GCWG Board Meeting Minutes 3/10/13
Location: The board meeting was held at the home of Beth Collins and Jim Magill. The meeting followed a potluck dinner.
Attendance: Jim Magill, Doug Smith, Lisa Vonderharr, Tom Papathakis, Tom Whitten, Christine Lee, Al Rothenbach, Roger Shaw, Ingrid Anderson. Members: Pat Potter, Beth Collins, Stephen Lee, Toni Wujek, Joan Shaw. Guest speakers: Dawn Schoen, Maryann Groswald.
Opening: The meeting was called to order by President Jim Magill at 7:10 p.m. He mentioned that a banner for the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act (1964-2015) would be hung at Monarch Cabin.
VOLUNTEER HOURS – Dawn Schoen- Spoke on the value of hours reported, both to the Forest Service and to CGWG. She told the board that she has a hard time getting hours, especially from individuals. Reports from coordinators are usually on time. Although she sends out a reminder for quarterly reports she suggested that perhaps these volunteer hours should be reported on a monthly basis. Also sending the report to her as soon as the event is over leaves less chance of forgetting details. Reminder: if an event has a coordinator, that person should compile all the volunteer hours and send them to Dawn. For example: Daisy Days, Monarch/Junco cabin volunteer hours, Smokey, etc. Individual hours would be such as Osprey nest observations, Bluebird nest observations, wilderness trail hosting/hiking. She also mentioned that no one had ever turned in the hours for the Christmas Bird Count. This oversight should be remedied. Once again, group efforts would be reported to the coordinator who would send the data to Dawn; individual efforts would be sent by the individuals themselves. (A suggestion was made that we count how many people come to the spring and fall meetings. A volunteer, probably a board member, would either get a head count at the meeting or a sign up sheet could be taken).
There followed a general discussion on the dearth of members participating in cabin hosting, trail maintenance, etc. Many members just pay their dues and come to the social outings. Roger Shaw suggested a raise in our membership dues. Perhaps a two-tier membership? A volunteer membership for $15.00 with voting rights and a donor/donation membership for $30.00 for those members who could not commit to any work activities. Although many board members thought this was a good idea THE TOPIC OF CHANGING RATES AND MEMBERSHIP LEVELS WAS TABLED until the next meeting since there were some problems that had to be addressed, one of which was who could vote at the board elections.
MONARCH CABIN STAFFING – Mary Ann Groswald – She had a problem last season in staffing Monarch Cabin, especially early and late season. This year we again have to staff Monarch two days during the week, Monday and Wednesday. Last year she called quite a few people but unfortunately many couldn't make it even those who put their names down as substitutes. One problem was last minute cancellations by the Forest Service ranger. It was felt by many board members that we were not bound to staff these days if no one could do so. Maryann went above and beyond the call of duty.
Jean Miller is volunteering to be the overseer at Monarch. She will check on the money box, make sure the volunteer notebook is there, see that there are enough pamphlets, etc. Because Doug Smith will not be able to do the same thing for Junco this season Jim will find another volunteer.
GCWG 2013 Projects – Compiled by Nick Schade– A list of proposed projects for our organization. CGWG needs to see what projects we can do. Some are already on our agenda, such a cabin hosting, trailhead registration boxes, daisy demolition day, hikes and trail work. Other projects listed : Weekend Wilderness Steward trips focusing on education, campsite rehab, litter removal, etc. ; Wilderness Trails Training run by the Forest Service; Caribou Lake Designated Campsites which would determine if the designated campsites/signs are physically there and if not, reestablish sites and install signs as needed.
With the Wilderness Act having its 50th anniversary in 2014 what do we want to do in 2014 in order to get people here aware of this anniversary. We need to “celebrate 2014”. We can get involved but how much? Some special projects could be a photo contest or perhaps an essay contest for school children. Public libraries in Grand County could help also. Joan Shaw mentioned that Joyce Clair might be willing to lead a kid's hike for Wilderness 2014. (Of course, this would require someone to organize these events).
HIKES: When we have our hikes in the National Forests we could also add another component: a trails assessment could be part of the hike or perhaps hiking to a campground and cleaning it up. Ingrid suggested GPS training – perhaps at our summer picnic or our Fall Meeting.
MISC. TRIPS & EVENTS– Suggestions that we do a birding trip (Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge) and flower walks. Also have a GCWG presence at the ArtAffair in Winter Park on July 20&21.
SPRING MEETING: April 7th at Adams Camp at the Y. Joan will check with the Y regarding the main dish for approximately 80 people. This would be a great time to mention to the membership about the Weekend Wilderness Steward Trip (involving backpacking). Beth Collins said that she will get in touch with Ron Sears regarding the backpacker overnight events.
SPRING CAMPING TRIP – May 7,8,&9 to Zion. There are 26 people already signed up.
MEMBERS PICNIC – Jim will call the Forest Service to reserve the barn for Sunday, July 28.
T-SHIRTS – Lisa will order more t-shirts and hats.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE -- Three board members' terms are coming due: Sue Perkins, Gary Perkins, Jim Magill. Roger Shaw and Doug Smith agreed to head the nominating committee. Roger said that Bob Saint was willing to take over the Registration Boxes and also be on the board. He and Doug will speak to Sue and Gary about one of them continuing on the board. Jim Magill agreed to serve another term on the board.
REGISTRATION BOXES: Roger said that we are finally seeing trends coming out of the registration box numbers. Fewer people are using the trails each year except for Monarch.
PUBLIC LANDS DAY: Pat & Maryann Hogan are going to coordinate our participation on this day. They will focus on two projects.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Sunday, June 9. Hosts will be Lisa & Tom.
With there being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Submitted by: Christine Lee, Secretary
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