2011-02 February meeting minutes

Frederick County

Forest Conservancy District Board

February 14, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Those present: Ginny Brace, Tom Anderson, Jim Arnold, Lynne Marquess, Keith Schoonover, Tyson Rose, Mike Kay

1. Keith called the meeting to order; and, one correction to the January minutes was noted specifically Steve Koehn suggested that each Scout troupe plant one tree vs. each Scout plant one tree.

2. Remembering Larry: Tyson mentioned that he has been receiving remembrances of Larry and posting them on the Website. Tyson also mentioned that Larry’s family has contacted Tyson and thanked him for posting these remembrances. Mike distributed an obituary for Larry that ran in the Hagerstown Herald Mail today. Ginny made copies of this article. There will be a memorial for Larry at Hagerstown Community College’s Athletic Recreation and Community Center on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 starting at 7:00 pm. Larry will be buried at Arlington Cemetery at a latter date. After some discussion it was decided to let Mike share some of his thoughts about Larry at the upcoming State Association Winter meeting. Lynne will contact Jim Bardsley to see if we can get a 5 minute spot on the agenda.

3. Treasurer’s Report: Tom noted that we have $9,612.92 dollars in the Treasury after funding the construction of kiosks at the Tree ID trail and purchasing field guides for the Wintertime tree ID Hike.

4. Winter Meeting: Lynne, Jim, and Mike reserved spots with Lyndsey Major for this meeting. Mike will pickup Jim and Lynne at the Route 75 Park and Ride at 7:45 am on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

5. NRCC: Lynne has been distributing pamphlets throughout the county at various locations. Lynne spoke to Karen Gardner who said she would put together a notice for the camp in the Frederick News Post. Lynne will also provide Ginny with a short article for posting in Nature Notes. Lynne mentioned that the Education Committee is meeting on March 3, 2011. Finally Lynne said that she does not intend to go out requesting funds for the camp like she did last year. If a grant like Allegany Forestry Boards is made available she has no problem applying for it but does not wish to request money from individual boards. Lynne asked Board members to consider how many students they would sponsor at $500 a person from our Treasury. The Board made no decision but one suggestion that was brought forward was to sponsor 3 students at $500.

6. Big Tree Program: Lynne relayed an email that she received from John Bennett stating that the Cecil Board’s Chesapeake Bay Trust grant request to purchase Big Tree brochures was turned down. As such, John submitted a request to the MUCFC grant’s program. John asked Lynne whether or not our Board would consider appropriating $100 for these brochures if the MUCFC grant falls through. After some discussion a motion was made to “Look favorably at this request in the event that the MUCFC Grant is not approved; and, consider providing the Forestry Board Foundation with a check for $100 to be earmarked for the brochures. This motion was seconded and passed by those present.

7. Winter Tree ID Hike: Mike distributed copies of the publication Winter Tree Finder to those present. We have 50 copies of this dichotomous key to provide attendees. Mike said that a notice of this program was placed in the Outdoor Notes Section in the Sunday paper in which we asked folks to preregister. (As of 2-15-11 we have 6 people who have preregistered.) Mike also distributed a copy of the agenda. We will meet at Gambrill Office for coffee and doughnuts then carpool down to the trail head where we will conduct the hike. Mike will obtain bud samples and demonstrate how to use the key, then Mike and Forester Aaron Cook will lead the hike. Ginny will obtain the doughnuts and Mike will get the coffee/hot water together. Jim indicated that it is supposed to be 58 degrees and sunny on the 26th and we’re holding him to that!

8. Proposed Forestry Education Program: Mike proposed a potential program that we could conduct which would entail a series of monthly lectures held at one facility like a library or county park Nature Center. We could schedule a year’s worth of programs to be held at a standard time i.e. (Third Monday of the Month from 6:30 – 8:00 pm) and produce a pamphlet to advertise these programs asking Extension to distribute them etc. Some potential topics could include, Honey Production, Planning a Canadian Fishing Vacation, Conducting a Timber Harvest, The NRCC Camp, Forest Tax Savings and Incentives Programs, Easement Programs, Keeping Your Landscape Trees Healthy, The Big Tree Program, Building an Acoustic Guitar, Developing Wildlife Cover around your Home, Forest Ecology, Fly Fishing, etc. We ran out of time so this discussion was tabled until the March meeting.

9. Nature Notes: Ginny said everything is fine and she is trying to find other contributors such as a Master Gardner.

10. Web Site: Tyson said that the site is up to date and he is posting Remembrances of Larry as they arrive. Tyson thought that it would be a good idea to solicit remembrances at the Winter Meeting

11. Other Business: Ginny said that she is getting a lot of ideas about potential projects by reading the Statewide Report compiled by Lyndsey and John Bennett. Ginny liked the idea of making some book markers or refrigerator magnets with some information on them.

12. Neighborhood Green Program: The Neighborhood Green Committee rescheduled their February meeting due to icy weather so now we are meeting on Friday, February 25, 2011 from 10 – 11:30 at the Frederick County Extension Office.