1. Introductions	4. Updates
	2. Approval of Minutes	5. Other Business
	3. Action Items	6. Adjourn

1. Introductions

Brian Cottam GFFP, Inc.
Jackie Marlette GFFP, Inc.
Jim Bell Practical Mycology
Tammy Randall-Parker USFS
Terri Marceron USFS, new Mormon Lake District Ranger
Gene Waldrip USFS
Debbie Kill USFS
Jim Wheeler City of Flagstaff, GFFP, Inc. Board of Directors
Emily Lethenstrom NAU
Carl Edminster USFS- Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS)
JJ Smith NAU School of Forestry
Tamsyn Haldane NAU, interested public
Tom Kolb Society of American Foresters, GFFP, Inc. Board of Directors
Mark Hickok Northland Youth Conservation Corps (NYCX)
Scott Pettitt NYCC
Jeremy Nelson Northern Arizona Conservation Corps
Ethan Aumack Forest ERA- NAU
Mike Macauley Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District
Shaula Hedwall US Fish & Wildlife Service
Dan Neary RMRS
John Gordon Adult Probation, Coconino County
Tomas Robison Arboretum at Flagstaff
Kevin Boness Arizona State Land Department
Taylor McKinnon Grand Canyon Trust
Paul Summerfelt Flagstaff Fire Department
Shirley Merritt Merritt Lumber
Lee Vadnais Small Business Development Center- CCC
James Perkins Perkins Timber Harvesting
Jim Parks Coconino County Farm Bureau & Cattle Growers Association



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2. Approval of July Meeting Minutes

Mike made the correction that he is with Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District.
Motion with name corrections- Mike M
2nd - Tom K
Approved



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3. Updates:

Flagstaff-Lake Mary Ecosystem Analysis (FLEA) DEIS
Debbie Kill, NEPA specialist for the Peaks and Mormon Lake RDs, distributed the Draft Env Impact Statement (DEIS) for FLEA. This project is now open for public comment (for a total of 45 days). Public comments must be received by Oct 21, 2002. Debbie walked the PAB through several pages of the DEIS to explain the process of this proposed Coconino NF Forest Plan amendment. Debbie also discussed several of the maps included in the DEIS. She mentioned that Section C has the actual public comments (with responses) that led to the formation of the specific Alternatives. An open house may occur in October. She said that if there is any organization that wants her to come and discuss the DEIS with them she would, just contact her. Any questions regarding the DEIS can be directed to Debbie at 527-8280.

Kachina Village Forest Health Project
Tammy gave an update. The public comment period ends Sept 30. Over the past month there has been one open house at the Highlands Fire Department and two field trips Overall, there has been an excellent turn out. The main message from the public at the open house was "Get on with it!" The first field trip was to KV. This past weekend the second field trip occurred. It was a tour to Fort Valley and Taylor Woods. A concern raised was the visual effect of treatment areas. People on the second field tour were able to see actual on the ground treated areas. At the end of the field trip people were generally pleased.

Fort Valley Ecosystem Restoration Project
Brian gave an acreage update. He said that 50-60 acres have been worked on since the end of the forest closure. The biggest problem that James (Perkins Timber Harvesting) faces is having a viable market for the logs removed. James is working at Fort Valley right now with the Joint Fire Science Project. He is cutting in Unit 23. Brian recommended that if anyone has a chance, they should go to Fort Valley to see the Timber Jack Harvester. It is high-tech, low-impact equipment, and the researchers are up there so you can talk to them as well. If anyone is interested, Brian can give you directions.

Woody Mountain Project
Tammy also gave an update on this. There have been some great field trips to the Woody Mountain Project Area with Partners and staff. So far, 4 field trips have occurred. The last tour will be September 24. After the field trips are finished, a presentation will be given by the FS to detail the existing conditions and begin to formulate desired future conditions, as outlined in the Partnership's Guide for Standardized Restoration Project Planning. This will occur sometime during the beginning of Oct. Tammy will get the actual dates out when they are determined. Brian reminded all that the last Tuesday of every month is a field tour for the PAB as part of the weekly (each Tuesday) Project Team meetings. This month's field tour on Sep 24 corresponds with the fifth Woody Mountain tour. The beginning discussion on the desired future conditions will most likely occur that same afternoon following the tour. Brian will send out information about that tour as the time gets closer.

