Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee (FWC) Date: February 17, 2016 Time: 3:00 P.M
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Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee (FWC) Date: February 17, 2016 Time: 3:00 p.m. Location: County Public Works Department Road Maintenance Division lunch room (squad room) 2475 Waterbird Way, Martinez CA 94553 (Map is attached.) AGENDA 3:00 p.m. Convene meeting. 1) Introductions. 2) Review/Approve minutes from the January 20, 2016 meeting. 3) Public comment. Includes public comment on topics on the agenda and items not listed on the agenda. The FWC shall also accept public comment on agenda items at the time they are discussed. 4) Updates and announcements from staff and FWC members. Includes discussion on implementation of actions authorized previously, on correspondence received, and on upcoming meetings of interest to the FWC. 5) Review and accept the final report from East Bay Regional Parks Foundation on their “Contra Costa County Youth Environmental Education Camperships” project. 6) Review and accept the final report from SPAWNERS on their “Teaching Volunteers to Monitor the Aquatic Invertebrates Present in San Pablo Creeks an Indicator of Stream Health” project. 7) Continue to consider the 16 Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund applications submitted by January 6, 2016. Consider making a recommendation to the Internal Operations Committee of the Board of Supervisors on this matter. 8) Determine the agenda for the next meeting. The next regular meeting date is March 16, 2016. Possible agenda items for upcoming meetings include: • Presentation on problem weeds • Election of Officers - April Adjourn The Committee Chair may alter the order of agenda items at the meeting. Please contact Maureen Parkes at 925-674-7831 / [email protected] (or Abigail Fateman at 925-674-7820 / [email protected]) at the CCC Department of Conservation and Development if you have questions about the Fish & Wildlife Committee or desire materials related to this agenda. The FWC will provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities planning to participate in this meeting who contact staff at least 72 hours before the meeting. County Public Works Department Road Maintenance Division lunchroom (squad room) From Hwy 680: 1. Merge onto CA-4W 2. Continue with the directions from Hwy 4. From Hwy 4: 1. Take the Pacheco Blvd exit. 2. Merge onto Pacheco Blvd. 3. Turn onto Blum Road (North past Police Department). 4. Turn right onto Imhoff Drive (a cemetery is at the corner of Blum and Imhoff). 5. Turn left onto Waterbird. (There is a Top Soil / Clean Dirt sign at the corner). 6. Turn left onto the Public Works Maintenance building after you pass County’s gas pumping station. Once you are in the parking lot, pass the building on your right. Park your car near the side entrance (not the front entrance). Enter through the side entrance. Our meeting room is on your left once you enter the building. Please ask the receptionist to direct you if you have trouble finding the meeting room. Draft Meeting Minutes of the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee on January 20, 2016 1) Introductions. Clark Dawson, Roni Gehlke, Susan Heckly, Derek Jansen, Brett Morris, Daniel Pellegrini and Jeff Skinner attended the meeting. Martha Berthelsen, Kathleen Jennings and Scott Stephan provided advance notice that they would not be able to attend the meeting. Raj Hajela (East Bay Regional Parks Foundation), Nicole Kozicki (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) and Dawn Manley (Lindsay Wildlife Experience) attended the meeting. Maureen Parkes (CCC Department of Conservation and Development) attended as staff. 2) Review/Approve minutes from the December 16, 2015 meeting. The minutes were approved as written. AYES: Gehlke, Heckly, Jansen, Pellegrini and Skinner NOES: None ABSENT: Berthelsen, Jennings and Stephan ABSTAIN: Dawson 3) Public comment. Includes public comment on topics on the agenda and items not listed on the agenda. The FWC shall also accept public comment on agenda items at the time they are discussed. There were no public comments. 4) Updates and announcements from staff and FWC members. Includes discussion on implementation of actions authorized previously, on correspondence received, and on upcoming meetings of interest to the FWC. Maureen Parkes updated the FWC on the following items: Martha Berthelsen, Kathleen Jennings and Scott Stephan provided advance notice that they would not be able to attend the meeting today. Roni Gehlke and Kathleen Jennings were reappointed to the FWC for another three years by the Board of Supervisors on January 5, 2016. 