HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/03/2004, BUS2 - REPORT ON THE ROLE OF THE CITY BIOLOGIST IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM council M�f,n 3
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C I T Y OF S AN L U IS O B I S P O
FROM: Wendy George,Assistant City Administrative Officer
Prepared By: Neil Havlik,Natural Resources Manager
SUBJECT: REPORT ON THE ROLE OF THE CITY BIOLOGIST IN THE
NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Receive a report on projects and activities of the City Biologist in the Natural Resources
Program.
DISCUSSION
In 1993-94, the Council appointed the Environmental Quality Task Force (EQTF) to make
recommendations on the possible development of a Natural Resources Program for the City. The
EQTF recommended that two positions pen Space Manager and City Biologist—be created to
establish the program. However,the City was experiencing financial difficulties,and ultimately,the
Council authorized one position, Natural Resources Manager, in 1995. The Natural Resources
Manager, Dr. Neil Havlik, was hired in February 1996 and the initial focus of the program was on
open space land acquisition.
Over the next several years, the City's acquisitions grew, and involvement of several departments
with State and Federal regulatory agencies increased. Responding to concerns expressed by
members of the community that the City needed the technical expertise of a biologist to assist with
the Natural Resources Program, and recognizing the City's need to centralize its ever growing
biological mitigation responsibilities, in May 2000 the Council approved the addition of a City
Biologist. This forward-thinking action made the City of San Luis Obispo one of the few cities of
any size to incorporate a trained biologist into its Natural Resources Program.
Primary responsibilities of the City Biologist were proposed to be:
1. Development of an improved mitigation program;
2. Finalization of the Natural Resources Inventory;
3. Development and implementation of restoration plans; and
4. Development of a formal set of policies for land management of City-owned open space
lands.
The Biologist position subsequently was filled by Dr. Michael Clarke, who began working for the
City in October 2000 and who quickly moved to establish a centralized mitigation program. As
discussed more fully in the attached report, since that time Dr. Clarke has made great strides, often
with the assistance of outside partners like the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo, the
Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo (ECOSLO) and Central Coast Salmon Enhancement,
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Council Agenda Report—Role of the City Biologist
Page 2
Inc., in fulfilling the role originally envisioned for the City Biologist. In addition, Dr. Clarke has
developed good relationships with a number of the City's operational departments, specifically,
Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation and Community Development, as he has moved
forward with his mitigation programs and evaluation of biological resources.
Recently, Dr. Clarke's presence has also allowed the City's Natural Resources Program to expand
its offerings, in particular, by assuming responsibilities in the area of additional biological
monitoring and project management that would otherwise have to be contracted to outside
consultants. As a result, the Natural Resources Program has been able to provide significant cost
savings to the City during these difficult fiscal times.
Because the City is somewhat unique in having such a strong biological aspect to its Natural
Resources Program, staff has felt a responsibility to assure the Council and community of the
wisdom of the innovative addition of the City Biologist to the Natural Resources Program. The
staff's purpose in bringing this report forward is to provide an update on the high "return on our
investment"that has occurred over the past three years.
Attachment
Three Years Later.—The Role of the City Biologist in the Natural Resources Program, prepared by
the Natural Resource Manager
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ATTACHMENT
Three Years Later.........The Role of the City Biologist in the
Natural Resources Program
Introduction
In May 2000, the City Council approved the addition of a City Biologist to the Natural
Resources Program, reporting to the Natural Resources Manager. After a lengthy
recruiting process,Dr. Michael Clarke was hired in October 2000 as the City's first City
Biologist. This paper is intended to review Dr. Clarke's role in the Natural Resources
Program and his accomplishments since he began working for the City of San Luis
Obispo just over three years ago.
When the addition of a Biologist was proposed, several primary duties were put forward:
• Development of an improved project mitigation program including mitigation
plan development,project oversight, and long-term mitigation monitoring and
reporting;
• Finalization of the natural resource inventory with a combination of consultant
assistance and direct involvement, and participation in reconciling identified land
use-sensitive resource conflicts through the specific planning process;
• Development and implementation of restoration plans;
• Development of formal policies for open space land management; and
• General support and assistance to the Natural Resources Manager
The following provides a summary of Dr. Clarke's success in fulfilling these and other
responsibilities that have developed.
Early Proiects
Centralizing the City's Mitigation Effort. In recent years, City staff recognized that it
was becoming increasingly critical to have central coordination by a knowledgeable
person of the numerous mitigation projects and programs being conducted by individual
departments on an ad-hoc basis. Monitoring requirements following construction were
perceived as particularly troublesome. The Public Works Department's construction
inspectors, for example, were not equipped to follow up on planting and in-stream habitat
enhancements, sometimes for years, following the installation of such structures.
