Western Division American Fisheries Society
2nd Annual Executive Committee Retreat
December 3rd and 4th,
Portland, Oregon  

Participants:

Establishment of Quorum:  A quorum was present with seven voting Chapter representatives and four voting Western Division Officers (Bill Bradshaw was absent the first day of the retreat).

Review of Previous Meeting Minutes:  Eric proposed that we review the previous meeting minutes from the 2000 Retreat (Sacramento, California) and 2001 Annual Business Meeting (Phoenix, Arizona).  Eric motioned that the 2000 Retreat minutes be approved, Larry seconded the motion, and they were unanimously approved.  The 2001 Business Meeting minutes were not approved and need to be revisited by those in attendance.  It was also suggested that we finalize our retreat and annual meeting minutes in a more timely fashion.  Eric suggested that we approve Annual Retreat minutes at our Annual Business Meeting, and vice versa.  Another possibility is approving meeting minutes during our monthly conference calls. 

Report from AFS Parent Society Past-President, Carl Burger:  Beginning his report, Carl asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of Ted Bjornn.  Then, he complimented Tom for doing a great job as General Chair for the Annual Meeting held in Phoenix last August.  During Carl's presidency in 2000-2001, his objectives for AFS were to:  1) Enhance and revive leadership training, 2) Promote increased relevance for AFS, 3) Increase educational outreach projects, and 4) Increase the Society's international visibility.  He reported numerous successes in meeting his objectives.  He took the Governing Board to Capital Hill to meet with congressional officers, held leadership trainings at all Division meetings, and began cooperation with the World Fisheries Congress to host their 4^th Annual Meeting.  Carl also congratulated the Division for holding annual Retreats and monthly conference calls. Carl also talked briefly about this year's focus of Ken Beal.  The annual meeting, to be held in Baltimore, will be focused on “Turning the Tide:  Forging Partnerships to Enhance Fisheries.” 

Chapter Reports

Arizona-New Mexico (David)

This past year, the Arizona-New Mexico Chapter co-hosted their 2001 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona with the Parent Society and Western Division.  Their 2002 meeting will be held February 7-9 in Safford, Arizona with the Wildlife Society.  They are going to be awarding their Miles McKinnis memorial scholarship ($3,000) to an undergraduate student.  Also, Colleen Caldwell of the chapter has currently revised the Chapter bylaws.

Idaho Chapter (Steve)

The Idaho Chapter of AFS recently donated $500 to the Skinner Memorial Fund in Ted Bjornn's name and are planning on establishing a scholarship in his name at their next meeting, which will be held February 28-March 2 in Pocatello (jointly with the Bonneville Chapter).  The topic of the meeting will be “What are we managing for?”  The chapter recently submitted comments on the status of the Kootenai River Burbot, recommending they be deemed a The Chapter recently submitted comments to the USFWS regarding the status of the Kootenai River Burbot stating that existing data indicates that the population is at risk and as such should be given additional protection by the USFWS under the ESA. 

California-Nevada Chapter (Larry)

The California-Nevada Chapter recently held a Continuing Education Bio-Statistics workshop in October that was very successful.  They also held a recruiting drive at UC Davis, paying all student dues to the parent society if the student paid chapter dues.  They have also updated their membership list, removing all non-dues paying members.  A new newsletter editor has volunteered after the retirement of the previous editor.  Upcoming meetings include the 2002 meeting (April 18-21) in Lake Tahoe with a focus on climate change and including a wild trout symposium.  The chapter will co-host their 2003 meeting with the Western Division, likely in San Diego. 

Bonneville Chapter (Eric W.)

The Bonneville Chapter was hoping to co-host the 2005 meeting with the Parent Society, however, it we be held in Alaska.  They recently co-convened with the Wildlife Society for their annual meeting.  Two grants were recently funded—a $500 grant to the student chapter (Utah State) to support invited speakers and increase involvement; and a $3000 grant for the construction of an aquatic educational display. 

Colorado-Wyoming Chapter (Dave)

The annual meeting for the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter will be held February 26-28 in Laramie, Wyoming.  A half-day session will be set aside for topics relating to the defining of North and South populations of the Boreal Toad.  The chapter has also been busy revising its' bylaws and will begin awarding student scholarships in 2003.

Humboldt Chapter (Monica)

The Humboldt Chapter has been struggling to improve membership over the past year, and recently bid farewell to their Past-President, Dr. Mary Knapp, who recently moved to Ohio.  They have a newly elected President-Elect, Ethan Allen, and new Newsletter Editor, Shannon O'Dell.  They have been working to increase student involvement and are currently holding monthly seminars at Humboldt State University.  They are planning a small spring conference to be held in Arcata, California, with the date not yet set.

