Record of Decision Signed & Approved RMP Released. On September 8, 2005, the BLM California State Director Mike Pool signed both the Record of Decision (ROD) for the California Coastal National Monument (CCNM) Resource Management Plan (RMP) and the Approved RMP. With the signing of the ROD and the RMP, the resource management planning for the CCNM has been completed. On Friday, September 9, 2005, the Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the Approved RMP was published. Five hundred copies of the CCNM Approved RMP have been printed and copies have been mailed to individuals in BLM, California Department of Fish and Game, California State Parks, and other CCNM partner organizations, as well as other interested individuals and organizations who have requested copies. Those individuals and organizations should begin receiving the mailed copies during the first week of October 2005. In addition, a post card mailer will be sent out in early October to the more than 1,000 addresses on the CCNM mailing list. The mailer announces that copies of the CCNM RMP, either the printed or the compact disc (CD) version, are now available upon request by contacting the CCNM office by mail at 299 Foam Street, Monterey, CA 93940, or by telephone at (831) 372-6115, or via e-mail at ccnm@ca.blm.gov. Governor’s Representative Tours Monterey Peninsula Portion of CCNM with Core-Managing Partners. Top representatives from the CCNM core-managing partners participated in a tour of Monterey Peninsula portion of the CCNM on Friday, August 12, 2005. Intended to give Dan Skopec, the Governor of California’s Deputy Cabinet Secretary who deals with natural resources, energy, and environmental issues, an on-site briefing on the CCNM, the day provided a great opportunity to get the key directorate of the CCNM Core-Managing Partners together just before the ROD was signed and the final RMP was approved. BLM was represented by Mike Pool, California State Director, Jan Bedrosian, California Deputy State Director-External Affairs, and Rick Hanks, CCNM Manager. The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) was represented by Director Ryan Broddrick and Sonke Mastrup, Deputy Director-Wildlife and Inland Fisheries, while the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) was represented by Paul Ramero, Chief Deputy Director, and Lynn Rhodes, Northern Division Operations Branch Chief. Also participating in the tour were two BLM employees, Aaron King and Rachel Saunders, who are both detailed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and work part of their time on the CCNM staff. Aaron spends half of his time as the CCNM’s Research and Grants Coordinator and the other half as the NOAA-National Marine Protected Areas Center’s “Navigating National Marine Protected Areas” program manager, while Rachel spends most of her time as NOAA-Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s community and public relations coordinator while serving as the CCNM’s central coast community liaison. The morning portion of the day was an auto-tour around the shoreline of the Monterey Peninsula, beginning with a stop at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station (HMS) next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and ended at the public viewing pull-out at Bird Rock on the property of the Pebble Beach Company along the famed 17-Mile Drive. At the HMS stop, the group was greeted by HMS marine sciences professor Steve Palumbi who provided a brief introduction to the marine station; CCNM Manager Rick Hanks gave an outdoor, introductory briefing on the CCNM and the status of the RMP; and a brief questions and answers discussion followed. The afternoon portion provided the opportunity for each of BLM’s CCNM Core-Managing Partners to showcase a few of the assets that they bring to the partnership. State Parks hosted lunch at their Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds, with State Parks’ Asilomar Sector Superintendent Stephanie Price providing a brief tour of the conference center lodge and discussion of the center’s opportunities. DFG ended the afternoon with a demonstration of their marine patrol capabilities by providing the group with a quick trip around the Monterey Peninsula’s Point Pinos on one of DFG’s Marine Region patrol boats, the Steelhead, piloted that day by Patrol Lieutenant Mark Crossman. U.S.Air Force Becomes CCNM First “Steward”. With the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) by the BLM California State Director Mike Pool, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) became the first “Steward” for a portion of the CCNM. The MOU was signed by BLM on September 1, 2005, after first being signed on August 29, 2005, by Gary Maher, Headquarters Air Force Space Command Environmental Division Chief. Through the MOU, the USAF has agreed to serve as a “Steward” for the 35-mile portion of the CCNM off the coastline of Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) in Santa Barbara County. As a CCNM Steward, the USAF will work closely with the CCNM core-managing partners and other CCNM partners, as appropriate, to assist with the long-term protection and administration of the portion of the CCNM and its various resources and resource values within the USAF Stewardship Area. The MOU also formalized the “cooperating agency” role that the USAF had with the BLM for the past few years related to the development of the CCNM RMP and the associated environmental impact statement before the ROD was signed. TrinidadRancheria Continues Relationship with CCNM by Signing a Stewardship Agreement. With the signing of a CCNM stewardship MOU, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria became the second CCNM “Steward”. As a CCNM Steward, the Trinidad Rancheria will work closely with the CCNM Core-Managing Partners and other CCNM partners, as appropriate, to assist with the protection and administration of the portion of the CCNM within the Trinidad Rancheria Stewardship Area. This area is from just north of Trinidad Headland and south to Little River, all in Humboldt County. Together, BLM and the Trinidad Rancheria will seek opportunities to coordinate, share, or combine resources and data to carry out