The Marys River Watershed Council and the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District invite you to attend an educational forum. THIS WILL REPLACE THE REGULAR MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING.

WHEN:    TUESDAY MARCH 7, 2000

WHERE:  La Sells Stewart Center, Engineering Auditorium
7-9PM

TOPIC:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW
PESTICIDE REPORTING LAW:
TIMELINE, KEY PLAYERS AND STRATEGIES.

THERE WILL BE 50 MINUTES OF PRESENTATION AND 1 HOUR OF QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE.

PRESENTERS:

Ms. Peggy Vogue, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Pesticide Records Specialist.  ODA’s timeframe and strategy for implementation of the pesticide reporting law.

Mr. Terry Witt- Oregonians for Food and Shelter
What they will do, studies at OSU, retail pesticide dealer, volume, nuts and bolts, and how we got to where  we’re at.

Dr. Neva Hassanein with Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides –   What lies ahead with the implementation of Oregon's new pesticide tracking law.

Mr. George Pugh – local farmer and Board member of ODA – How the laws will affect him directly.

Mr. Bradley  Knotts  from  Oregon Department of Forestry - What reporting laws they already have in place through the  Forest Practices Act, and what  might change.

Mr. Tom Penpraze– Corvallis City Public Works Department Utilities Manager -  Drinking water interests and how municipalities will handle new law .
 

SEATING IS LIMITED SO PLEASE COME EARLY. DOORS OPEN AT 6:30
FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT SANDRA COVENY, 758-7597 OR SANDRAC@PEAK.ORG

Mary's River Watershed Council Meeting Notes 2/2/00

7:05 Call to order and introductions.

7:10 Announcements/News from around the Watershed
-A wetlands advocacy workshop is scheduled for Feb. 26. The workshop is
sponsored by the Audubon Society of Corvallis.

7:10 Jeff Huntington, the new director of OWEB introduced himself and volunteered
to answer questions. In the question and answer session that followed discussions
were raised on grant programs, new NMFS rules, how does OWEB define "restoration",
hatchery programs, and efforts by OWEB to evaluate projects. An OWEB board
meeting is scheduled for June in Eugene, and Mr. Huntington extended a general
invitation to council members to come to that meeting.

7:35 Announcements/News from around the Watershed (continued)
- The Wren water quality study final report is out. An abbreviated version can
be found in the Wren group newsletter.

- The temperature modeling and monitoring study report is done. It will be
available on the web page.
 

7:40 Steering Committee
-The steering committee is continuing with its review of the bylaws.

-The SC discussed how much money it can approve for small purchases without
meeting with the full council. No decision was made.

-The SC discussed its role relative to other committees in the council. Since
it is the one committee whose members are approved by the full council and which
consists of a sampling of all the major interests in the council, it was decided
that the SC should have some role in the actions of other committees. The exact
nature of that role was not determined.

- The SC discussed coming up with a memorandum of agreement with the Benton
Soil and Water Conservation District.
 

7:45 Coordinator's Report
- On Feb. 8 the outreach and education committee will meet at Philomath High
School in room 64 to come up with a working plan. Efforts need to be made to
include more land-owners in the council. All council members are encouraged
to provide feedback to the committee.

- Sandra attended the Willamette Basin Coordinators meeting on Jan. 26.
Sandra obtained much information on materials, workshops, methods for educating
urban residents on watershed issues.

- The Willamette River Initiative is currently trying to identify money to distribute to watershed councils
and soil and water conservation districts. The Mary's River watershed
council is more likely to be qualified to receive some of this funding if we enter into
a memorandum of understanding with the Benton SWCD. As mentioned in the
steering committee report, we are looking into whether we want to form such
a memorandum of understanding, and what form it would take.

- The culvert team attempted to apply for OWEB funds for the replacement of
a culvert at Wood's Creek. The Feb. 1 deadline was not reached for numerous reasons, mainly because Benton County is working to develop a 5 year plan and would rather work out all of the cost estimates with the big picture in mind. We will submit in September. This should still leave time for late summer  2001 work by the county.
The culvert team is seeking to concentrate efforts on public culverts in
the hopes that the experience gained by public efforts can provide private
culvert owners with some sense as to how to proceed.
 

8:05 Karlene McCabe. Greenbelt Land Trust.
 Ms. McCabe talked about the greenbelt land trust and it's efforts
along the Mary's River. The land trust was established in 1989, has 600
members, and is funded locally. Most early efforts were towards obtaining
lands in the hills surrounding Corvallis. More recently, there has been
interest in conserving green space in low areas around Mary's river. The
land trust intends to be selective about what lands it will direct
conservation efforts. To facilitate this selectiveness, the land trust
has commissioned several mapping projects to look at vegetation patterns
in the 1850's and today, and to look at land use zones. For this Mary's
river effort, the land trust will rely more on conservation easements than
on outright purchases of land. An easement is an agreement by a landowner
to give up the rights to some activities on the property. The IRS does
grant tax benefits to landowners for entering into an easement. The easement
exists with the property even after it passes from one owner to another.
Conservation easements are supposed to exist "in perpetuity", but in order
for that to happen there has to be an agency to monitor the property. The
Greenbelt Land Trust is authorized by the state to fill that role. In order
to assure landowners that the Greenbelt Land Trust will be around to monitor
the easement "in perpetuity", efforts are being made to set up an endowment
fund.
 

8:50 Reed Glassman gave a presentation of his turbidity study on the Mary's
River. Reed described geological patterns within the watershed, noting the
unique geology that can be found in many sub-basins within the watershed.
Sediment samples from each distinct geologic region produce distinct x-ray
diffraction patterns. By examining the x-ray diffraction patterns from
water samples, Reed is able to determine the likely source of the sediment
found in that sample. Reed has concluded from his sampling so far, that the
sediments in his samples exhibit deep soil properties and provide little
evidence of surface rilling.
 

9:10 Adjourn. (NOTE: the next meeting is scheduled on Tuesday March 7, 7-9 pm
in the Engineering room at the LaSalle Stewart Center on the OSU campus.)