Those Present: Ginny Brace, Steve Thrasher, Claude Eans, Pilar Eans, Tom Anderson, Vince Perrotta, Tyson Rose, Dave Hunter, Mike Kay

We met at the Golden Corral this evening (6:00pm) for a dinner meeting as a bit of a send-off for Ginny who retired from the Board following the March 15, 2016 Invasive Species Workshop.

1. Vince called the meeting to order. (We were nice and filled up after visiting buffet a number of times. It’s probably a good idea not to make a habit out of holding meetings here.)

2. Membership: Mike presented Ginny with the 2016 Mel Award for all the work she has done over the years for the Forestry Board. Thanks for your friendship and help Ginny. We will miss you!

3. Sustainability Commission: Tom indicated that he nominated Ginny for an award from the Frederick County Sustainability Commission. The Commission will be choose the winners at an upcoming meeting.

4. Treasurer’s report: Tom mentioned that we received $.36 interest for the month. Tom received a check for $2,098.00 earmarked for plantings at Waterford and Pinecliff Parks. The Treasury paid $119.84 for refreshments at the Invasive Species workshop.

5. Logging site exams: Mike had not received any plans in time for the meeting.

6. Big Tree Program: A recent email from John Bennett confirmed that the Black Oak measured at Keith’s property is a Frederick County champion. We have two more properties to visit to measure the remaining trees. Mike will set up these measurements.

7. Invasive Species Program: We all thought that the program went well. We had a full house with 53 people present and it seemed like the audience enjoyed the talks. In particular Kerrie Kyde’s program was of interest. Kerrie knows a lot about invasive plants and shared her knowledge with everybody. Kerrie talked about the biology of the plants, why they are bad, but she also spoke about the ecological impacts these plants have which was very interesting. Some things that we learned from Kerrie was that invasive plants offer little nutritional value to wildlife and migrating birds feeding on some of these fruits have less chance of successfully completing their journey. We also learned that cutting and handling ailanthus wood can result in respiratory or heart problems in people. It was also gratifying to see a number of folks show up from the Thurmont – Sabillasville area and see the Eylers Valley crew meet after the program to further discuss partnerships and control strategies in this area.

8. NRCC Camp: Three students have submitted applications to camp so far. Mike has contacted two of them requesting that they attend interviews scheduled prior to our May 9, 2016 business meeting. Mike asked members to consider when the third student should interview at 6:15 or 7:00 pm? After some discussion it was decided to hold the 3rd interview at 7:00 pm. Mike also relayed a conversation he had with Dawn Balinski about the students. Dawn indicated that if following the interviews the Board thinks they have 3 good candidates, they don’t have to choose two or them. We can contact the NRCC Committee with a request for funding the 3rd student by another county.

9. Nature Notes: Mike indicated that he went through some of his previous articles; and wrote a few more that he sent to Lori. Mike thinks that it would be a good idea to create a sizable backlog that we can send to Karen so there is no pressure to meet deadlines. In this way we could send some articles that could be run whenever, and send articles stipulating that they are time sensitive. Let’s build up ½ year backlog! (26 articles)

10. Web Site: Tyson mentioned that now that his wife is formally retiring they are planning to permanently move to Lake Anna in Virginia. Tyson does not know when the final move will take place but he would like to suspend his role as Webmaster with the Board. Tyson will continue to maintain the site until a replacement is found.Tyson volunteered to work with new person to get the site up and running or to create a new domain. Any member who is interested in taking over these duties is welcome to contact Tyson.

11. New business:

• Mike mentioned that we will be meeting at the Tea Room at Gambrill State Park during the May meeting. We need to find an alternate location for the July meeting; and, the August meeting is off unless you wish to travel to Lady Evelyn Lake in NE Ontario.