshore features. The Yurok Tribe has been
heavily involved in presenting information about the importance of the
California coast in the tribe's history and current lifestyle.

The committee has developed a CCNM placemat for its Seascape Restaurant
and a kiosk to be placed near the parking area. It will provide
information about the monument, safety, and the need to avoid disturbing
the wildlife and seabirds that depend on the habitat provided by the
CCNM rocks and islands. The Yurok perspective will be included on the
kiosk panels as well. The kiosk will be installed this fall.

The Trinidad Gateway group is the first to complete locally oriented
materials for the monument.

**Point Arena Gateway:** Rich Burns noted that the group is beginning
work on their Gateway brochure and other interpretive material. A
template might be ready for review at the December meeting. A CCNM kiosk
is in place at the Point Arena Lighthouse and a second is ready for
installation at the community library or the theater. The primary CCNM
brochure has been widely distributed in the community. The group set
their focus area stretching from Alder Creek and Stewarts Point, but
will focus first on an initial brochure highlighting the community of
Point Arena, the Stornetta Public Lands, the Point Arena Lighthouse and
Bowling Ball Beach. Future interpretive products will focus on other
parts of the larger focus area. Details are still being determined.

The field office also is working with the Mendocino Land Trust on a
coastal trail that would link Manchester State Beach with the Stornetta
Public Lands and the community of Point Arena. Plans are being discussed
for CCNM interpretive signing and other interpretation. A challenge is
finding an environmentally sound way for the trail to cross Hathaway
Creek.

There are also partners interested in working as Stewardship Partners in
monitoring ocean health as a way of monitoring the health of CCNM
habitats important to seabirds.

**CCNM Summit:** The meeting was held Aug. 28-29 in Monterey. The core
managing partners -- Bureau of Land Management, California Department of
Fish and Game and California State Parks \-- came together to chart
direction for the coming year and to focus on improving agency
coordination and communication on the monument.

**Gualala Fireworks:** Rich reported on a controversy surrounding an
Independence Day fireworks display over coastal waters near Gualala.
Effects on seabirds nesting on Gualala Point Island were monitored by
volunteers. BLM and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists will be
analyzing the data and reporting on seabird impacts. It appears there
was disturbance to nesting colonies of Brandt's cormorants, including
evidence that some birds abandoned their nests and did not return. The
California Coastal Commission also has been involved and will be
included in the review process and possible development of
recommendations. The RAC asked the BLM to present the study materials at
the next meeting.

**Redding Partnerships**

Staff members from the Redding Field Office provided an overview of
partnership successes.

-   Steve Anderson distributed visitor comments about the Swasey Area of
    Critical Environmental Concern, and the Hornbeck Trail.

Forestry: Field Office Forester Walter Herzog presented information on
the forestry program, specifically the 1,000-acre Weaverville Community
Forest. He provided handouts which are attached to these meeting
minutes.

Highlights:

-   A strategic plan has been developed and a stewardship contract
    implemented. The contract aims to improve the health of the
    community forest and to provide forest products.

-   The community group has developed signs and new gates to help
    improve land use.

-   New trails are being constructed.

-   The first phase of the timber sale has gotten underway. Trees have
    been removed from areas behind subdivision homes. The work will
    reduce hazardous fuel loads on about 219 acres, about 20 percent of
    the forest. The sale yielded about 715,000 board feet, \$132,000 to
    date for the Stewardship account. Logs went to the Trinity River
    Lumber Co. in Weaverville. Funds from the stewardship account will
    available later for recreational trail development.

-   Steve noted management of the community forest is coordinated by the
    Trinity County Resource Conservation District which marked the
    timber sale. He said the results have been "park like." Herzog noted
    the RCD adhered to BLM standards and regulations.

-   Community residents are extremely happy with the success to date.

-   Steve said the RAC should be proud of their long support of the
    Weaverville Community Forest which is proving to be a "win, win,
    win" for the community, the health of the resource and the public in
    general.

Guests: Steve introduced Redding partners Mike Warren, CEO, Turtle Bay
Exploration Park; Terry Hansen, trails coordinator for the city of
Redding; Brian Sindt , McConnell Foundation; and Brent Owen, Redding
Foundation. Steve credited the partners for working toward a vision of
recreation trails that could be a model for the nation. He said BLM is
proud to be a "minor player" in the effort.

Brian Sindt: Described the trail partnership as a "perfect storm" of
partners coming together toward a common goal. He said a reason the
partnership works well is that each agency brings a different set of
skills to the table, but shares the common desire for an extensive and
diverse trail system. He said McConnell and the Redding Foundation
agreed to focus on designing and building the "main" trails, which are
dirt, backcountry routes that can be the core of a larger trail network.

He summarized projects:

-   At the Swasey Recreation Area:

    -   12 miles of trails, a parking area and a new high elevation
        trail. There is a plan for a trail connection toward Whiskeytown
        National Recreation Area.

-   At the Sacramento River Ditch Trail:

    -   The plan would connect the Hornbeck Trail to a new trail along
        the east side of the Sacramento River.

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    -   It parallels the Sacramento Ditch, which is largely on
        BLM-managed public lands.

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    -   It would connect the Hornbeck Trail to Shasta Dam, completing a
        14-mile Sacramento River Trail loop on the east side of the
        river.

Rondal Snodgrass stressed the importance of including interpretive
information about the prehistory of the region, including the continuing
importance for native tribes. He noted that the work is challenging but
suggested that we must remember that we are a conquering civilization as
we relate to native people.

Brent Owens noted that work continues to find compelling ways to provide
interpretive information about the areas covered by the recreation
trails.

Michael Kelley said the trails are world class, destination level
developments. He spoke from his long association with the International
Mountain Bicycling Association.

