Meeting+2016+Sep+1

//**WakeNature Preserves Partnership Meeting**//
Thursday 8:30-10 Walnut Creek Wetland Center, 950 Peterson Street, Raleigh - [|Google Maps Link]

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 * Attendance Notes**

John Connors (Wake Audubon), Amy Corbally (CoR), David Shouse (CoR), Stacie Hagwood (CoR, Walnut Creek), Jenn Steele (CoR), Scott Pohlman (Wake), Gary Blank (NCSU), Gary Perlmutter (Herbarium), Meghan Teten (NCSU), George Hess (NCSU), Deborah Fowler (Wake), Bryan England (CoR), Step Jeffries (NCSU), Leigh Ann Hammerbacher (TLC), Frances Carmichael (CoR, Walnut Creek), Kaytee Smith (Museum)


 * Introductions as needed**

Round of introductions

// **Steering** // ** Committee ** (David Shouse, chairman) GOAL: ** Increase momentum ** by growing active signatory membership.

We seem unable to increase our membership and it may be time to rethink how we are going about that. Let's revisit our mission, our past successes, and what we want to happen in the future and consider what changes, if any, should be made.


 * The mission of the WakeNature Preserves Partnership is to organize and provide resources to identify ecologically valuable, publicly owned open spaces within Wake County, NC, and to build capacity for appropriate management and long-term stewardship of those areas. **

Our goals are to...
 * identify and designate as “WakeNature Preserves” protected open spaces in Wake County that contain important ecological or geological resources or meet other criteria that qualify them for this distinction;
 * create more public awareness and appreciation of our highest quality natural areas in Wake County;
 * develop the organizational capacity to conduct natural resource inventories on and develop management plans for Preserves;
 * develop an organized, volunteer base of citizen-scientists to monitor Preserves.

**//Do the Mission and Goals still align with what we have been practicing? Do they still hold true for current membership? //**
 * THOUGHTS/NOTES/NEW IDEAS TO CONSIDER: **
 * **We //__still__// don't have a strong answer to "what do we get out of being a WNP?" - visibility is the main thing we've said, but we've never done it **
 * Main points of membership were to (a) get organizational commitment and (b) pool resources and talents
 * We've wanted a commitment from agencies that they will manage natural areas as WakeNature Preserves.
 * We need a "needs inventory" and an "assets inventory" from each of the organizations.
 * What if we would only do workdays and inventories on properties belonging to signatory agencies?
 * Workshops - what if we made attendance require that your organization be a member of WakeNautre - would that help increase membership? Exclusive v inclusive. What if we let people in but "required them" after the workshops to take information to their organization and try to get them to join?
 * Networking is really important - our workshops have been the best way to make that happen, as have workdays - this has always been a strength of our Partnership

> >
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Meeting frequency - Steering Committee currently meets once per month + WakeNature membership currently meets once per month **
 * o <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Meetings ... maybe core group (Steering, Promotions, Capacity, Inventory committee members) meets monthly and then we have a 2x/year or quarterly meeting with larger group (all membership). Core group meeting replaces steering committee meeting and includes chairs of committees.
 * o <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another approach is that all the committees meet on the same day each month (ie, that's what our monthly meeting becomes)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Monthly meetings become working meetings for committees - brief intro / marching orders ... committee time ... report back time
 * o <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4 quarterly meetings with all member organizations; 2 of those are site tour meetings with extra time for a hike or site visit
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe quarterly is at a WakeWonder?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">If we commit to one workshop, one stewardship event, one inventory event per year ... they are voted on at the quarterly meetings
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Proposed Traveling Meeting/Event Location Breakdown of Wake County **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">By watershed?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">By proximal sections?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay Varina
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Morrisville, Cary, Raleigh, Garner
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some other way?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">We would travel through the county by however we decide to break it down, spending more than one meeting time in that area, to help build capacity with the remaining un-signed organizations/municipalities and focus on particular watersheds/WakeWonders/habitat management opportunities
 * o <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">We did great by meeting in Cary that one time… but then we moved on and never followed up… and then we did it again at Bass Lake… If we stay in one area for a quarter or certain amount of time, we could better keep the momentum with the organizations in each area
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Event frequency and locations **
 * o <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">WakeWonders is a great idea but takes more effort than we seem to have the current capacity for. What if we could get each partner organization to propose a WakeWonder and actually do the work behind the event?
 * § <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do WakeWonders serve our public awareness goal or our networking goal?
 * § <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Associate a WakeWonder + workshop as an event
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14pt;">Committee Structure **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Currently
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Steering **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> **Committee** GOAL: **Increase momentum** by growing active signatory membership
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Promotion Committee **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> GOAL: **Tell the story** of the highest quality natural areas in Wake County and the stewardship they have and need
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Inventory Committee **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> GOAL: Places on the ground - designate publicly accessible WakeNature Preserves
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Capacity Committee **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> GOAL: Bring resource managers together to carry out appropriate stewardship of the highest quality natural areas in Wake County
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Does the current set-up work or should we consider restructuring?

=**NOTES**= The attached document includes the organized results of our SWOT Analysis, as well as the SWOT process (for those who could not attend):

Photos by Deborah Fowler (thanks, Deborah). Here are pictures of brainstorming SWOT (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) exercise led brilliantly by Meghan.



And here are the comments from all present. Everyone except the three steering committee members had three red dots with which to vote for the items they considered in most urgent need of work.







//**Promotion Committee**// (Kaytee Smith, chairwoman) GOAL: ** Tell the story ** of the highest quality natural areas in Wake County and the stewardship they have and need.

//**Inventory Committee**// (John Connors, chairman) GOAL: ** Places on the ground ** - designate publicly accessible WakeNature Preserves.

//**Capacity Committee**// (Gary Blank, chairman) GOAL: ** Bring resource managers together ** to carry out appropriate stewardship of the highest quality natural areas in Wake County.