Meeting+2008+Apr+17

Wake County Nature Preserves Meeting Thurs 2008 Apr 17 8:30-9:30 1214 Jordan Hall, NCSU Campus


 * Attendance Notes:**

Wallace and Ramsey will be absent from this meeting.

Attended by Hess, Alexander, Connors, Cheshire, Sinclair, Shumate


 * Announcements:**

Service-learning training for all partners Thursday 1 May 8:30-3:30 at NCSU and Marks Creek.

Additional service-learning training for faculty who will use service-learning in the fall Wed 7 May at NCSU.


 * Annotated Agenda Items**

//Please add items you'd like to see on the agenda by Tues 15 Apr 5PM//

//Please add your pre-meeting discussion of these items under the item right here on the agenda, or on the appropriate linked page.//


 * Introductions (old and new members)** (5 minutes)

- What's next? - Schedule for completion - can we create one?
 * Marks Creek status and planning** (25 min)

We discussed this briefly near the end of the meeting. There was sentiment that we need to get a better handle on where we're headed with the pilot and what the end product will look like. Kim Shumate agreed to lead a team to examine this question. Connors and Sinclair expressed interest, but we could stand some more volunteers. Kim and Kristen will gather some sample management plans from Charlotte/Mecklenburg and Chicago Wilderness to share as we think through this question.
 * NOTES:**

In the mean time, Connors feels he has a group of people who will carry out bird surveys in May and June, which is the appropriate time for inventorying breeding birds; transect methodology is proposed to get simple presence / absence data. He's concerned that we're going to miss some of the herps this year and will need to revisit in late winter / early spring 2009.

Hess discussed possibility of a NonProfit Institute intern (see notes below) as a way to organize existing interest groups around these inventories. General agreement that this could work well, if structured properly.

//Action Items//
 * Shumate will convene a team to look at other management plans and move forward with the task of fleshing out the Marks Creek pilot
 * Connors will organize birding forays at Marks Creek.
 * Hess will work with Sherry Dutton to seek an intern for volunteer organization and matching.


 * Finalize service-learning workshop details** (15 min)

The bulk of our time was spent here, figuring out how to organize approx 22 people for the service part of the workshop. Instead of reporting here, I've (george) put the information on the workshop page.
 * NOTES:**

- 13 May will not work for Hess, but others can do this also. - Jack Duncan stepping down as director of Raleigh Parks 1 June.
 * Revisit meeting with parks directors** (10 min)


 * NOTES:** We did not discuss this item.


 * Any other business?**

2008.04.15 - Hess met with Sherry Dutton, who is with NCSU's Institute for Nonprofit Studies, to discuss developing an approach to organizing the volunteer aspect of our work. Sherry leads the senior capstone course for the Institute, in which students work with members of the community. The course is offered summer, fall, and spring. We might have a student work with us to develop and approach for volunteer matching and organization as early as this summer, depending on whether we are ready and the availability of an interested and appropriate student. This could be a good opportunity to have someone devoted to helping us pull together the various organizations who can help the partnership carry out its mission. We could also have sequential students, from semester to semester, so long as each has a tangible product. For example, a summer student might develop a volunteer matching approach (ie, hooking up people with the right expertise to the time and place we need them); in the fall someone could focus on recruiting volunteers, and so forth.

Cheshire thanked the group for appearing in her class on Tuesday (this is the class creating initial maps of where natural heritage elements occur in the park and open space systems within Wake County). There are the following additional opportunities to interact with these teams:
 * NOTES:**
 * Tues 22 Apr 5:45-7PM 5103 Jordan Hall (tentative location - check back before going) to continue critiquing product and guiding students
 * Wed 23 Apr 1:30-4:20PM 5103 Jordan Hall (tentative location - check back before going) to continue critiquing product and guiding students - drop in any time.
 * Tues 29 Apr 6-9PM location TBA - to view final poster presentations by students. Not likely to last until 9, and you are free to come to any portion.