2018-07 July meeting minutes

Frederick County

Forest Conservancy District Board

July 9, 2018 Meeting Minutes

Those Present: Dawne Howard, Tom Anderson, Claude Earns, Keith Schoonover, Lori Schoonover, Jim Arnold, Mike Kay

1. Claude called the meeting to order. (Keith and Lori arrived soon thereafter.)

2. Treasurer’s Report: Claude indicated that we received $.19 interest last month. As far as Claude knows there are no dedicated funds left in the Treasury now that we have reimbursed for MUCFC. Claude reminded that the Board may have to reimburse Activity Fee’s for NRCC students who submit a narrative about their experiences at camp. Mike mentioned that now that July 1, 2018 has passed he will submit a letter to Frederick County requesting the $650 stipend. It was suggested that Mike inquire about the process necessary to increase this funding.

3. Logging site exams: Mike did not receive any plans this month. Mike mentioned that the Maryland Forest Service may get more involved in the logging permit process. The exact program has not been laid out yet but Dakota Durcho is attending a training session in West Virginia in anticipation of this program.

4. Uniforms: Everybody received their uniforms and many were wearing them during the meeting.

5. Big Tree Program: Dave Barrow and Claude measured two trees (basswood, pin oak) near Frederick City for the Big Tree program on Friday, July 6, 2018. The basswood was for the Wigfield Family whose father was a very good friend of Steve Thrasher. Mike submitted the information and photos to John Bennett.

6. Tree Farm Meeting: Dave Barrow, Mike, and two Frederick County Tree Farmers (Bob Wilson, Bob Evans) took part in an interview session funded by the American Tree Farm Program. (Along with Foresters and Tree Farmers from Washington and Allegany Counties.) A private Consultant posed a number of questions to the group pertaining to what they liked and what they did not like about the Tree Farm Program. The consultants visited three other states as well. Our comments will be compiled and sent to the Administrators of the Tree Farm program.

7. Sustainability Commission: Tom did not make the last meeting so he does not have much to report. Tom has been advising people about Frederick County’s Stream ReLeaf program.

8. Community Foundation: Claude mentioned to Mike via email that the Forestry Board cannot accept more than $5,000 or conduct more than $5,000 business given their present tax status. As such, Mike did not pursue the $23,000 grant.

9. Nature Notes: Lori said that she still has a fairly extensive backlog. Mike mentioned that Dave Barrow indicated he was putting together a series of articles that overview forest cover types that can be experienced at the various State Parks. Dave and Jan Barrow traveled to Swallow Falls State Park in Garrett County to look at the hemlocks, took a bunch of photos, and this park will serve as the site of one of the articles. Everybody thought this was a great idea.

10. New Business: Claude mentioned that he contacted Kim Thrasher (Through Mr. Wigfield) to see if we could obtain Steve’s tree cookie collection that he used for the wood technology section of the Scout Training program. Wiggy got back to Claude saying that at this point Kim does not want to distribute any of Steve’s belongings. Claude said that he will revisit this request in a few months or more. We had a discussion about the need to build up a communal tree cookie collection with leaf samples that could be used at future trainings. Dawne suggested that we try to obtain samples for the trees that we identify so the kids have something to relate to. Everybody thought this was a good idea.