Meeting+2008+Feb+7


 * Wake County Nature Preserves Meeting**
 * Thurs 2008 Feb 7 8:30-9:30**
 * 1214 Jordan Hall, NCSU Campus**

//please add items you'd like to see on the agenda by Tues 5 Feb 5PM//


 * Annotated Agenda Items**

Please add your pre-meeting discussion of these items under the item right here on the agenda.

At meeting: Chris Snow, Kim Shumate, George Hess, Kristen Sinclair, Leigh Anne Cienek, Louise Alexander, Jeff Humphries, Jacquelyn Wallace, Jamie Ramsey, John Connors, Gary Blank, Colleen Bockhahn


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

Colleen Bockhahn will be joining us. Colleen is Assistant Park Manager at Wake County's Lake Crabtree and would like to help with data collection and management challenges. Larry Petrovick is joining us from Wake Soil & Water Conservation District. Jeff Humphries, Piedmont Herpetologist for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, will be joining us. He will be assisting with design/implementation of herp inventories.

Larry Petrovick was unable to attend.
 * NOTES**


 * Mayors Association Presentation** //5 minutes//

Jamie will provide a rough draft outline for this presentation. Group will refine and decide who will give presentation. Assistants are available to develop power point presentation. See Mayors Council page for more info.

//**Motion is to move this to subcommittee - we need volunteers.**//


 * NOTES**

Ramsey presented her rough outline for the talk.

Gary Blank, Leigh Anne Cienek, Jamie Ramsey, Chris Snow agreed to form a subcommittee to work on this and report to the group at our next meeting (21 Feb ). They will post their work on the Mayors Association meeting page as we approach 21 Feb. They will also make some recommendations about two people to deliver the presentation, though all of us can go to the meeting.


 * Data Collection and Repository** //15 minutes//

Colleen and Kristen will talk.

Kristen 1 Feb- Uploading documents, checking out documents, use of wiki as a common space for all file sharing


 * NOTES**

Bockhahn brought the following information to us:
 * Tom Howard in State Parks is willing to create a version of the database that State Parks uses for our use. Howard would administer the database, from a programming perspective, but cannot provide the computer facilities.
 * Estimated costs are about $6K for database development (one time), $1K for equipment (would need periodic replacement or upgrades), and $1.2K/year to Howard for administration.
 * Snow and Bockhahn are moving forward with the County InfoTech group to see how this might work.  They would be open to allowing all the munis in Wake store data on the system.  We can mention this at the Mayors meeting.
 * Cienek noted that there would be interest from Triangle Land Conservancy and possibly other NGOs in using this database.
 * General feeling around the table was that this was a terrific opportunity at an amazingly low cost.
 * There was some discussion of generating funding to support this. Cienek had some ideas and Connors mentioned SAS and IBM as possibilities. No immediate plans made to pursue.

Actions: Snow and Bockhahn will continue to discuss at county level

Kristen demonstrated wiki upload and checkout procedures.


 * Involve Municipalities** //15 minutes//

Discuss best way to involve and contact municipalities.

Possible Letter to Municipalities


 * NOTES**

There was discussion about which munis to involve. Started from the premise of getting everyone involved - or at least inviting everyone. There was some discussion that initial analysis revealed on a few munis had parks that contained Exceptional or Outstanding Natural Areas, and that perhaps we should just work with them initially. Point raised that this might be the result of incomplete inventory rather than lack of Natural Areas.

Actions: We have been invited to the Mayors Association meeting to present our ideas. We should go to this meeting and, assuming a good reception, host a breakfast for all the Park Directors in the County during our Thurs 1 May meeting. Snow said he could pay for this. Locations mentioned were Yates Mill and Historic Oakwood, with a lean towards Oakwood because of easier highway access. 7:30A start time proposed.


 * Review Inventory Timeline** //10 minutes//

What else needs to be done here? Main idea is to try to slot NCSU courses into this.

Louise A. - There is a group of grad students that have organized themselves into the Conservation Ecology Graduate Group (CEGG). A lot of these students are in zoology or fish and wildlife, and many participated in the Christmas Bird Count. Many have experience with animal inventories. It might be helpful to present at one of their meetings to help get specific survey work done, especially if there is not a class available during a specific inventory time. They meet every Wednesday.

Sinclair reviewed the timeline with the group. It is very extensive and covers the entire year. That means that it will take a year to inventory a site; that's a minimum, because anomolies such as the current drought mean that some species will not be seen during some years.
 * NOTES**

Actions: Blank and Hess need to see how NCSU courses can fit into this. The inventory subcom will continue by looking at what other resources can be brought to bear on getting this done.


 * Mission Statement & Goals** //5 minutes//

Kim S.- I think we should work on writing both a mission statement and specific goals for our group. I have been contacting different groups about potential volunteers and have found a need for a "summary" of who we are.

Jamie (6 Feb) - how does this sound for starters?

Pre-meeting discussion has been moved to the Mission and Goals page, where the subcommittee charged with this work will continue deliberations.
 * NOTES**

Action: Subcom (Hess, Ramsey, Alexander) to draft and report back next meeting.


 * //Need volunteers for subcommittee for goals//**


 * Volunteer Update**

Kim S.- I have contacted the Wake Audubon Society, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, JC Raulston Arboretum, and the Wake County Park Managers about potential volunteers. I will update the group on their responses. If anyone knows of any other group I should contact let me know.


 * For Your Information**

Raleigh is advertising for a [|Land Stewardship Coordinator] !! Please forward this information to anyone you know who might be interested.