7:00	Call for additional Agenda items
7:05	Reports from around the watershed
7:15	Mark Mellbye, a Linn County extension agent specializing in field crops, will present some Best Management Practices (BMPs) for grass seed production and discuss the role of the Extension Service.
7:45	Report from the Steering Committee (1/2 hour) - Speaker TBA Report from the Watershed Council Coordinator - Sandra Coveny (15 minutes)
8:30	Other Agenda items
9:00	Adjourn

Last Months Meeting Highlights:

• The City of Corvallis is drawing up a storm water plan and welcomes comments from interested parties. Contact Patricia Benner 753-9318.

• Sandra Coveny met with OSU people to see about getting OSU involvement with the Mary's River Watershed Council. OSU persons at the meeting include Bob Beschta (Forest Engineering), Boone Kauffman (Fish and Wildlife), Howard Meyer (Animal Science), and Kathryn Staley (NRCS) and Ray Drapek, MRWC. The group discussed small scale restoration projects along the lower reaches of Oak Creek. These projects, if funded, would be examples of effective, low-cost restoration efforts that small land-owners can easily implement.

• John Demming, University of Oregon Land Use Planning Student, presented results from a study of the lower Mary's River he conducted for his Master's project. The study considered the Mary's River from Wren down through to Corvallis and looked at 1850 vegetation, current vegetation, soil, the 100 year flood plain, wetlands, county zoning. Maps of these different layers were presented to the council. These maps are in digital form and will be available on a CD-ROM. John also recounted the history of land-use along the river from burning activities of the Calapooya Indians, to the 1850 donation land claims, to the present. For more information contact the Green Belt Land Trust at 752-9609

• Students from the Philomath High School Ecology class presented results from an invertebrate study they conducted on the Mary's River. They sampled invertebrate fauna above and below the Philomath sewage outtake. From their samples they calculated sequential comparison indices, taxa richness values, diversity indices, and pollution tolerance indices. They consulted with Bob Wisseman, a consultant for aquatic biology, and concluded that both the upstream and downstream locations were degraded, and that little difference could be seen for the invertebrate fauna. The students also looked at dissolved oxygen, temperature, aquatic vegetation, and riparian vegetation, though the results of these studies were not formally presented at our watershed council meeting. Despite the lack of apparent influence on invertebrates, the students were not inclined to conclude that the sewage outtake had no impact on stream health, noting that bacteria counts were much higher downstream.

• Four New Steering Committee members were elected to the Steering Committee: Larry Venell (large agricultural producer representative), Marc Barnes (small timber land representative), Dan O'Brien (small land owner representative), and Jim Fairchild (small land owner and environmental activist representative).

• April 6 is watershed council lobby day in Salem. This is an opportunity to speak to our representatives and tell them of the kind of support we think watershed councils should have from the state. Contact Sandra Coveny 758-7597 if you are interested in meeting with one of your reps that day to discuss watershed councils.