Grand County Wilderness Group Fall Members' Meeting November 5, 2006
Location:
Members met at the YMCA Summit Building at Adams Camp for a potluck, followed
by the meeting.
Attendance:
70 people attended the potluck and meeting.
Opening:
President Jerry Stahl called the meeting to order at 7:20PM. He thanked all the members who brought food and thanked the Y for providing the facility. He also read an e-mail from Mike Ricketts of the USFS, requesting our help with the Forest Service Xmas tree sale in December. Patrick and Julia Pine will coordinate the group's volunteers. Jerry introduced the USFS personnel present: Ralph Swain, Gary McGraw, Doreen Summerhill, and Ray Miller.
Treasurer's Report:
Carolyn Manly reported that the treasury was in good shape, with a balance of $724 as of 8/13/06. She noted that most of the group's income is from dues, and shirt, map, and ANRA pass sales.
Carolyn also reported that Judy and Tim Schowalter will be taking over the group's paper product inventory from Dixie Lockey, and that Jim and Mary England and Bob Drickey and Sharry Eringer have volunteered to apprentice as Junco cabin coordinators next season.
Membership: Al Rothenbach reported that the group currently has 125 members. He introduced the four guests that were present.
Website: Al Rothenbach also reported that there are some changes planned for the website. It will be made easier to use, and trail hosting and potluck recipe sections will be added.
Activities:
- Cabin Hosting: Sue Haith reported that group volunteers covered Junco cabin everyday we were responsible for this past season, and that volunteers were easy to get. Ann Feucht reported that Monarch cabin was also covered on all days and that she also had an easy time getting volunteers. Jerry Stahl thanked Donn Manly for doing the cabin orientations the last several years. Donn is stepping down and introduced Toni Wujek, his replacement for next season. He noted that volunteers have become very active and that some of next season's positions are already being filled.
- Volunteer Hours: Donn Manly reported for Sue Jackson, who was not present. This past season, the group turned in slightly over 3000 volunteer hours. The hours spent cabin hosting this year were about the same as last year, but trail hosting hours are down.
- Daisy Days: Judy Shetler reported that group volunteers pulled noxious weeds around Monarch Lake one day this past summer, just as it has done for the last 4 or 5 years. Results are being seen: there were fewer invasives and more native plants this year.
- Newsletter: Jerry Stahl thanked Joan and Roger Shaw for the wonderful job they did on the newsletter, which has just been mailed to all members.
- Trailhead Signage: Roger Shaw reported that a few days of work were done on the boards at the trailheads this year, but that more could have been done. He showed a 6' x 6' county map that has been donated to the group and asked for suggestions on where to put it.
- Registration Boxes: Jim Moat reported that summarizing the data collected from the registration boxes is quite a task, and questioned how the Forest Service uses the data. He is hoping to find another volunteer to takeover the boxes next season.
- Xmas Bird Count: Doreen Summerhill reported that the Xmas Bird Count will be held on December 16th. This is the 5th Xmas count in Grand County. She urged members to volunteer by calling herself or Steve King at the Forest Service office.
- Trail Maintenance Day: Jim Moat reported on the workday held on the Columbine Lake trail this past season. He volunteered to lead the trail workday again next year.
Comments from the Forest Service:
- Ralph Swain, the Region 2 Wilderness Manager, thanked the group for all our work. He noted that the Forest Service budgets are going down, and that the approximately 17 wilderness groups in Region 2 have helped fill the holes created by the decreased budgets. He praised our newsletter, and talked about how the Forest Service uses the registration box data that is collected. He also mentioned that he is looking for a volunteer group to host the Wilderness Volunteers Workshop next September and hoped the GCWG might be interested.
- Gary McGraw, of the Forest Service, talked about the Adopt-A-Trail Program. He reported that, of 140 maintained trails, some are wilderness trails, others are used for hiking, biking, horseback riding and by ATVs. Thirty-eight trails were adopted this past year, leaving approximately 80 trails available for adoption.
Miscellaneous: The next GCWG get-together will be the White Deer Party, after the first of the year, date to-be-announced.
Carolyn Stahl reported that there are group T-shirts on display and available for purchase.
Presentations: An inspiring 24 minute video, entitled American Values: American Wilderness, was shown.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:50PM.
Toni Wujek, Secretary