Western Division of the American Fisheries Society
EXCOM Teleconference Minutes
Date: February 23, 2000

1. Participants included: Ken Hashagen, President, Bill Bradshaw, President-Elect, Eric Knudsen, Vice President, Ed Cheslak, Treasurer, Bob Bilby, Past President, Paul Evans, Newsletter Editor, Bill Bechtol, Alaska Chapter President, Rollie Montagne, Greater Portland Chapter President, Chris Keleher, Bonneville Chapter President, and Mary Lou Keefe, Chair, Equal Opportunity Committee.

2. A quorum was not present; these draft minutes will be sent out to the entire Executive Committee electronically. The information on proposed awards for grant requests are presented as recommendations until sufficient members of the Excom have voted on the recommendations. To pass these recommendations the affirmative votes of two additional chapter presidents must be received.

3. Up-date on the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)- As reported at the last conference call, there appeared to be some reluctance from SER to change the information on their web page. Is was not reluctance, but rather some mis-sent email and phone messages not checked. I feel SER will do the right thing but the folks that have agreed to the changes must get the web master to make the changes. I will continue to monitor their web page and, once the changes have been made, I will ask Allen Bingham to delete the "Clarification" statement on our web page.

4. Paul Evans reported that a new printer has been located for the Tributary. March 9 will be the publication/mailing date. Paul is still accepting information until the end of week. Ken Hashagen has resent his President's Message. Eric Knudsen indicated that bulk mail to Canada and Alaska often take a month or more, with the result that members from those areas would not be able to meet the deadlines for the first call for papers. Paul will send all Canadian and Alaskan members their issues via a first class mailing. Next Tributary deadline is the end of May

5. The main purpose of this call was to address the grant requests we had on hand. Before addressing the grants, there was a lengthy discussion of our current budget and expenditures to date. Without going into lengthy detail, I will attempt to summarize the main points:

a. It is not likely that we will be able to recover all the credit card charges from the Moscow meeting, thus anticipated income will be lower than projected and, if expenditures continue at their current rate, the budget will be over-expended by the end of the fiscal year. We discussed eliminating any further grants for this year in order to balance the budget but agreed that grants were the one area that we could help chapters and others in the resource field do good things for fisheries resources. With an approved vote, the Executive Committee has the ability to move funds from savings to checking to cover shortfalls such as this without going to the membership for approval. Those participating in the call decided to continue to fund grant requests and make a budget adjustment towards the end of the year to cover over expenditures. We have over $85,000 in our accounts and felt a one-time fund transfer to cover the shortfall was appropriate. We anticipate a profit from the Telluride meeting because it will be much better planned and organized than the Moscow meeting was. (I know, I was in charge of planning and organizing the Moscow meeting - KEN).

b. The following decisions were made on grant requests:

i. Wood in Streams ($5,000) - this was obligated in the 1999 fiscal year and will be paid out of that year. Ed will pay this one and adjust the 1999 actual expenditures.

ii. Henry's Fork Journal Issue ($1,500) - xxxx will call and find out if this is going to happen. If it is still a viable project, it will be taken out of this years money, as it was approved at the Moscow Excom Meeting.

iii. Dam Removal Conference ($400) - approved previously; check sent

iv. Groundfish Conference ($1200) - previously approved; check sent

v. Alaska Stock Status Report ($5,000) - with the approval of the Alaska Chapter, we have deferred payment of this grant until next years budget. It is contingent on the Chapter generating additional funds. If the funds are not forthcoming, the funds will be returned.

vi. EEO Section request ($500) - this is an annual, recurring request that the Committee is willing to support on a yearly basis. We decided to make it a line item under the Awards budget category and to fund it this year and future years from the funds in that line item.

vii. Cutthroat Trout Symposium ($500) - grant is contingent on the remainder of the funds that are needed being collected by the start of the Symposium. If the funds are not found, the $500 would be returned.

viii. Transactions Backlog ($2,000) - after approval, Ed will send a check to Bethesda.

ix. Humboldt Chapter Education Grant ($1,000) - after approval, Ed will send a check.

x. Weigel/Diversity Symposium at the Telluride meeting ($3,500) - deferred. Mary Lou Keefe will work with Bill Bradshaw to include a plenary speaker to talk about diversity at the Telluride meeting and work with Eric Knudsen to put together a workshop at the 2001 meeting. The Excom felt that this is not a topic that is usually well attended and it would be an excessive expenditure for the few folks that would probably attend. Everyone felt the topic was one we should support, but it would be better to build toward a workshop at Phoenix (2001), where the audience would be larger.

xi. Gumboot Creek Signage - Eric will contact Gretchen Sausen to determine how much money has been donated by other proposed partners. If it looks like it will be a viable project, Western Division will donate $500. If the funds are not used by July 1, 2000, they will be returned.

xii. Fishes of California/Peter Moyle ($1,500) - Dr. Moyle needs $13,200 to put a color insert in his revised edition of Fishes of California. The Division will donate $1,500 to this effort, contingent upon Dr. Moyle securing the remaining funds necessary by June 2000.

xiii. World Fisheries Congress ($400) - after approval by the full Excom, Ed will send a check.

Ken will work with Ed to prepare the notification letters. So many of the grant requests received by the Division are looking to the Division for only partial funding - other partners are also solicited. Ed and Ken will craft some wording indicating that our donation (now and in future years) is contingent on the full amount being solicited for the project being obligated by other partners/sponsors. If the funding goal is not reached by a certain date, our funds must be returned.