To remedy this situation,Dr. Clarke quickly assumed control of a wide variety of
mitigation projects that were underway for monitoring and reporting purposes. These
included (1) over 30 sites where mitigation plantings or in-stream structures had been
undertaken along San Luis Obispo Creek, (2)the steelhead monitoring project previously
undertaken by the Utilities Department, and (3) several smaller projects on Stenner,
Brizziolara, and Old Garden Creeks. By 2003,most of these mitigation projects had been
successfully completed and the remainder were within a year or so of success. Bringing
these projects under control at first consumed a significant investment of Dr. Clarke's
time, often requiring him to work weekends or long days trapping and counting fish or
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ATTACHMENT
overseeing the watering and care of plantings. At the same time, however, he relieved
Public Works inspection staff to perform their primary work responsibilities, thus
allowing other City projects to go forward in a more timely manner.
As a result of the addition of Dr. Clarke to City staff, we now have two staff persons with
biological expertise dealing with biological projects being imposed by biologists from
other agencies. This means that there is clearer understanding of what is being mitigated
and why, and also that there is opportunity for better and more realistic mitigation. In
addition to the cost effectiveness of relieving Public Works staff from the monitoring
responsibility, we have also avoided hiring expensive monitoring consultants. We
anticipate that Dr. Clarke's work has saved the City in excess of$125,000 since inception
of the program.
The Natural Resources Inventory. Creating a Natural Resources Inventory was one of the
highest priority recommendations of the Environmental Quality Task Force. However,
early emphasis of the Natural Resources Protection Program was on land acquisition, and
time and resources to commit to the Inventory was limited. In addition, there was
concern that the City might end up "doing the developers' work for them", were the
Inventory to encompass private property-in and around the City. This problem was
resolved by the concept of"Species of Local Concern", wherein City staff, using
Statewide data bases and input from knowledgeable persons, prepared a listing of species
not threatened or endangered on a Statewide or Federal basis, but rare, declining, or
otherwise locally notable. This list included about fifty species of plants and animals. It
was also considered appropriate that the City's knowledge of its own lands should be as
complete as possible.
Dr. Clarke has proven to have excellent computer skills, and within the space of a year he
had transformed the list of Species of Local Concern into a functional, interactive part of
the City's web pages. Inventory work on City owned lands has also advanced, and
species lists for many of the City's open space lands (including the Irish Hills, Bishop
Peak, Cerro San Luis, and the Johnson Ranch) have been developed and "ground-
truthed"; that is, checked for completeness by biological surveyors whose work was
supervised by Dr. Clarke. This effort will continue in Reservoir Canyon, the South Hills,
and Stenner Springs properties. Creation of the species lists have provided a valuable
input to the individual Conservation Plans for our open space properties.
Another parameter of the Inventory has been public outreach. The City of San Luis
Obispo has produced numerous brochures about the natural resources of the community
and its surroundings. These have largely been the work of Dr. Clarke, with input from
knowledgeable citizens and other interested parties. Additional information has been
made available on the City's website. All has been generated to better inform citizens of
the richness and value of the natural world which surrounds our community.
Development and Implementation of Restoration Plans. At the time of Dr. Clarke's
hiring, the City was considering a project to breach a non-functional dam on City-owned
property on upper San Luis Obispo Creek, in order to restore access to steelhead and
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other native fishes of the reaches of the creek above the dam. This project required
development of the concept, creation of contract documents to specify how the project
would be accomplished, and necessary permitting. The project, which was fully grant-
funded, required about two years to reach the point of construction. The project was
actually constructed in the fall of 2002, with Dn Clarke taking the lead in moving the
project forward. Since that time Dr. Clarke has been involved in the planning for several
other significant restoration projects, including the Coon Creek restoration project
(mitigation for the City's Water Reuse Project), and the Froom Creek jeep road
decommissioning project, which will stabilize an abandoned jeep road in sensitive habitat
along Froom Creek in the City's Irish Hills Natural Reserve. Both of these projects are
complicated ones,requiring interdisciplinary skills and the perseverance to see through
the numerous permitting and other environmental considerations. Both projects are
expected to be undertaken in 2004, and several additional projects of this nature on City-
owned lands or on private lands are also in early planning stages.
The "Conservation Guidelines for Open Space Lands of the City of San Luis Obispo".
After getting the mitigation program and Natural Resources Inventory underway, Dr.