Mike Warren commented that the trails partnership said that trails, open
space and parks are the heart of a "good community." He said good
planning for these amenities is critical. He said the trail network has
grown to 54 miles because of good leadership from partners including the
BLM's Steve Anderson.

Warren said developing trails now preserves open space by providing
links. It is more difficult for development to displace links that it is
for development to displace open space.

Brent Owen noted that the BLM seems to be willing to take risk and that
has benefited the community trails partnerships.

Ryan Henson commended the group for its work and the contribution is
makes to the quality of life for Redding area residents. He thanked the
McConnell Foundation for their support.

Terry Hansen noted that the larger visions include the Shasta Trinity
Trail and the Sacramento River parkway that would run from the dam to
Red Bluff. He also commented Jim Milestone, superintendent of the
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area for his contributions to the
partnership.

Sacramento River Bend: Kelley Williams, manager of the Sacramento River
Bend Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) updated the RAC on
developments there:

-   The primary trail is the Yana Trail, which runs from Jelly's Ferry
    to Perry's Riffle, a nine-mile route. The entire length was built by
    partners and volunteers. BLM's role has been land acquisitions,
    increasing public ownership from 4,000 acres to about 17,000 acres
    in the Bend area.

-   Crews have removed at least 15 miles of fencing to improve public
    access. The fences were remnants of historic sheep grazing.

**RAC Position on Trails and Funding Opportunities**

While there was no quorum present, members of the council at the meeting
agreed on a position statement regarding BLM's Redding Partnerships:

> *Members of the RAC present unanimously expressed appreciation for the
> Redding Field Office and partners efforts in trail development. They
> expressed support for the field office's intention to seek \$150,000
> in funding from the Iron Mountain Mine Fund that could be used for
> future trail projects. Funds would be a match for a \$150,000 grant
> that has been committed by the McConnell Foundation. The \$300,000
> would be used to complete 13 additional miles of the Sacramento River
> Rail Trail. The item will be on the next meeting agenda meeting agenda
> for consideration of a formal resolution.*
>
> *Chairman Don Klusman will forward the position statement to the state
> director via a cover letter. The cover letter will ask the state
> director to share the RAC position with the Iron Mountain Trustee
> Council for their consideration.*

**Field Office Minerals Program Review**

**Arcata:** Lynda Roush noted that the Arcata Field Office has an
extremely limited minerals program. There are historical minerals
program linkages: California's first oil well was developed at Petrolia.

**Ukiah:** Rich Burns reported that the field office was involved with a
recent oil and gas sale in the Capay Valley (because of the BLM's
responsibility for subsurface management -- split estate
responsibilities). There were nine leases sold. The field office manages
subsurface minerals in the Naval Petroleum Reserves near the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Management of The Geysers Geothermal Steam Field is the largest
component of the field office minerals program. A geothermal lease sale
was held last month. Six tracts were sold. The Blinkley Lease sold for
over \$14,000 per acre, a record high lease sale for the BLM. The lease
allows only for geothermal exploration. The total sales generated \$8
million.

In 2008 the field office anticipates more oil and gas lease sales.

Charlene Wardlow noted that the lease sale generated \$2 million in
proceeds to the BLM, \$3.6 million to Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma
counties and \$4 million to state of California from The Geysers lease
sale.

**Redding:** Steve Anderson reported that the Washington Mine near
French Gulch produced 2,000 ounces of gold in 2006. The operation is now
cutting back employees, but still employs 50 people. The mine was under
development for two years and has operated for a year.

Shasta County, Western Shasta RCD and the Bureau of Reclamation have
removed alluvium from the Sacramento River under use permits. Fees have
been waived. Moss rock and cobbles are also sold under permit.

Steve and Redding Assistant Field manager Francis Berg noted that
mineral material sales are discretionary actions for the agency.

Rondal suggested that sale of lichen-covered rock should be more
carefully considered because of the impacts on the plant life on the
rocks. He questioned whether sale and removal of plant life (lichen) to
areas where it will die might not be responsible. Steve noted that there
is no shortage.

**Sacramento River Bend ACEC**

Bob Warren, representing the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association,
updated the group on the progress of legislation for the Sacramento
River Bend. He said the BLM did not take a strong position on a proposal
in one bill that calls for establishment of an advisory council for the
National Recreation Area. Issues related to differences in maps have
been resolved between the Boxer and Herger proposals. There are still
differences between the bills on the topic of advisory councils. Work is
still proceeding on wording changes. Bob said he will meet with
Congressman Herger next week and will discuss the RAC wording.

**Field Managers' Reports**

Managers presented written field office status reports, which are filed
with these meeting minutes***.***

Responding to questions, Rich Burns noted there is a plan of development
filed by PPM for a wind energy development at The Geysers. The plan was
found to be deficient and was returned to the company.

**Next Meeting Dates and Location**

The Ukiah Field Office will host the next meeting Wednesday and Thursday
Dec. 5-6, with the business meeting on the first day and a tour on the
second. The tour will be on the Mendocino Coast including the Stornetta
Public Lands and the California Coastal National Monument.

Future Agenda Topics: Consider a resolution recommending allocation of
funds for specific BLM projects in northwest California, update on
Sacramento River Bend, Lacks Creek Management Plan, Cow Mountain
National Recreation Area Management Plan, State OHV legislation. CCNM
gateways, Gualala bird biology.

The meeting was adjourned.

*Summary notes compiled by*

*Jeff Fontana, BLM public affairs officer, NorCal*

*Note: Handout materials referenced in these notes are on file in the
BLM NorCal Public Affairs Office. Contact PAO Jeff Fontana (530)
252-5332 for copies.*