Final Minutes
Technical Committee Meeting
July 17, 2002
Holiday Inn, Kearney, Nebraska
Agenda and Minutes
Paul Tebbel, Technical Committee (TC) Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:50 a.m. No changes to the agenda were made. The May TC minutes were approved as modified.
Status Reports
Governance Committee and Finance Committee - Dale Strickland reported on recent Governance Committee (GC) and Finance Committee (FC) activities. The FC discussed the TC's pre-proposal for development of a database management system at their last meeting. The FC felt that a database management system is needed and important for the Program but that development of the system at this time is not appropriate given other issues. They requested that the issue be discussed quarterly at FC meetings. Dale reported that the GC last met on June 10 during a joint TC/GC workshop in Denver to discuss monitoring and research issues. The workshop was successful in that the GC continues to support the basic resource selection design of the monitoring portion of the IMRP. Dale noted that the current IMRP and protocols need to adequately address and measure available habitat parameters and not just used habitat. The GC has also met via a conference call to discuss a proposed National Academy of Sciences review. There is general agreement, not consensus, for review of the science behind the Program. There are concerns regarding delays that are likely if a review is conducted.
DEIS/BO Update - Mark Butler reported that the EIS Team would be providing an update to the GC for the hydrology, geomorphology, and land analysis sections as they pertain to the river channel on July 18. The EIS Team's current schedule is to have the draft EIS available in December 2002.
Tern and Plover Monitoring - The entire river was surveyed according to the protocol during the June period. Jim Jenniges noted that he had completed the July survey for the area above the Kearney Diversion. The FWS is planning on conducting the survey in the lower area during the week of July 22. Accessible sandpits continue to be monitored. Sandpits around Kearney owned by Broadfoot are monitored once a month and are not monitored for nesting/fledging success per the agreement reached with the pit owner. Mark Peyton noted that it would be beneficial to include more "triggers" in the protocol for when surveys are done and not done. He used the example that the river surveys in June did not find any nests and that there was a high water event in the upper river section just prior to the July survey. This would have eliminated any nests initiated between the June survey date and just before the high water. No action was taken on the suggestion. Mark Czaplewski noted that it is difficult or impossible to accurately count numbers of chicks/broods on some sandpits currently due to the growth of vegetation.
Pallid Sturgeon - Dale reported that the subgroup met on June 20 and discussed the current draft monitoring and research plan developed by the FWS. Notes from the meeting were distributed to the subgroup and comments are expected. The next meeting is not scheduled.
Spring 2002 Whooping Crane Monitoring Protocol Implementation - Gary Lingle, AIM Environmental Consulting, reported on implementation of the TC's Whooping Crane Protocol in spring 2002. Protocol implementation included aerial surveys, ground tracking, habitat measurements, and detectability trials. During aerial surveys, a whooping crane was observed on 13 different days. Wally Jobman, USFWS, recorded these as the same observation number (FWS number 02A-01). After Gary's report, there was limited TC discussion. Written comments had been submitted to Gary prior to the meeting from individual TC members. AIM will finalize the report within two weeks based on the comments received.
Whooping Crane Survey Information Summary - The Executive Director's office was asked at the last TC meeting to draft a summary of data collected using the Whooping Crane Monitoring protocol from Spring 2001 through Spring 2002 (three survey periods). A draft table and map summarizing the information was distributed. The TC asked that the table include the FWS identification numbers along with the group identification numbers established via the protocol and to also make clear in the title that the information relates to observations and not number of individual whooping cranes. With these changes the summary will be finalized.
Habitat Protection Plan - Members of the Drafting Committee and Habitat Subgroup of the Land Committee joined the TC for a discussion of the Habitat Protection Plan (HPP). The purpose of the joint meeting was to discuss technical comments received on the most recent draft. Drafting Committee members recorded this information for use in revising the HPP and identified several policy topics that will be brought to the Governance Committee.
Protocols
Geomorphology
The Executive Director's office identified several comments submitted on the May 21, 2002, draft Geomorphology protocol needing TC discussion/direction prior to incorporation. Comments and TC direction were:
1) Comment - Protocol should remeasure monitoring transects after large flow events. Direction - protocol is designed for long-term monitoring and methods for remeasurements after large flow events should be part of a research protocol that utilizes transects and baseline data from the monitoring protocol.
2) Comment - Protocol needs to identify what agencies the Program will be relying upon for specific data. Direction - the protocol should identify data that are needed by the Program that are currently being collected by other entities (e.g., flow data from the USGS). The protocol should also identify additional data that the Program may need to pay for/cost share with existing entities for additional information (e.g., temperature probes at USGS gauging station).
3) Comment - Protocol needs to collect temperature and other water quality data. Direction - There was considerable discussion regarding various water quality data needs. No specific direction was given for inclusion in the protocol during the meeting.
