Identification of Policy Issues Affecting the Technical Committee

Home Browse Search

Brown, Rick From: Little, David [david.little @denverwater.org] Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 4:57 PM To: Urie, Kevin; 'Alan Berryman (E- mail)'; 'Deborah Freeman (E- mail)'; 'Wendy Weiss (E- mail)'; 'Kent Holsinger (E- mail)' Cc: 'Rick Brown (E- mail)'; Bennett Raley (E- mail); Eric Wilkinson (E- mail); Howard Propst (E- mail); Greg Walcher (E- mail); Don Ament (E -mail) Subject: RE: Identification of Policy Issues Affecting the Technical Commi ttee of the Platte River Cooperative Agreement Kevin and Rick: Thanks for consolidating the issues facing the Technical Committee. Seeing the issues in a concise format helps me think about possible solutions. It seems that most, if not all the issues are going to require some sort of Governance Committee discussion and guidance. I recommend that you guys develop solutions to these issue for Colorado to propose to the Governance Committee in September. Ideally, you would craft a submittal for the Governance Committee's review prior to the September meeting that would include a description of each issue and Colorado's suggested solution for each issue. Once you develop a draft of potential solutions, the Colorado Team can review those solutions and settle on final recommendations to be included in the submittal and sent to the Governance Committee. This approach should help focus the Governance Committee's deliberations on these issues and Colorado's recommended solutions. After the Colorado Team feels comfortable with the draft solutions, it might be wise to work with the other states to see if we can get agreement on Colorado's recommended solutions prior to the Governance Committee meeting. I'm also concerned about not having a defined baseline this late in the process. Having said that, I believe that it would be a mistake to force the Service on this issue. There just is not enough valid data for the Service to develop a defined baseline. However, if we push the Service on this issue, the Grand Island "biologists" will revert to their biased opinions and beliefs to fabricate a baseline. Additionally, because the Service does not have a firm baseline at this time, it will be harder for them to use species numbers in any type of success test later in the Program. It would be helpful if you guys developed an inclusive procedure, including peer review, for filling the data gaps and conducting the analysis as we move forward with the Program. Maybe Steve Dougherty can help with this work effort. Once the Colorado Team is comfortable with the draft procedure we can try to get the other states support for adoption. Who knows, this approach might even develop some good science. Let me know your thoughts on my suggestions. Thanks for the good work. Dave Little • - - - -- Original Message - - - -- • From: Urie, Kevin • Sent: Monday, July 24, 2000 4:01 PM • To: Alan Berryman (E- mail); Deborah Freeman (E- mail); Wendy Weiss • (E- mail); Kent Holsinger (E- mail); Little, David • Cc: Rick Brown (E -mail) • Subject: Identification of Policy Issues Affecting the Technical • Committee of the Platte River Cooperative Agreement >Toall - > Rick and I have complied a list of policy issues that we feel need to be • discussed with the Governance Committee at the next Technical Committee • meeting in Denver. Also, I have attached a brief discussion piece on the • current status of the Service's R1 -1 (baseline) document. Please provide • comments as appropriate. > << File: ISSUES2.DOC >>