Clarke and Natural Resources Manager Dr. Neil Havlik turned their attention to the issue
of consistent land management policies for the City's growing open space system. City
staff and Council members felt that, given the growth of that system—which had reached
10 units by 2001—there was a need for a set of policies that would govern resource
management activities on those lands in a consistent manner.
To do this, City staff first looked at how a variety of other agencies and non-profit
organizations undertook such efforts. The result led to the decision that the City should
establish a set of guidelines that would control natural resource management activities on
all City-owned open space lands. Based on those guidelines, individual management
plans would then be developed for each open space area. A draft set of guidelines was
prepared under the leadership of Dr. Clarke and presented to both the Parks and
Recreation Commission and to the Planning Commission for review and input, ultimately
leading to recommendations to the City Council. The "Conservation Guidelines for Open
Space Lands of the City of San Luis Obispo" were adopted by the Council in September
2003, and the first actual management plan developed under those guidelines has been
approved(Irish Hills Conservation Plan), with several more currently in various stages in
the review and approval process. These plans will give guidance to both the City's
Natural Resources Program and its Ranger Program in providing appropriate
maintenance, restoration and use of our open space resources.
General Supportfor the Natural Resources Manager. Dr. Clarke has provided invaluable
assistance and technical support for activities which remained in the purview of the
Natural Resources Manager. This assistance has included research into the biological
resources of various properties, interpretation of creek setbacks, and reviewing and
responding to environmental documents such as environmental impact reports. Dr.
Clarke's capabilities in this regard have grown as the responsibilities and involvement of
the Natural Resources Protection Program has continued to become more fully integrated
into the City's community development programs.
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ATTACHMENT
Recent.Projects and Future Directions
As the City of San Luis Obispo's budget concerns manifested themselves in late 2002
and early 2003, Natural Resources program staff looked to ways to improve its support to
other departments and to generate staff funding support in a way that would ultimately
save the City money. What came out of that effort was a focus on several major City
projects that would require biological monitoring or have significant biological
components. With the experience of the mitigation program behind them, Natural
Resources staff were able to develop a role supporting the Utilities and Public Works
Departments, addressing major projects such as the Coon Creek Restoration Project, Old
Creek Habitat Conservation Plan, and Froom Creek Road Decommissioning. In addition,
Natural Resources staff have taken on the monitoring requirements for several City
projects involving local waterways (most notably the Mission Plaza Walkway Repair
project) and have provided significant savings to the City in these services in lieu of
hiring outside consultants. (See Attachment ).
It is anticipated that the Coon Creek project will require about 33% of the City
Biologist's time and 5-10% of the Natural Resources Manager's time in 2004. The Old
Creek project was expected to be another major time-consumer,but recent delays caused
by requests for new information from the National Marine Fisheries Service may
postpone this project, possibly into 2005. The Froom Creek project, which is grant-
funded and has an administrative component to the grant, is expected to require about
10% of the Natural Resources Manager's time in 2004. Finally, a contract now being
developed with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, to continue the
watershed-wide steelhead surveys undertaken last summer, is expected to improve our
knowledge of this important feature of the local environment and provide outside funding
support for the City Biologist position.
Other Activities of the Biologist
In addition to the work responsibilities that he has assumed since being hired,Dr. Clarke
has become a Certified Wildlife Biologist and a Certified Fisheries Biologist by attending
courses and passing a challenging peer review of his qualifications for such certification.
As a completely new benefit, the City now plays a significant role in regional and
statewide environmental issues, for example being represented by Dr. Clarke on the
National Marine Fisheries Service's South Central California Steelhead Technical
Recovery Team, the Tri-Counties' F.I.S.H. Team, and having been a major organizer of
the Salmonid Restoration Conference, held last February in San Luis Obispo. Because of
recent studies on steelhead populations within the San Luis Obispo Creek watershed, our
watershed is quite likely the best understood watershed in this regard anywhere on the
Central Coast, and several papers have been developed for publication in the scientific
literature. Staff is certain that the Council shares our pride in these accomplishments.
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Dr. Clarke has also brought other acknowledgement and honor to the City, being a
speaker to local civic organizations and to classes at Cal Poly, being a judge of the San
Luis Obispo County Environmental Awards program, and(together with Economic
Development Manager Shelly Stanwyck and other administrative staff) sponsored the
City of San Luis Obispo's Green Business Award program. Dr. Clarke is active in other
professional activities and is a volunteer in several local environmental organizations.