Public Information/Involvement Team (PIT)
Community Forests Forum
Jackie provided this update. The Forum occurs the first Tuesday of every month at the City Hall Council Chambers (note that it is no longer going to be at the Public Library). It is a brown bag lunch event from noon - 1:00 pm, so bring your lunches! The first Forum was at the Public Library with Charlie Denton discussing Forest Treatment Within Fire Areas. Partners are encouraged to use this venue to bring public distribution materials. The Arboretum came this month and had a great display on Noxious Weeds. Jackie brought the GFFP Poster Display materials. The presenter for October is Brett KenCairn from ICE, discussing the Hogan Project. November the presenter is Rob Davis, President of Forest Energy Corporation, Show Low discussing Condensed Fuel. December is Shaula Hedwall from USFWS, discussing the Mexican Spotted Owl. January is Ethan Aumack from the Applied Ecology Lab at NAU, discussing Forest Ecosystem Restoration Analysis Project: Landscape Scale Analysis of Forest Restoration in Northern Arizona. If anyone is interested in displaying any materials or wants to present, contact Jackie.
Updated GFFP PowerPoint Presentation
Jackie said that the GFFP PowerPoint Presentation is updated and will soon be available on the website. People can burn it off the website to have their own copy. If you desire Jackie to make a CD for you contact her.
State Fire Assistance Grant
Brian said that the final, approved budget for the SFA grant for "Public Education" funding has been sent out electronically to Partners. He asked for any feedback about the proposed budget items. There were no comments or questions.

Utilization and Economics Team (UET)
Small Diameter Sawmill Site Assessments
Brian passed out the advertisement flier for the presentation Scott Mater will give on the Small Diameter Site Assessment Study. The presentation in Flagstaff is Tuesday Sep 17 from 1:30-3:30 pm at the Coconino National Forest Supervisor's Office. This meeting will take the place of the regular Project Team Meeting that day and will also serve as a UET meeting. Scott is doing a variety of presentations/meetings in Northern Arizona during the week of Sept. 17 as he completes the on-site assessments. Other presentations include: Williams on 9-16, Winslow on 9-18, and White Mts/Eagar on 9-19. Contact Brian if you want the exact schedule.

Biomass Energy Feasibility Study
Brian passed out the advertisement flier for the presentation Tad Mason will give on the final report for the Assessment of Viability for Siting a Biomass Power Plant in Northern Arizona. The UET has received an electronic version of the draft report and needs to provide comments ASAP. If anyone else wants a draft report contact Brian. The study assesses a proposed 5 MegaWatt facility at a site in Bellemont. TSS is encouraging comments and feedback on the draft. They need comments back by Oct. 4. The final draft should be to us the second week of October. Tad's presentation is 10-17 at the Coconino County Community Services and Health Department Building (King St), Ponderosa Room from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Immediately following that presentation Tad and Brian will be going to Show Low to give the presentation to the AZ Sustainable Forests Partnership.

Jerry Payne, from FS the regional office in Albuquerque will be giving a presentation on Wed. 9-18 from 8:30-10:30 at Coconino County Community Services and Health Department Building and has asked interested Partners to attend. The objective of the meeting is to discuss other biomass energy options for N AZ. Please attend if you'd like to hear more about what Jerry--R3's "Biomass Utilization Specialist"--is working on at the regional level and to hear about some of his thoughts for the Flagstaff area.

Wood Utilization & Business Development Specialist
Tom gave an update of where we are at with the hiring process. There were a total of 25 applicants for this position. The selection was narrowed to 12, with 2 being local. Personal interviews were made for the local applicants. An offer was made today to the top candidate and it is expected that she will give her response this week. We are hoping for an Oct. 1 start date.

Other
Dan mentioned that relating to Biomass Energy, an international group exists called IEA Bioenergy. He passed around a brochure for that organization. IEA Bioenergy has a wide variety of international representation and they do a lot of work synthesizing information. They meet once a year in different places around the world. Dan is a co-representative for the USA. The group will meet in Flagstaff in Sept or Oct 2003. The meeting is usually for 2 days and includes a field tour. The 2002 meeting is this Oct in Brazil.

Jim gave an update that the Board of Directors is close to approving the GFFP, Inc. FY 2003 Budget. They are trying to develop a model that is acceptable for future budgets. When the budget is finalized it will be brought to the PAB. It may be ready in time for the Oct. PAB meeting.

 

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4. Action Items:

PAB Charter
Brian gave an update of the working group's efforts. At last month's PAB meeting an updated draft of the Charter was discussed and it was requested that email comments from Partners be sent to him. Comments were received only pertaining to Article 2 Section 1 and 2 (membership requirements). This is the section that the work group focused on during the past month. Yesterday he sent out the work group revisions for this Section. Today he passed out a hardcopy. Section 1 outlines how people become a member. Brian asked if the PAB would give approval for Section 1 and discussion can continue for Section 2.
Motion to approve Section 1- Mike M
2nd- Tom K
Approved

Brian then continued the discussion on Section 2. He reiterated that the two elements identified by the Charter working group that would make the GFFP a success is funding AND active participation. Mike asked, regarding in-kind services, how to quantity the Environmental Education Center? Brian addressed that question by mentioning the participation requirement. As far as the education center, that fits into participation with the PIT.

