May 02, 2001
facilitator Pat Corcoran

7:05 introductions

7:10 Announcements:
-Jake Vale announced that as a project for the Watershed Steward Program he would be putting ups signs where roads cross streams and creeks. The signs may simply say the name of the creek.

7:10 Committee Reports:

• 
  The Culvert Committee met and worked on a proposal to put the culverts from within the watershed into a GIS.
• -The Monitoring Committee is working with the DEQ to get our QA plan approved. We submitted the QA proposal several months ago and are now in our third round of comments.
• The Land and Water Use Committee met and are in the process of defining themselves. They are working on preparing lists of goals and objectives for the committee.
• The Outreach and Education Committee met and did some brainstorming on ways to raise funds. They may look into selling council T-shirts. Several potential designs were passed around. Speakers for the next few months will include someone from the Philomath Fire Department, someone from the Oregon Department of Forestry, and Jessie Kneissler, an student from PHS who did an internship for the council. Jesse will present her research results from her project.
• The Steering Committee met and brought questions of funding to the general council. The question was raised as to whether the council should institute voluntary dues to cover small expenses such as for the mailing of the quarterly newsletter. This would not cover salaries or general council operations. It was proposed also that the council solicit tax-deductable donations as a non-profit organization. In the discussion that followed a question was raised as to how to minimize the possibility that council policies come to be skewed by the influence of any one big donar. It was argued that it would have to be the responsibility of the Steering Committee to monitor funding and make sure that donations are not disproportionate.  A final proposal was not voted on this meeting. It was agreed that a more complicated proposal would be formulated for next month.
  
  

7:45 Announcement:
- A facilitator training workshop will be occurring on June 25 and will be presented by Pam Folts and Alice Sperling. A new facilitator is needed for
the MRWC.

7:50 Coordinator's Report
-Copies are available on an update to the Oregon Plan.

-The City of Corvallis is in the process of formulating an Endangered Species Act Response Plan. More information on this can be found under
www.ci.corvallis.us (look under "What's New?").

-On May 11-15 there will be a river network conference at the Asilomar Conference Center in California.

7:55 Speakers:
Students from Philomath HS presented a report on a restoration project they worked on along the Mary's River. Student speakers were Maggie Green, Matt Smith, and Tami Obrien. The goal of their project was to restore riparian vegetation and control a bad stream bank erosion problem. The erosion problem was putting the Philomath water treatment plant in danger.  Underground water treatment pipes were in danger of becoming exposed.  The students began by mapping a nearby riparian forest and used that as a template for the restored forest. Thick mats of Reed Canarygrass and chewing damage by rodents were challenges to the planting process. The reed canary grass was removed and subsequently hand-controlled. Tin foil or small mesh around the base of the plantings provided protection from rodents. Willow, Ponderosa Pine, Red Alder, Red Osier Dogwood, Oregon Ash, Black Cottonwood, and Maple were planted.

8:25 Speaker:
Kevin Campbell, formerly the Executive Director of the Oregon Association of Conservation Districts spoke on the importance of salmon and steelhead habitat conservation and on methods of securing funds needed to implement such activities. He was not favorable to the idea of appointing a point person in Salem to speak on behalf of watershed councils and lobby for state support.  He argued that an association of watershed councils limit itself to being a means of sharing information. He argued that support would better be obtained locally. In his opinion, the state legislature is hamstrung by term limits and is now reduced to simply responding to voter approved ballot measures. He suggested that watershed councils seek taxing authority, and that watershed councils and conservation districts work together in this effort.

9:00 Adjourn