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MSAF Executive Team Meeting
29 January 2007
9:30am to 4:00pm

Agenda

Introductions of the 2007 MSAF Executive Team: Doug Heym, Chair. Don Howlett, Past Chair. Craig Kasmer, Awards Chair. Jason Stephens, running for 2nd LP Vice Chair. Bill Hasse, MI Forester Business Mng. Bill Cook, Communications Chair. Glenn Moll, UP Autotour Coordinator. Martha Sjogren, Vice-chair candidate. Ernie Houghton, Vice-chair candidate. Les Homan, CIF Liaison. Bernie Hubbard, Council Rep.

Approve agenda. Howlett, Moll. Approved.

2007 Vice-chair update: Doug Heym for Don Dickmann. Martha Sjogren and Ernie Houghton have agreed to run. Ballots to be sent out shortly.
Add to Exec Team: Jason Hartman, LP 1st Vice Chair
Doug Lee, LP Sec/Treasurer
Richard Stephenson, MiBCI (Michigan Bird Conservation Initiative)

Archivist/Historian Position: Doug Heym. Nobody in these positions at this time. We don't know where the archives are located. Glenn will look into. The need is still there for someone to organize and keep these important documents. Description of officer positions, i.e. important things to be done, etc. Most of these are located on the MSAF website. Why don't we track down the files, then see if Bill Botti or Mike Moore are interested?

Secretaries Report: Doug Heym for Jason Mittlestat. Minutes from last meeting and their approval. Howlett motion to approve, Kasmer, second. Motion carried.

Treasurer's Report: Jason Stephens for Jack Pilon.
Jack will be re-appointed treasurer for 2007 and we thank Jack for his continued service.
Account transferred from Jack's name to MSAF with Joyce Angel-Ling and Dayle Garlock as co-signors.
2006 'final' numbers. Question on $626.47 in General Admin. What is this for, we'll need to ask Jack.
Hasse, 2nd Howlett, report approved.

Draft 2007 budget. Note that approval of final budget will wait until the end of the meeting. Add $200 for MiBCI travel support. Note that there is $800 committed from the MI Education Fund for the UP Auto Tour. Suggestion to Jack Pilon to move this money into the 2007 budget.

2006 Annual Assessment for State Societies; Divisions; and Chapters: Doug Heym. The group filled-out form. Heym will submit to National.

UP Auto Tour: Glenn Moll (Handout)
Status - Information in brochure provided by cell phone. Georgia to look into cost and/or practicality.
Grant potential? Georgia Peterson. Thought maybe the Stewardship Program, but won't qualify. UP Sustainable forestry and Wildlife Fund? Bill Cook will get form to Glenn to fill out.
Note: $4,000 to print 30,000 brochures which last about 3 years.

Duke's Experimental Forest Re-measurement proposal (Christel Kern-MN): Doug Heym, Bill Cook, Chris Burnett's comment. Direct contribution or Forester's Fund Grant? Approve going forward with the possibility of up to $500. Contact Kern and let her know.

Bill Cook (MSU Extension Forester) would like permission to use the MSAF mailing list for a survey tool about his performance as an Extension Forester.

"A survey tool designed to evaluate my role in serving the Michigan forestry community. I am now required by MSUE to perform a "formal" evaluation of one project/program/presentation each year. The natural resource community is one of my three primary constituencies. I am hoping to be able to use the MSAF mailing list to distribute that survey tool."

Approved to use list with permission of the National Office.

Membership: Report from Amy Douglass by Doug Heym.
Discuss UP sub-chapters at next UP Chapter meeting. Are they needed in the formal National SAF structure? National would like to eliminate these if not necessary. There is a cost of maintaining the information.
It was suggested to have the Chair write a letter to new members each year.
The Chair should also note new members at Society meetings.
Proposed Membership Changes PowerPoint from National: Doug Heym
Ideas or concerns should be sent through your HSD Chair or Council Representative in early March. Council will handle in March.
Committee to draft response? Jack Pilon, others? It was decided this was not needed as we discussed for a good hour. Bernie suggested that any additional comments sent directly to him before March.

Michigan Forester Editor's update: Georgia Peterson
Georgia's hard drive crashed and she is rebuilding.
Article needed from past chair.
Article needed from current chair.
Article on the awards available for nomination.
Article on proposed membership changes?
Due February 16th, Friday.
Business Manager's Update: Bill Hasse
Possible publishing through the Forestry Source as a supplement. Bill will look into the details. Could save us printing and mailing costs.

UP Chapter: Bill Cook for Jack Penegor
Spring Meeting: MSAF Biomass Conference for 8-9(10) May 2007, Bay de Noc Community College, Escanaba, MI.
Proposed agenda by Ray Miller and Bill Cook passed out. Audience = foresters.
Don Howlett will host a mtg./conf. call on February 2, 5, 6 (morning), 7, 8, or 9.

