Western Division of the American Fisheries Society
EXCOM Teleconference Minutes
Date: October 28, 2002

Participants: Don MacDonald, Eric Knudsen, Tom McMahon, Monica Hiner, Bill Bradshaw, John Alves, Lynn Starnes, Mary Whalen, John Monahan, Steve Elle, Dana McCanne, Mary Buckman, Dave Zafft, Cindy Williams, Jeff Barrett

WDAFS 3rd Annual Retreat

• The upcoming annual retreat will be held in Salt Lake City on November 16-17th at the Little America Hotel. Daily meetings will be from 8:30am until 4:30pm. So far, 17 people are confirmed to be attending.
• Additions to the agenda Don sent out include Mexican membership, 2005 meeting with the parent society, coal bed methane issues (Montana/Colorado-Wyoming Chapters), and the World Fisheries Congress.

• The committee, co-chaired by Lynn Starnes and John Tilmant (NPS), has reviewed up to date background information on the project. There has been a great response from the Division members concerning the nomination of committee members from each Chapter, and there is now approximately 10 people serving on the committee.
• The EPA is contributing data from 600 sites for the project.

• The focus of this review is now for a position statement to be developed by those who are most familiar with the issues and concerns within the basin. A letter to the National Research Council will be developed, which will be signed by Don.
• George Guillen is heading up the effort to identify committee members and develop the long letter to the NRC, which should be completed by the end of the year. After the letter is completed, it will be reviewed by the Policy Review and Executive Committees before being sent to the NRC.

• Nine symposia have been finalized and there is a potential of seven others. Tom will give a full report at the retreat.
• Key issues that need to be addressed between now and the retreat are:
  • Fundraising—we need assistance with this.
  • Continuing Education Classes
  • Finalizing the budget

• The 2004 Annual Meeting will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Little American Hotel between February 28th - March 3rd. Sunday will include a continuing education class. The plenary session will be held Monday morning. The WDAFS business meeting will be held on Tuesday morning over breakfast, and there will also be a banquet on Tuesday evening. There are also plans in the works for ski trips on Sunday and Thursday.
• Don, Eric, and Dave will meet with Little America during the retreat to discuss contract details. In the meantime, they will contact us if there is a conflict with our prospective meeting dates.