protection, monitoring, research, and public education initiatives associated with unique coastal habitats and resource values associated with the Trinidad Rancheria Stewardship Area. The Trinidad Rancheria was one of four formal “cooperating agencies” associated with the development of the CCNM RMP. Yurok Tribe Investigating Options to link CCNM with Tribe Park Plans. As part of the Yurok Tribal Council’s decision to establish a Yurok tribal park system and affiliate it with the compatible management of adjacent Federal and State lands thorough co-management agreements, representatives for the Yurok Tribe met with CCNM representatives at the BLM Arcata Field Office on July 21, 2005. Representing the Yurok were Dr. Thomas Gates, Yurok Tribal Historic Preservation Office and his assistant Lori McKinnon, as well as Destry Jarvis, President of Outdoor Recreation and Parks Services, a private consulting firm under contract to the Yurok Tribe. Rick Hanks, CCNM Manager; Lynda Roush, Arcata Field Office Manager; and Bob Wick, Arcata Field Office planning and environmental coordinator represented BLM. Establishment of a Yurok tribal park system is part of the tribe’s intent to re-establish its traditional role in the management of its ancestral territory. As a part of this initiative, the Yurok Tribe is interested in developing a CCNM Steward partnership with BLM for a portion of the CCNM. Of specific interest is Reading Rock located approximately five miles off the Humboldt County coast northwest of the town of Orick. A draft CCNM Steward MOU will be prepared and used as a vehicle to stimulate discussion regarding how best to develop this unique opportunity. CCNM Particpates in MARINe Coordination Meeting. Central and Northern California partners and potential partners of the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network, better known as “MARINe”, met in Monterey on July 21, 2005, to discuss the program and how best to continue its expansion. MARINe is a network of more than two dozen governmental agencies, universities, and private organizations working together on long-term monitoring of shoreline resources in order to provide a better understanding of the dynamics of rocky intertidal communities. MARINe is coordinated by the Minerals Management Service (MMS), BLM’s sister agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. MARINe organizes its participants along the west coast of the U.S. by setting intertidal sampling and data storage protocols so that data between researchers are compatible and comparable. The meeting’s 19 participants were from academia, Federal and State agencies, NGOs, and industry. CCNM was represented by Aaron King, CCNM’s research and grants coordinator. For the first half of the meeting, each of the MARINe partners described their projects and provided updates on various issues regarding their sampling sites. The second half of the meeting was a discussion on how the group could encourage more entities to participate in the program. While funding and program priorities have not enabled the CCNM to formally participate in the program to date, future CCNM participation is expected. CCNM Subject of Sea Ranch Forum. CCNM Manager Rick Hanks spent a sunny Saturday afternoon on the Mendocino coast speaking at The Sea Ranch Forum. The public forum deals with subject affecting the residents of The Sea Ranch Association (TSRA). Hanks presented an hour-long PowerPoint Presentation regarding the CCNM, the RMP, RMP implementation, and Steward partnership agreements, followed by an hour-long questions and answer session. Approximately 40 Sea Ranch and neighboring area residents attended the forum. Of particular interest was the opportunity for TSRA to serve as one of the CCNM Stewards for the portion of the CCNM adjoining The Sea Ranch properties. That morning, Hanks met with John Fox, the new TSRA community manager, and discussed the possibility of TSRA serving as a CCNM Steward. As a follow-up, a Draft CCNM Steward MOU has been sent to Mr. Fox who will provide it to TSRA’s Board of Directors for discussion at their October meeting. CCNM Manager’s Meetings. Over the past four months, the CCNM Manager attended a variety of meetings related to the CCNM. Some of the key meetings are listed below: - CaliforniaCoastal Commission, CCNM RMP consistency review approval, San Diego, CA, July 7, 2005.
- U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Law Branch, Pacific Area, with USCG attorneys Jack Hug, Environmental Law Branch Chief, and staff attorneys Richard Beyer and LCDR Lisa Houlihan, re: CCNM RMP status, aids-to-navigation rights-of-way, and collaborative partnership MOU possibility, Coast Guard Island, Alameda, CA, July 20, 2005.
- Trinidad Rancheria Business Committee, with BLM Arcata Field Manager Lynda Roush, re: proposed Stewardship MOU, Trinidad, CA, July 21, 2005.
- Julie Packard, Monterey Bay Aquarium, re: CCNM update and implementation priorities, Monterey, CA, August 10, 2005.
- Walter Schobel, USAF (Vandenberg AFB contact), re: CCNM Steward MOU and CCNM RMP status, Seaside, CA, August 11, 2005.
- BLM California State Office All-Employees Monthly Meeting, CCNM PowerPoint Presentation re: “Rocks, Ecosystems, Partnerships, & Gateways: Developing a Management Approach for the CCNM”, Sacramento, CA, September 1, 2005.
CCNM in the News. - Times-Standard, Eureka, “Coastal monument plan complete” (John Driscoll), September 12, 2005.
- The Daily Triplicate, Crescent City, “Coastal gateway?” (Katherine Kerlin), September 12, 2005.
- Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, “California Coastal Monument plan signed” (BLM news release with reference to Hanks’ presentation date at The Sea Ranch Forum on 9/17/05), September 16, 2005.
Contact Information. Any questions, comments, concerns, or requests for additional information? Contact Rick Hanks, CCNM Manager, 299 Foam Street, Monterey, CA 93940, telephone (831) 372-6105 or 372-6115, or e-mail at hhanks@ca.blm.gov or cacnm@ca.blm.gov.
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California Coastal National Monument: A partnership in protecting unique California coastal resourcesPROTECTION - RESEARCH - EDUCATION - PLANNING |
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