4) Comment - Protocol should identify placement of staff gages at all/some transect locations. Direction - The TC was unclear on the need for staff gages at transect locations and felt that there may be other means to get the same information (e.g., GPS, wells) since staff gages are regularly removed from the bed by ice. The TC asked the Executive Director's office to clarify the issue with those providing the original comment.
5) Comment - Protocol needs to measure bed load. Direction - TC agreed that bed load estimates/mass balance should be added to the protocol using the indirect estimators (e.g., Improved Einstein equation) rather than direct measurement.
6) Comment - Protocol needs to collect sediment samples throughout island profile (i.e., from top if island down to water line in a soil pit). Direction - TC agreed that sediment sampling throughout the soil profile was a research items that was needed as part of a management plan before any island leveling, and should not be part of the system level monitoring.
The Executive Director's office will redraft the protocol based on the above direction.
Database Management - Dale reported that the FC reviewed the TC's pre-proposal for development of a database management system and that the FC felt that the time is not appropriate given other issues for development of the system (see Status Report above). The changes to the protocol suggested to date will be incorporated. The TC will not revisit the protocol until the issue goes before the FC as a full proposal.
Vegetation - The Vegetation Subgroup met on July 16 to discuss the draft Vegetation Monitoring protocol and the Cottonwood Ranch Phase I Survey report developed by the Executive Director's office. Comments from the meeting on both the protocol and report will be incorporated. Revised documents will be sent to the TC for consideration at a future meeting.
Aerial Photography - A verbal pre-proposal for taking black and white aerial photographs this fall will be brought to the FC at their meeting July 18, 2002. If the pre-proposal is approved a full proposal will be taken to the FC at their next meeting.
Whooping Crane Monitoring - Dale reported that a proposal was sent to the FC and GC for packaging of the fall 2002, spring 2003 and fall 2003 whooping crane monitoring. It will be discussed at the FC and GC meetings this week. The TC agreed that if the FC does not agree with packaging that it should be proposed that they fund just the fall 2002 survey.
There was discussion regarding peer review of the whooping crane protocol, as well as other protocols, and how/when resource availability data will be collected. Protocols need to be peer reviewed to help insure that the Program is collecting the correct data in the appropriate manner. The FC will be updated on the peer review issue. Paul Tebbel noted that he would ask the GC for direction on peer review. The Executive Director's office will review current protocols to see how and where data on resource availability data can be obtained within existing budgets and protocols.
Budget
Dale noted that the current budget for assistance from the Executive Director's office in drafting protocols is nearly exhausted. If more work on protocol drafting is needed a budget adjustment will be required. The Executive Director's office will put together a status sheet on protocol development for TC review.
Baseline
Prior to the meeting the Executive Director's office distributed a list of comments on the Whooping Crane section of the baseline document that they believe require TC discussion/direction. The comments and TC direction on each topic were:
1) Comment: include conclusions found in the literature as part of the baseline and not just the data. Direction: the baseline should include conclusions drawn by authors about data in that report. The conclusions should be on the original data in the report. Unless there is some substantial reason for quoting second hand conclusions about data, the baseline should only quote conclusions from original source reports, not cite later authors interpretations of the data.
2) Comment: include summary statistics in data tables. Direction: data tables will include mean, median, standard deviation, and range.
3) Comment: expand baseline to outside the central Platte. Direction: literature outside the central Platte will continue to be included only by reference.
4) Comment: include metrics or data parameters as identified in the FWS Species Objective Report for the central Platte. Direction: decision will be made after the report is more widely distributed and the FWS decides how it will be used or the GC provides direction.
5) Comment: include metrics or parameters as identified in the HPP and associated tables (e.g., include water velocity as a heading in the baseline document). Direction: HPP should be used to identify parameters, similar to how the R3-1 and protocols are used.
6) Comment: note the disproportionate amount of crane viewing in the central Platte compared to other areas along the migration route. Direction: include an estimate of effort in the background section if a reference can be located.
7) Comment: should the baseline include post 1997 data. Direction: yes.
8) Comment: state the limitations of transect data in describing whooping crane habitat. Direction: identify any obvious problems with data such as the fact that measurements at roost site are taken at different flows and time than when cranes actually use the site.
These same directions will be applied to other baseline sections as appropriate (e.g., Tern and Plover section). The TC had limited discussion on the Tern and Plover section distributed prior to the meeting. TC asked that the data table from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) be updated to include data through 2001 or 2002 as available. Comments on the Tern and Plover section should be sent to Clayton Derby by July 31, 2002.
Technical Committee Chair
Paul Tebbel was unanimously re-elected as TC chair.
Future Meetings
September 12 and 13, Ogallala, Nebraska
Adjourn - 5:00 p.m.
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