WDAFS Archives, Reports and Minutes

Western Division of the American Fisheries Society
EXCOM Teleconference Minutes
Date: July 22, 2003

Participants: Don MacDonald, Chuck Knutson, David Manning, Mary Whalen, Tom McMahon, Bill Bradshaw, Dave Zafft, Jim Tilmant, Lynn Starnes, Vaughn Paragamian, John Alves, Jim Steele, Leanne Fisher

The conference was successful in several areas including the program, hotel bookings, continuing education and the trade show;
Unfortunately there are concerns with the recent accounting figures as the budget is now showing a $10,000 - $14,000 loss. The expenses appeared to in line with the projected figures, however, member attendance was down by 125. The committee was surprised because hotel rooms and meetings appeared to be full during the meeting;
Fundraising also appeared to be on target, although some money was lost on continuing education;
There were some questions as to whether some credit card registrations had been processed, if all exhibitors had paid for their booths and if everyone was able to complete their registration;
The committee would like to re-involve Judy to look into the budget; and,
Chuck Knutson, Don MacDonald and Tom McMahon are going to help with looking into the budget issue (i.e. an audit team).

The First Call for Papers has been completed and will be appearing in the next issue of the Tributary and on the WDAFS website;
The program is unfolding well. Lynn is working on contacting some notable potential keynote speakers including Robert F. Kennedy of River Keepers. Once the keynote speakers are finalized the plenary session outline will be completed;
Amy Unthank has agreed to chair a symposium “Impacts of Fire Management on Fisheries”;
Lynn is making progress with fundraising and has received some raffle donations;
The Whirling Disease Foundation is on board and will co-sponsor the poster session;
Lynn is working to co-ordinate with Bill Bradshaw and the Whirling Disease Foundation to make sure that contacts/companies are contacted appropriately (i.e. only one person will make contact with them); and,
The Committee’s next conference call is Friday July 25/03.

The participants on the call were unable to approve the minutes from the May 20/03 call, the EXCOM business luncheon and the June 24/03 call because a quorum was not established. Therefore, all business items had to be postponed to the next conference call in August; and
Monica Hiner was not on the call so Don MacDonald briefly mentioned the issue of taxes which will be discussed in more detail on the next call.

The dates for the 2003 Retreat in Phoenix have been finalized. The retreat will be held Oct 14-16, 2003 at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix, AZ;
So far ten people have confirmed their attendance for the retreat. Tom McMahon is hoping to ensure that all chapters are represented and that as many people participate as possible. Don MacDonald suggested that a general email be sent out to potential participants and then after an initial response, people who haven’t responded should be phoned;
Tom will contact the Hyatt Regency to confirm that the hotel block is organized (the contract has already been signed); and,
It is expected that most chapters will pick up expenses for participants. Those with financial concerns should contact Tom directly.

Don MacDonald gave a general report on the committee’s progress behalf of Eric Knudsen and Ken McDonald;
So far approximately twenty-five people have responded to be part of the committee and three co-chairs have been selected. A draft work plan is in place;
Ken McDonald is working on getting the terms of reference out to the work group; and,
The budget for the project is $31,000 and $15,000 has been received to date. Ken is working on obtaining the remaining $16,000 and it is hoped that members in the working group will provide support.

Eric Knudsen is working with Joe Margraf to amend the committee by-laws. This issue will be discussed on the next conference call with Eric and Joe; and,
It is hoped that these changes will be made by the 2004 meeting in Salt Lake City.

Dave Lentz could not be present and Don MacDonald summarized a report that he submitted;
Montana has expressed interest in hosting the WDAFS Annual Meeting in 2006 in Missoula or Bozeman and they are flexible about the timing at this point. Dave is waiting for the NPIC proposal for the 2006 meeting and the Oregon chapter proposal. The EXCOM should be able to make a decision about the 2006 meeting on the August or September conference call;
Originally it was the Southern Divisions turn to host the 2007 meeting but there had been no response;
Chuck Knutson reported that Cal-Neva has put in a bid for the 2007 meeting and is going to obtain letters from agencies interested in supporting the meeting; and,
It was suggested that the Western Division might want to look at working with the parent organization for support when arranging meetings; AFS could handle intake and registration leaving the host chapter to take care of local arrangements, program etc.

Jim Tilmant reported that a species list has been formulated and a draft RFP is being circulated among the committee members which will be used to solicit a contractor. Monthly teleconferences are also being held;
Data will be collected using the USGS HUC 4 level drainage system;
Lynn Starnes reported that a symposium will be held at the 2004 annual meeting and the symposium book will be published through AFS; and,
Don MacDonald reported that the application to the NFWF for funding ($50,000) has been submitted and is currently being reviewed by five independent reviewers.

Mary Whalen explained that AFS is now charging more for access to the WDAFS website, which limits the amount of information that can be posted;
Mary has looked into another domain provider which could reduce costs and the committee agreed that it would be beneficial to change to the suggested provider;
Mary will contact the web company to set up an account. After this is completed the files from the current website can be transferred over and the new site can be advertised. It may also be required to purchase a domain name;
It may be possible to offer web space to other WDAFS chapters through the new service provider; and,
The timeline for the change over of the website was discussed. There was some concern that the current website had been quoted in publications for the 2004 conference. Mary will look into the possibility of working with AFS to provide “hotlinks” to the new website so the change can occur in the fall of 2003.

Bill Bradshaw updated the committee on the endowment fund fundraising efforts. It appears that fundraising is slowing down;
Bill asked committee members to keep potential funding sources in mind and to pass the information along to him if they did not want to contact the organization directly on their own; and,
Bill mentioned that the WDAFS stocks are performing well and making money.

Don MacDonald reported that the committee has formulated a mission statement and that the committee is waiting for an appointment from the president; and,
Lynn Starnes mentioned that the 2003 meeting was important step in the formation of the Mexican Chapter and that Mexican members are now participating in the Western Native Fishes committee;

Bill Bradshaw asked for a volunteer to sit on the Meritorious Service Award Committee. Don MacDonald volunteered to fill this role;
Mary Whalen is working to identify the people in pictures in the upcoming issue of the tributary; and,
Mary asked which pictures should be submitted to the Fisheries Magazine along with the text from Tom McMahon. It was suggested that the award pictures and a team picture be included.

The next conference call is scheduled for Friday August 15, 10 am PDT. Leanne Fisher will contact Eric to set up a line.