Summary
The Natural Resources Protection Program has become an integral part of City operations
since its inception in 1995. It has gone through fat times and lean times in terms of
outside funding support. It has created a system of open space lands that can be enjoyed
by our citizens, and has established consistent rules for the use and management of those
lands. It has provided advice and expertise to private, outside parties, to other agency
personnel, and to other departments within the City hierarchy. The City Biologist has
greatly expanded the program's capabilities, particularly with regard to the centralizing of
the City's mitigation efforts, to restoration and enhancement efforts to San Luis Obispo
Creek, and to the development of better working knowledge of the plants and animals of
the City and its environs.
Attachment: Estimated In House Mitigation Project Savings for 2003.
ATTACH M ENT
Project& Duties Hours City Total Cost Consultant Total Cost Savings
Department. Biologist In-house Rate External
Rate/Hour+
Overhead
Apple Farm Pre-
Sewer construction
Replacement Surveys; pre-
-Public Construction
Works Training; Site
Dewatering & 58 $37.00 $2,146.00 $92.50/hr $5,365.00 $3,219.00
Fish
Removal;
Monitoring;
Completion
Report
Coon Creek Biological
Permit Assessment; 140 $37.00 $5,180.00 $45,000 $45,000.00 $39,820.00
Application— permit
Utilities Application
SLO Creek Electrofishing $55.65/hr
Steelhead survey of +
survey— SLO creek 120 $37.00 $4,440.00 $115/day $9,693.00 $5,253.00
Utilities expenses
(City Biologist) $600 airfare
SLO Creek Electrofishing
Steelhead survey of
survey— SLO creek $55.65/hr
Utilities
(Natural 320 $20.00 $6,400.00 $115/day $23,008.00 $16,608.00
Resources expenses
Sub +
Contracted $600 airfare
with Local
Biolo ist
Mission Plaza Pre-
Walkway construction
Repair—PW Surveys; pre- $36,250-
Construction total
Training; Site (estimate
Dewatering& 270 $37.00 $9,990.00 adjusted to $36,250.00 $26,260.00
Fish assume
Removal; 270 hours)
Monitoring;
Completion
Report
Mitigation Writing up
Monitoring mitigation
Reports monitoring
reports and
Stenner Creek Biological 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00
—PW assessments
SLO Dam— 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00
Admin
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SLO 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00
Creekwalk—
PW
SLO Creek 6 $37.00 $222.00 $700.00 $700.00 $478.00
Repair sites—
PW
Tank Farm
RD Bio Ass. - 12 $37.00 $444.00 $1,400.00 $1,400.00 $956.00
PW
Total Savings for 2003 $947028.00
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Barbara Ehrbar- Natural Resources Prop- -n __ 7Page_1
From: <jbennett@calpoly.edu>
To: <slocitycouncil@slocity.org> RECEIVED
Date: 2/2/04 5:49PM
Subject: Natural Resources Program FEB 0 VQ 2004
Dear esteemed City Council Members, Due to prior commitments, I regret l will SLO CIN CLERK
be unable to attend the presentation about the Natural Resource program to be
given at the City Council meeting tomorrow night. I have read the documents by
Dr. Havlik and Dr. Clarke, and I wanted to respond to you regarding this
issue.
Many local citizens disagree with the trend towards more shopping centers, and
especially'big box' stores. I feel the things that make San Luis unique is
what IT DOES NOT have in common with every other coastal town in California.
The most valuable asset we have is the natural beauty of the area, and a nice
amount of designated open space. This, in turn, draws many people to visit and
stay in our town. I realize the majority of open space that has been acquired
is directly due to your and our Natural Resource Manager's efforts. Management
of these areas is one of the reasons we have a City Biologist, and I applaud
the City Council's support in keeping these programs and positions viable. San
Luis Obispo sets a shining example to the rest of the State and the Nation
with it's forward-thinking ideas regarding Natural Resource protection. I see
from the reports generated,the City Biologist and Natural Resource Manager
are actually saving the taxpayers money due to their efforts and abilities to
take over tasks other City employees or outside contractors would normally do.
If asked which City programs I would support with MY tax money, THESE PROGRAMS
WIN MY SUPPORT! Being a Natural San Luis docent and educating the public about
the value of our local natural resources led me to volunteer as a Board Member
for ECOSLO and become more involved in my community. I urge you to continue to
fund and support both the City Biologist's efforts and Natural Resource
Program in any manner possible.Thank you for your continued efforts.
Sincerely,Jodee Bennett(15 year resident)
CC: <mclarke@slocity.org>, <nhavlik@slocity.org>
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