North Pacific International Chapter (Don)

NPIC recently held their 2001 meeting October 12-13 in Victoria, British Columbia with 46 attendants.  The Chapter is planning to co-convene with the Western Division in 2002 in Spokane, Washington.  A large attendance is anticipated since the meeting will also include participation from the Transboundary Group, Lake Roosevelt Forum, and Sustainable Fisheries Foundation.

Oregon Chapter (Tony)

The Oregon Chapter had a very successful annual meeting (co-hosted with the Oregon Chapter of the Wildlife Society) in 2001 with 948 people in attendance!  Lawmakers in Oregon recently tried to redefine “science” with recent legislation, but the governor vetoed the effort.  Tony suggested that it would be a good idea to create a CD with fisheries information contents that could be easily distributed to legislators.  The Oregon Chapter recently held conferences about both nutrients and watersheds, which were both extremely successful and the Watershed Conference had over 400 participants!  The Chapter has been working to pull hatchery workers and AFS members closer together.   Lastly, a huge congratulation to the Oregon Chapter for recently being named the AFS Chapter of the Year!!!

 Greater Portland Chapter (Sean)

Poor attendance and membership was reported by the Greater Portland Chapter, whose President is questioning the viability of the Chapter.  Although this is the oldest chapter in the Society, few members are currently active.

 Alaska Chapter (Eric K.)

The Alaska Chapter is alive and well, and have recently won the bid to co-host their 2005 Annual Meeting with the Parent Society in Anchorage.  Their 2001 meeting was held in November in Sitka, with approximately 120 people attending.  They have recently worked to increase membership within the Parent Society by adding $76 (the cost of a regular membership) to the non-AFS member registration fees at their annual meeting.  In other news, be looking for the new Key to the Fishes of Alaska publication, which will be approximately 1200 pages and should hit bookshelves sometime in 2002. 

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame—Jerry Bouck

Jerry Bouck, a previous Western Division President (1976-77) and 40-year member of AFS, visited the meeting to inform the EXCOM about the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.  The non-profit organization (based in Hayward, Wisconsin) keeps records, sets rules, and presents awards to outdoor writers, fishing guides, persons having regional impacts on fisheries, and annually adds three people to the Hall of Fame for national/international work in fisheries.  Jerry visited us because the Hall of Fame rarely receives nominations from the northwest and would like increased visibility for their organization through WDAFS. 

 Secretary/Treasurer Report—Monica Hiner

Our balances to date are as follows:  Savings $41,844.18; Checking $3,233.86; 6-months term deposits of $12,816.68, $12,738.06, and $11,943.20.  A motion was made to write-off an $11.52 discrepancy in our checking account between the balance provided by the previous Secretary/Treasurer and the balance according to Mountain America Credit Union.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.  We discussed differences between our annual budget and actual spending, with focus on costs incurred from the printing of the Tributary and manufacturing of logo hats that are currently being sold by the Division. 

 President's Report—Eric Knudsen

Eric paraphrased his first President's report that was printed in the fall Tributary. The four major areas of emphasis for his tenure will be:

AFS involvement –Obviously there's no way to insist that people volunteer. But I believe that people can be attracted to participate through 1) exciting and diverse annual meetings, 2) professional camaraderie, and 3) important stewardship issues.

Inclusiveness –We need to create opportunities for a wide array of professional interests to increase participation. As one example, WDAFS and the Cal-Neva Chapter have recently set the stage to co-convene the 2003 annual meeting in San Diego with a program emphasizing marine fisheries. We hope this will attract the salty folks who may have previously felt left out.

Effective Committees –A recently revised ad hoc committee is the Grants Funding Program Committee, chaired this year by Past President Bill Bradshaw. Bill has established subcommittees for 1) soliciting additional outside contributions to expand the fund to its target of $100,000, 2) developing investment strategies, and 3) defining criteria for grant awards. We are also expecting a proposal from the Grants Committee that it become a standing committee, which will require a vote of the membership.

Procedural Housekeeping – I am hoping to add a “Procedures” section to the WDAFS web site that will describe what needs to be done each year. Many other AFS organizational units have a procedural document that contains guidance not found in the unit by-laws or rules, or that explain how the by-laws or rules are to be implemented.  Documenting the WDAFS procedures will allow future officers and other EXCOM members to be more efficient, freeing them for more effective involvement in meeting the AFS mission.

 WDAFS Committee Reports—Eric Knudsen reported to the best of his knowledge for each committee unless otherwise noted by bolded name below.

