Board Meeting Minutes:
April 12, 2017

Called to Order by President Coy Wylie at 7:00 PM.
Present were Mickey McGuire, Linda Jefferies, Domingo Rodriguez, Paul Wehr, Dennis Cook, Wil Huett (and guest Will Lennon), Dick Jefferies, Lee Evans, David Piske, Tom Culbertson and, from CTU, David Nickum, Dan Omasta and Larry Quilling.

  1. Board Business

    1. President’s comments, introductions

      1. Comments from David Nickum, CTU Executive Director: He introduced the other two visitors from CTU and deferred the rest of his comments to C.2.a (CTU Business).

      2. Introduction of Will Lennon, CSU student who will be our first undergraduate intern. He is a Freshman at CSU hailing from California. His internship will begin in the Fall semester. He is in the Warner School in Conservation Biology specializing in Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology.

    2. Review Agenda - approved

    3. March Minutes - approved

    4. Consent Agenda: Treasurer’s Report, Conservation Report, Youth Report, Community Outreach Report, Membership Report – approved pending receipt of membership report

    5. Pulled Consent Items - none

    6. Need a new secretary – Mickey recorded the minutes; deferred to B.1 (Nominating Committee Update)

  2. Old Business

    1. Update from the nominating committee – Slate is near complete but an announcement will be sent out concerning a call for someone who would like to become the secretary. Bylaws require current Trustees to have a slate of candidates 30 days prior to annual meet, notice of the annual meeting and the slate of candidates must be posted on the website not less than 15 days before annual meeting.

    2. Chapter Recognition Awards – Coy – Still gathering information; Dennis encouraged the committee to look at the entire range of nomination categories and all people present were invited to submit nominations.

    3. Volgistics Update – Linda – Efforts have begun to populate the software and remove names entered as part of the trial period. Linda again called on project leaders for projects, dates, number of volunteers needed, special skills required, etc. All Board positions are in the software so, once active, all can go in and enter their hours.

    4. Update from Project Healing Waters– Dave and Domingo – Domingo reported that the major fundraiser for PHW is next Saturday the 22nd in Cheyenne at Little America. Tickets are $75 and can be obtained from Domingo or Dave Morse. There are also silent and live auctions. Rod building classes have ended as rods are complete and a couple have been entered into a competition. Fly tying will continue through April.

    5. Embrace a Stream update Please read attachment* – The fish movement proposal approved by the Board in March has been withdrawn following discussions with other agencies. From Dick’s summary:

      • There will not be an application made for a study of fish movement. At this time, the study would not coincide with anything not already underway, or planned in the near future, by CPW. Secondary to the EAS grant, discussing the idea with both CPW and Fort Collins Natural Areas (FCNA) brought about an interesting revelation. In my opinion, while both CPW and FCNA have a functional understanding of what TU does, I believe further discussion at the staff level would be of benefit to all. Awareness at the respective staff level, of our participation in sponsoring grants like the Multi-Basin grant and additional post-flood TU grant work could result in more project and program opportunities. The information age we live in is still compartmentalized thus the good things we do are not necessarily publicized inter-agency or intra-agency. As issues like fish bypass projects move forward, RMF may become a more valued collaborator through the knowledge that we can be a resource for large funding sources. I believe that knowledge is best shared with staff having responsibilities germane to the TU mission.

      1. Dave Piske proposed another project concerning deployment of educational signage at the site of the pier on the Big Thompson River. Previous EAS proposals have failed and the grant writers have learned that matching chapter funds help the process. EAS grants can be up to $10,000. No cost estimates for the signage were reported and Dave thought we might be successful with a $5,000 proposal with $5,000 match from the Chapter. It was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved by the Trustees to proceed with the EAS application with RMF contributing 100% matching funds not to exceed $5,000 should the application be funded.

