[env-trinity] Federal Advisory Committee meetings on hold- TMC to meet June 14-15 McKinleyville

[Tom Stokely]

All,
Below is an article about the suspension of some federal advisory committee meetings for the Bureau of Land Management and a request from western Senators to reinstate them.  We could use the same attention for the Trinity River Restoration Program's federal advisory committee.
The article is related to other Interior Department federal advisory committees such as the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG), which advises the Trinity Management Council (TMC), the agency/tribal board of directors for the $15 million/year Trinity River Restoration Program.
The TAMWG was going to meet in early June before the next TMC meeting in McKinleyville June 14-15 (Azalea Hall on 1620 Pickett Rd. in McKinleyville).  However, that TAMWG meeting was cancelled.  A TAMWG meeting was being scheduled for mid July, but that too was cancelled.   It is unclear when the TAMWG will meet, if at all.  
At this point, the stakeholders represented by the TAMWG have no means of providing recommendations to the TMC on the Fiscal Year 2018 budget as well as the watershed restoration grant proposal prioritization and other items of public interest.  This is very unfortunate. 
Below are the main talking points provided from Interior.      
   - The Secretary is committed to restoring trust in the Department’s decision-making and that begins with institutionalizing state and local input and ongoing collaboration, particularly in communities surrounding public lands.    
 
   - The Department currently has more than 200 boards, committees, and other internal and external advisory functions that are authorized to solicit input and meet periodically.   
    

   - To maximize feedback from these boards and ensure their compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the President’s recent executive orders, the Department is currently reviewing the charter and charge of each Board/Advisory Committee.  This review process necessitates the temporary postponement of advisory committee meetings.   
  
   - As the Department concludes its review in the weeks ahead, agencies will notice future meetings to ensure that the Department continues to get the benefit of the views of local communities in all decision-making on public land management. 

Tom Stokely 
Salmon and Water Policy Analyst
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and 
Institute for Fisheries Resources
530-524-0315 
tstokely at att.net 

| 
Western Senators Ask Secretary Zinke To Keep Resource Advisory Council Meetings.
The Denver Post (5/11, Blevins) reports that a group of Western senators on Thursday asked the Interior Department “to lift its sudden suspension of advisory committees and local boards that deliver public input on the Bureau of Land Management’s policy decisions.” Sen. Michael Bennet said, “These meetings are an invaluable way to ensure rural and local voices in Colorado are heard and considered in conversations about the use of our public lands. The administration should not block community input on BLM actions. These meetings should be reinstated immediately.” According to the article, “the letter — signed by Democrat Sens. Bennet, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, and Dianne Feinstein of California — noted that none of the senators were notified of the suspended meetings and none were given a reason for the suspension.” The letter stated, “Postponing their progress is a detriment to public land and forest management goals, to jobs and local economies, and to public confidence in federal government.”        Additional coverage of the suspension of advisory committees and local boards was provided by the Boston Globe (5/12, Abel) and KTVZ-TV Bend, OR (5/12). |


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