Archives—Venice Beske.  Activity:  She would like to continue to chair this committee.

Audits—L. Carufel.  Activity:  He would like to continue to chair this committee.  He has also requested that reimbursements need to be submitted in writing for more accurate record keeping.

Environmental Concerns—Bob Wunderlich.  Activity:  No report, this committee does not have any current assignments.

Membership—Tom McMahon.  Activity:  Working on promoting membership from Mexican peoples, since they fall within the Division but are not represented very well.

Nominating Representative—Henry Booke. 

Policy Review—Dennis Tol.  Activity:  Recently reviewed Bull Trout report.

Riparian Committee—Dave Zafft.  Activity:  Dave has been busy reviewing the past activities of this committee, which was formed in 1980, and questioning whether the committee is viable at this time.  The committee annually hosts the Riparian Challenge Awards, which recognize the USFS and BLM for riparian habitat management successes.  Dave's goals as committee chair include the formation of a full riparian committee; broadening the Riparian Challenge Award to include other agencies; and emphasizing riparian issues at an upcoming (possibly 2004) WDAFS meeting.      

New Committees

It was suggested that several new ad hoc committees be formed within the WDAFS:  1)  An Electronic Communications committee; 2) A Hutton committee; and 3) A Newsletter committee.  Allen Bingham (webmaster) agreed to serve as the chair of the Electronic Communications committee for one year.  These duties will entail much of what he is already doing, but he will also invite web people from WDAFS Chapters to be part of this committee and assist in the duties of maintaining the WDAFS website, upgrading the web features to resemble the Parent Society's page, and developing a list server.  Names of people to contact included Ron Remmick (WY), Scott Bryan (AZ), and Brett Johnson (CSU).  

Upcoming 2002 Annual Meeting 

Margaret Birch is our local arrangements committee chair.  Don is currently seeking volunteers for session chairs (4-6 people) and people to help with registration.  The meeting will be held April 27^th – May 1^st in Spokane, Washington and we will co-convene with NPIC, Sustainable Fisheries Foundation, Transboundary Group, and the Lake Roosevelt Forum.  We are anticipating 750+ attendants.  The overall meeting budget is $220,000-250,000 and approximately $100,000 has already been raised from sponsors.  New costs for the Western Division include the WDAFS business meeting (breakfast) and WDAFS Executive Committee meeting (luncheon). 

2003 Annual Meeting

The 2003 WDAFS will be co-convened with the California-Nevada Chapter and the location will most likely be San Diego, California.  Target dates for the meeting are April 20-24^th.  Tom and Dave Manning are visiting the Hyatt in San Diego (across from Sea World) in December and will report in January.  This meeting will have a strong marine focus.  In an attempt to increase involvement from Fisheries Professionals in Mexico, it would be ideal to establish a scholarship fund to support travel to the meeting.

2004 Annual Meeting and World Fisheries Congress Meeting

Four options were identified regarding the convening of the WDAFS for their annual meeting in 2004 in cooperation with the World Fisheries Congress:

1. Co-convene WDAFS meeting with input to the agenda through Pete Bisson.  The Division would sponsor one featured session during the World Fisheries Congress Meeting (1/2 Day).

2. Have the WDAFS meeting immediately before or following the WFC with separate registration.

3. Have a separate WDAFS meeting and not sponsor a session at the WFC.

4. Have a separate WDAFS meeting in addition to sponsoring a session at the WFC.

Members of the Executive Committee discussed the four options and their pros/cons.  There was concern that if the meetings (WDAFS and WFC) were separate, Western Division members may only be able to attend one meeting and may choose either the WDAFS or Parent Society meeting and miss the opportunity to attend an international fisheries meeting such as the WFC.  However, if we do co-convene, some expressed concern that the Division would be “lost in the shuffle”.  One way to avoid this would be to co-convene with a strong presence.  It was suggested that we co-convene and sponsor a ½ day session featuring the “Best of the West”—papers selected during the Chapter Meetings and WDAFS Annual meetings that represented the best science and research in the Western Division. 

After much discussion, it was decided to make a specific proposal to the World Fisheries Congress stating that the WDAFS would fundraise for the WDAFS sponsored session.  The Division would raise up to $30,000, keeping the first $10,000.  The theme of the session would be the “Best of the West”.  In addition, the WDAFS would hold a separate annual meeting in the fall of 2004 covering freshwater fisheries issues not covered in the WFC (marine focused) and held in an inland western state (WY, UT, or NM).