    6. Update on Fishing Pier – Dick Please read attachment – Discussion mirrored Dick’s summary in the attachment included here:

      • In March, I met onsite with the USFS and Tracy Wendt from the BTWC. The discussions that day were helpful and provided some needed information. However, the meeting also served as a reminder to USFS that a couple more department functionaries needed to be brought into the discussion. One of those is the regional biologist for a recommendation regarding Prebble mouse habitat. That onsite meeting will not occur until later this month. The biologist’s assessment will determine the level of involvement by USFWS, if any, regarding the need for mitigation. I have decided to hold off on pier design until a determination is made. Because my engineers are doing the design work gratis, I do not want them investing staff time prior to this determination. A separate issue has arisen that will affect schedule unless resolved. BLM has announced plans to undergo a renovation project on the Lake Estes dam that they indicate they have had in the schedule for two years. That project would increase flows by 250cfs this fall during the time we hoped to be in the stream doing construction on the pier. If this flow increase does happen, we will not be in the stream this fall. Given current construction activity demands, I am prescheduling work approximately two months out. If these issues are not resolved by August, the project will need to move to the Spring of 2018.

  3. New Business

    1. Visioning - Led by Coy – Tabled due to time constraints

    2. CTU Business

      1. Agenda Item added; David Nickum provided a report on the Long Draw Project.

      2. Statewide efforts on Greenback restoration – Mickey – Requested information related to the front range chapter meeting sponsored by CTU. Meeting will be held May 15 in the Denver area. Dave Piske volunteered to help gather the efforts of RMF.

      3. CPW issues – Dick Please read attachment – Pasted here:

        • It is expected that a bill will be introduced to the State Legislature yet this session addressing the funding shortage being experienced by CPW. The CTU Board has been monitoring progress on this issue and continues to do so. However, we would like to see the final language before offering any endorsement. CTU is supportive of the need to increase fees but as always, the devil is in the details. I expect that by Rendezvous, we will have the needed language. If CTU endorses the Bill, I expect there to be a request of all Chapters to support at the local level. The Chapter endorsed Coy to vote in favor of the CTU draft position.

    3. Upcoming conservation projects. – Mickey requested that project leaders get their information into Linda and the other Volgistics administrators for population to the website. No specifics were discussed.

      1. Poudre River

      2. Big Thompson

    4. Marketing Idea – Wil– Wil handed out stickers that we could place over the mailing label on Trout Magazine. The magazines could then be distributed in doctor’s offices and other places we may visit.

  4. Future Meetings

    1. CTU Rendezvous April 21-23, Keystone Lodge (Summit County)

    2. Poster for Rendezvous – Mickey provided a brief update on progress towards poster preparation. Dick, Linda and Mickey will attend.

    3. River Appreciation Day – April 23, 2017 – Odell’s – RMF will have a booth at Odell’s and a request was made for volunteers to participate in both the river clean up and staffing the booth. Odell’s has not selected RMF as one of their charities of the month but RMF will be the recipient of the “tip jar” during an event in October. This could impact the budget as the Chapter expected to receive approximately $3,000 from Odell’s as in past years. The tip jar estimate is $1,000. Dennis reminded the group that Odell’s had also contributed $1,000 to the youth day camp.

    4. Poudre River Water Fest June 3, Fort Collins – Wil will respond to the organizer indicating RMF will have a display.

    5. USFS’s annual Kids Free Fishing Day at Red Feather, June 3

    6. Fly Fishing Show 2018, Denver

*Embrace a Stream timeline

  • April 15, 2017: Deadline for chapter/council to make initial contact with EAS Committee Representative about proposed project

  • May 15, 2017: Deadline for draft application to be sent to EAS Committee Representative. This step is intended to help chapters address shortcomings in and improve their applications prior to the final submission deadline.

  • July 15, 2017: Final deadline for applications (e-mail date)

  • September 29, 2017: Embrace-A-Stream Committee grant selection meeting October 2017: Grant announcement letters are mailed

  • October 2017: Grant checks will be deposited in the chapter or council bank account. Please ensure that your bank routing information is on file with TU. Contact Kyle Smith (ksmith@tu.org) to update your information, if needed.

Submitted by Mickey McGuire, Vice President