5) Review and accept the progress report from Earth Team on their “Sustainable Youth Watershed Internships at the Environmental Science Academy, Pinole Valley High School” project. The FWC reviewed and accepted the progress report. AYES: Dawson, Gehlke, Heckly, Jansen, Pellegrini and Skinner NOES: None ABSENT: Berthelsen, Jennings and Stephan ABSTAIN: None 6) Review and accept the progress report from East Bay Regional Parks Foundation on their “Kids Healthy Outdoor Challenge – Field Trips” project. Raj Hajela, East Bay Regional Parks Foundation, provided a verbal report on the project. The FWC reviewed and accepted the progress report. AYES: Dawson, Gehlke, Heckly, Jansen, Pellegrini and Skinner NOES: None ABSENT: Berthelsen, Jennings and Stephan ABSTAIN: None 7) Consider the 16 Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund applications submitted by January 6, 2016. As per a memo dated January 18, 2011, one member provided disclosure regarding potential or perceived conflicts of interest. Daniel Pellegrini disclosed that he is on the East Bay Regional Park District Park Advisory Committee, an organization that has a relationship to the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation which had applied for a grant. The grants were reviewed and discussed in detail. A grant applicant, Raj Hajela (East Bay Regional Parks Foundation) was in attendance and contributed additional verbal information in response to the Committee’s questions. The Committee directed staff to contact several of the grant applicants for additional information. The consideration of the grant applications was continued to the February 17, 2016 meeting. 8) Continue to discuss the Wildlife in Your Backyard brochure and consider finalizing text, selecting a distribution method, and recommending that the Board of Supervisors approve expenditure of Fish and Wildlife Propagation funds to print the brochure. The FWC approved the final text and recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve no more than $1,400 to print 5,000 copies of the brochure. AYES: Dawson, Gehlke, Heckly, Jansen, Pellegrini and Skinner NOES: None ABSENT: Berthelsen, Jennings and Stephan ABSTAIN: None 9) Determine the agenda for the next meeting. The next regular meeting date is February 17, 2016. Possible agenda items for upcoming meetings include: Continue to review Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund grant applications. Presentation on problem weeds Adjourn February 10th, 2016 Ms. Maureen Parkes Contra Costa County Fish & Wildlife Committee 30 Muir Road Martinez, CA 94553 Email: [email protected] Ms. Parkes, Attached, with appreciation for the Committee’s generous support, is our Final Report on your $10,000 award from April 21st 2015 for Contra Costa County Youth Environmental Education Camperships at the East Bay Regional Park District’s Camp Arroyo residential camp near Livermore. Participation from Contra Costa County low-income, late-elementary and middle-school schools was active during Spring Semester 2015. Over 300 youth and 35 educators and chaperones representing ten classrooms from 4 schools in the county completed their weeklong stays, and came away with measurably greater awareness-of and concern-for wildlife and habitat resources. At an average subsidy of $114.26/child, the committee’s $10,000 underwrote the participation of 88 low-income young people. Once again, allow us to express our gratitude for the Committee’s support of this major effort to impart locally-focused environmental education to our county’s kids. Sincerely, Carol Johnson Executive Director /ebf Final Report on 2015 CCCF&WC award from Regional Parks Fndtn. 4pp 02/10/16 1 Regional Parks Foundation Final Report on The Contra Costa County Fish & Wildlife Propagation Fund 2015 Award For Camp Arroyo Residential Stays – February 10th, 2016 Grant Funding Date: April 21st 2015 Amount: $10,000. Project Description Summary: Contra Costa County’s wildlife and their habitats will be conserved only if today’s young people have both an awareness of and an affinity for the protection of our environment. The Camp Arroyo residential environmental education camp seeks to correct ‘Nature Deficit Disorder –‘ the alienation and lack of connection to environmental, wildlife, and open-space resources which is too often seen among today’s young people, and disproportionately among those who are urbanized and disadvantaged. Camp Arroyo is a collaboration between the Regional Parks Foundation, the East Bay Regional Park District, the YMCA of the East Bay, and other community organizations that serve disadvantaged children and youth. The YMCA of the East Bay, through a special partnership agreement, operates Camp Arroyo year ‘round. The Regional Parks Foundation’s role is to conduct fundraising to facilitate the participation of schools serving low-income kids. Fourth, 5th, & 6th grade youth and their educators have 3- or 4-day residential visits which feature a curriculum emphasizing hands-on introductory lessons in sustainability, ecosystems, wildlife, conservation,