2005 Annual Meeting

The Alaska Chapter submitted a proposal to the Western Division to co-convene in September 2005 with the WDAFS and Parent Society in Anchorage.  Eric will put a motion before the governing board at the mid-term meeting to propose the Western Division securing 10% of the net proceeds (which is standard for Chapters that co-convene with the Parent Society). 

Nominations Committee—Bill Bradshaw

The WDAFS nominations committee is seeking nominations for awards to be presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting in Spokane, Washington.  These awards include the Award or Excellence, Award of Merit, Award of Special Recognition, Robert Borovicha Award, and Conservation Achievement Award.  All awards must be submitted by March 1^st to Bill Bradshaw (Bill.Bradshaw@wgf.state.wy.us or call 307-672-7418).

Grants Funding Program—Bill Bradshaw

Bill talked about the overall structure of the Program, which can be broken up into several parts:  1) setting up the fund (Subcommittee:  Henry Booke, Ed Cheslak, Pete Bisson, Monica Hiner, Roy Waley), 2) developing funding criteria, 3) soliciting for donations, and 4) reviewing applications and awarding approved grants.  Monica talked briefly about the status of the fund, which is currently being set up through Charles Schwab (a recommendation from Henry).  Then, Bill talked more in depth about the Funding Criteria Subcommittee.  It was agreed that the committee should not accept applications from outside the Division, and Don suggested that we develop a strategic plan for implementing funding criteria.  There were also discussions about which type of projects should be given priority and whether the Division would receive royalties from grants that were used to fund publications.  It was decided that priority should be given to projects with high visibility that are related to the Society's strategic plan.  Bill has drafted a funding criteria document and will revise it to include comments made by the Executive Committee and send it to Eric for final approval.  It was also decided that grants should be reviewed annually (deadline Oct. 31^st?), perhaps at the annual retreat, and a decision made by December 31^st for the next year's recipients.   

A process for making investment decisions was briefly discussed whereby Investment Subcommittee recommendations would be forwarded to the Division President and Secretary/Treasurer, for their final approval and decision.  This process is essentially that followed by the Northeast Division for their investment decisions.  No action was taken on this issue pending submittal of a more formal written proposal for Excom consideration.

Newsletter

The Executive Committee discussed in great lengths how the newsletter should be distributed—snail mail vs. electronic format.  We discussed the cost of printing and distributing the newsletter, which costs approx. $350 to print the newsletter, $350 to print the ballots, and between $1600-2200 to mail depending on the mail class (bulk vs. first class).  We discussed the possibility of emailing the ballots to decrease costs and increase member participation.  We decided to mail out ballots this year and include questions regarding distributing ballots and future newsletters to determine the preference of WDAFS members.  However, it was agreed by the Executive Committee members that it is important to at least mail out one issue of the tributary annually.  

WDAFS Hats and Logo

Our new WDAFS hats have been selling quite well!  After calculating the cost of the hats (initial plus shipping them around to different Chapters), it was decided that we should begin charging $12 instead of $10 so the Division can at least break even.  Bill is checking on copyrighting our logo design for future hats, shirts, etc.

Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Changes

Eric, Don, and Monica met early on December 3^rd to discuss the annual budget for FY 2002.  The following budget adjustments were made:

Income

            Expenses

Establishment of Fundraising Committee

David Cowley agreed to chair the new fundraising committee whose focus will be to raise money for our annual business meeting (breakfast) and executive committee meeting.  Other members of the committee include Steve Elle, Monica Hiner, Don MacDonald, and Bill Bradshaw. The goal of the Committee is to raise at least $15,000 through outside contributions to make up the anticipated budget deficit for FY 02.

Hutton Junior Biology Program

The subject was raised on whether a Hutton Committee should be created within the Division, and perhaps on the Chapter level as well.  Eric will investigate this further.

Updates to the WDAFS Bylaws and Procedures

Based on the successfulness of the past two years' retreats, the Executive Committee was in agreement that the retreat serves as a useful tool for the WDAFS to regroup, get organized and focused, and work more efficiently during the year.  We discussed adding the retreat to the WDAFS procedures.  Eric will draft this and submit it to the rest of the Executive Committee.

WDAFS Strategic Plan

The parent society has a new strategic plan, and the Western Division is also developing a new strategic plan.  Bill Bradshaw is drafting the new plan and will then forward it to the rest of the Executive Committee by December 20^th.

Ocean Policy Commission Regional Hearings

Ocean Policy hearings will be conducted on the national and regional level.  The parent society has responded and is looking for individuals to assist in delivering our position as well as providing a regional response to regional issues.  It was suggested that an ad hoc committee be created that would coordinate with the parent society but represent views of the Western Division.  One suggestion was that a representative from each state would serve on the committee and represent AFS at regional hearings.