LP Chapter: Georgia Peterson
Regarding the Fall 2007 meeting (Quent McNichols' notes): Suggested Topic: Watershed Protection, inclusive of BMPs, hydrology, fisheries, biomass in streams, resource impacts of management and recreation (ORVs)...Possible family canoe trip on Saturday. Suggested Location: Ralph A. Mac Mullen Conference Center near Houghton Lake. Also mentioned were Alpena, Ludington, and Muskegon. Volunteers: Deb Huff, Jack Pilon, Jason Hartman, Rick Myrick, Bob
Moody, Doug Heym, and Mike Elenz

There have been a couple informal contacts on this to date. Jack discussed dates and location with Andy Nuhfer the chair-elect of the Michigan Fisheries Society, and Rick Myrick has discussed with USFS Fish Biologist Holly Jennings. Both were interested in pursuing a joint meeting.

2nd Vice -Chair: Jason Stephens is the candidate.

Spring LP Chapter meeting: There was one held last year in conjunction with the MSU Ag. and Nat. Resources Week and there seemed to be interest in doing that again. Info on Ag Week available on line. Also, Deb Huff is having the Certified Forester test administered this week with the test date of Sat. March 3.

Council Report: Bernie Hubbard.
Council elections for the period of 2008 thru 2010. Names due by June.
Presidential Field Forester of the Year. Due to Bernie by May 31st.
Nominations for fellow before July 1st to Mike Moore. Mike Moore to Bernie by July 1st.
Nominations for National Awards due February 28th.

Policy Chair: Doug Heym for Bill 'Rocky' Rockwell (having now served under more administrations than did J Edgar Hoover)

"Regrets - Sorry I could not be there with you, but somebody had to go to South Carolina - and had to explain to my wife why I had to go to South Carolina the last week in January."

Deer Position - Pete Squibb, Don Dickmann, and I presented our position statement to the NRC on Pearl Harbor Day, but I don't think we bombed. The Commissioners were attentive, seemed to be aware of the issue, and had been talking to some FMFM staff (Begalle & Sterrett) and Rique Campa from MSU. We offered to work with them and got a sort of lukewarm response. Thanks to Bill Cook for being the creative force behind this effort.

Review/discussion of a draft 'forester perception' survey of deer damage

A proposed "forester perception" survey tool is related to the outcomes of the 2005 MSAF Spring Conference about forests & white-tails. It is intended to be an attempt to measure what Michigan foresters think about the deer "problem." Michigan seems to know little about the geography and intensity of deer depredation. Yet, many foresters (and others) believe there is a "problem." What, more precisely, do foresters think about the issue? The survey tool is an attempt to discover that information.

The survey is not related to the position statement, other than it's the same topic. Also, the P.S. says; "The field experience of many foresters indicates that such deer browse damage is significant in some parts of Michigan." Maybe, we can quantify and/or characterize that "field experience" a bit better.

Bill Cook is proposing that we utilize the MSAF mailing list to distribute the survey tool. For that, I think we need to agree that the survey is an appropriate use of the mailing list. Looking at the survey tool, and beta-testing it on the Executive Team, seemed like a good idea to me.

Private Non-Industrial Forest Position - expires March 20, 2007; draft tentatively approved at Fall Exec Team Meeting and circulated to Exec Team by email on Sept 7 with no further response (only changes were to change "Over 384,000" to "About 400,000" and to add an approval date).

Motion to adopt the attached position statement WITHOUT FURTHER AMENDMENT (note that it is in pdf). Moll moved, Cook 2nd. Friendly amendment to move sentence by Homan, second by Hubbard. Motion carried to add amendment. Motion carried to accept Statement with amendment.

Comment by Houghton. Family forests is a more common term than NIPF.
Comment by Peterson: Family forests may imply a discriminatory ownership preference.

Fire Position - expires March 20, 2007; Don't have final version. Needs to wait until next meeting.

Rocky's Philosophy on Policy

"I see my main job as trying keep us from wasting time on issues on which:
" we are not willing to devote the time to a quality product
" will likely just not agree on an issue, and/or
" we are likely to have little effect on the outcome.

Anyone who takes exception to this philosophy is welcome to serve as policy chair."

Awards: Craig Kasmer
Two 50 year membership certificates (C. David Ridgway, Jonas Snyder) for presentation "at an appropriate ceremony" (our next State meeting?).

SAF Fellows nomination process: Doug Heym. To Mike Moore by June.
Question: Do you need to be present to receive a pin (10, 20, 30, etc.)? Yes. Maybe a letter should go to the person before the meeting so that they know to attend? Yes, we should start doing this to give the person a 'heads-up' that if they came to the meeting, they would get their 10, 20, 30, etc. year pin. What about certificates? Need a process for distribution. Craig will think this over.

Treasurer's Report, con't: Jason Stephens for Jack Pilon
Draft 2007 budget. Final budget approval.
Howlett moved, Cook 2nd. Motion approved.

Next meeting? And use of conference calls. Monday May 7th @ 6:30pm. Location to be determined by Howlett and Cook.