Brian clarified that the purpose of the membership requirement is to offset costs related to the PAB. Jim said that it would be up to Mike to quantify the actual in-kind costs. Mike said that he goes to schools to give presentations and that GFFP information could be added to an existing program.

Brian asked if there were any comments from the working group members. Paul mentioned that both the funding AND participation requirements are essential. He said that involvement in those issues is key to long-term GFFP success. Casual attendance does not help with progress for the GFFP. Somehow, forming the link to effort is essential. The $100 annual "membership fee" amount is flexible for in-kind services or money. Paul suggested that the Charter not state $100 as the required amount, but rather something that is worded like, "the amount will be decided annually by the PAB." He stated that $100 could be used until further discussion.

Taylor wants to hear back from the PAB whether this membership requirement will work for Partners. Jim said this is a format, attitude, and behavior change for the Partners. Tom had a suggestion to add the Board of Directors to the formal existing GFFP teams (Project Team, PIT, UET) for participation requirements. All agreed this was appropriate.

Mike's concern is that he doesn't want to see the requirement push anyone away from the table. Jim asked in what way? Mike said that some people get paid to go to this meeting and others don't. Having people required to give time or money may be a hardship. Jim said that in-kind services are accounting matters. Mike is concerned that other people have another job to take care of. Tomas mentioned, from a non-profit status, it is a time management issue. He is thinking that this requirement may drive the Arboretum away from the GFFP.

Kevin said that the issue of trying to enforce this might be a concern. How would we measure participation? Requiring people to be part of a working team may not be a viable situation. Jim mentioned that frequency might not equal quality. Jim Bell said that the $100 is not excessive; he feels that it demonstrates commitment.

A question was raised whether we want to have a non-active and active member status? Paul said that the work group discussed this and he said that they were opposed to having a split membership status. He said he feels that, to be able to vote on Partnership matters, the requirements need to occur. Jim said that from his treasurer opinion for the GFFP Board, the possible $2300 given ($100 x 23 members) to the Board is not a significant amount of funding. He feels that it is about commitment and participation to the GFFP. Brian said that when the working group discussed this requirement, only 1-2 Partners were identified that may not be able to meet the participation requirement, based on the past year's attendance. Paul asked, what is the point of having a Partner if they are not going to participate? Kevin raised the point, is it hurting us to have them be Partners? Paul said we might be misrepresenting who the Partners are. Kevin said that we could reevaluate who are members and purge people as necessary. Mike asked if we have canvassed to make sure that people still want to be Partners? Brian said that people have been involved, but he has not talked to everyone one-on-one about this.

Jim commented that a dual discussion might need to occur regarding the quorum requirements for voting on issues at PAB meetings. Taylor suggested a word change in Section 2 from "shall" to "encourage" and then at the Annual Retreat the Board of Directors could decide whom to keep as Partners for the next year, based on this "encourage" edit.

Jim suggested that a single, direct, email be given to each Partner to get comments regarding this. Brian asked if personal phone calls to each voting partner would be better? Jim said that electronic might be better for people to collectively form an opinion. John asked if there are any requirements now to be a Partner? Jim said that the entity requesting to join the GFFP PAB must agree with the Guide to the GFFP. John asked why we would want a Partner if they are not partnering? Jim said that the definition of "not partnering" needed to be clarified. Kevin said that perhaps the requirement is for voting purposes only. James said that he fits into a category of someone who may not be able to be at all meetings due to time sensitive work requirements. He does however want to be a Partner and a part of the voting process. Jim asked for any closing comments before this gets discussed at the next meeting. There were none. This discussion will continue at the next PAB meeting.

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Other
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5. Other Business

New GFFP Structure Diagram
The new GFFP Structure Diagram was passed around. A colored version of the diagram was emailed to the PAB. Please print this off (in color) and put it in your PAB Handbook. Carl commented that the entity of the FS is a little vague. He thinks it would be beneficial to put the actual FS involvements (the 3 Cooperators) under that heading.

Research Request
Brian said we are being studied again! He sent an email last Friday that included the details of the new research project. Seth Tuler, from Massachusetts, is conducting a study titled.
"Toward Better Theory of Public Participation in Environmental Decision Making". Partners should expect a call from Seth or his assistant about this and Seth will be in Flagstaff the second week of October to meet with and interview Partners.

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New PAB Members
Two new members were approved at the August Board of Directors meeting. We welcome Practical Mycology (Jim Bell) and Coconino County Farm Bureau and Cattle Growers Association (Jim Parks) to the GFFP PAB.

6. Adjourn

Next Meeting - 8 October 2002
City Hall
(downstairs conference room)

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