Meeting+2010+Aug+19

Thursday 2010 Aug 19 8:30-10 1214 Jordan Hall, NCSU Campus
 * Wake County Nature Preserves Meeting**


 * Attendance Notes**

Blank, Connors, Hess, Lobsingher, Steelman, Holcombe, Perlmutter, Adrian Zeck (PRTM student), Hester, Snow, Anderson one cameraman

PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE A FILM CREW AT THE MEETING TODAY for the Outreach Scholarship Conference video.


 * Introductions as needed.**

1) VOLUNTEER DAY-- Now scheduled for September 10. Meghan is checking with Sarah Slover. John is checking with John Stuckey and Tom Wentworth. Scott is checking with NHP folks.

I saw Scott yesterday in New Burn for the RX fire council meeting and he indicated the 24th was the date that worked for him and John. We need to get clear on the date. Toddi

What is the vision? What do we want to accomplish? What promotional activity should we be engaging in to make this a success?

Lobsingher working with Slover on transport. Potential activities Leopold WIldlife Club and Triangle Conservation Biology Club are interested in this and ongoing activities. John Stucky can come out on the 10th the help with plant ID. Steelman will check with Pohlman to see if he can make it on the 10th. We don't know if anyone from NHP can make it that day Hess will reserve one CNR van. Connors raises concern that mammal survey is not going to be very fruitful for a period like this.
 * NOTES**
 * Mammal survey
 * Plant survey in abandoned agricultural fields
 * Invasive species removal

We might do something about microstygium on some of the rock outcrops. Time will be 8A departure from NCSU Jordan Hall circle with 11AM depart from site (return by 11:45 latest).
 * Decision**: Focus on plants in big meadow where we planted lupine and the plants on the power line corridor. Do both ID and invasive removal.

Holcombe will seek food donations. Connors will also go out on 24 Sept with NHP, if NHP cannot make the 10th.

2) OUTREACH SCHOLARSHIP CONFERENCE. LaTroya Hester will discuss expectations for the panel session.
 * Hess, Snow, Ramsey, Holcombe, Connors are on the panel as well as part of the follow-up session.
 * Discussion as appropriate.

Here's what we decided about about the follow-up session in our 15 July meeting

HOW WE GOT TOGETHER, RATIONALE HOW WE WILL SUSTAIN IT TALK ABOUT JOYS/SORROWS OF SERVICE LEARNING COULD WE ALSO DO A POSTER? 20 MINUTES FOR PRESENTATION + 25 MINUTES FOR DISCUSSION GEORGE PRESENT BOOK CHAPTER WITH FOCUS ON NARRATIVE + SERVICE LEARNING

Here's the abstract we submitted for that ... [|WakeNatureOSCAbstractV2.doc]

Panel ... 5 October
 * NOTES**
 * Focus of conference is on outreach and engagement done by universities, esp around the southeast
 * Audience of 400 people
 * Greeting from Zieches (sp?) and Woodson
 * Conference theme is sustainability and authenticity of engagement
 * Guiding points are Program, Please, People, Process, Philosophy
 * Program - how are we using the capacities / strengths of all the partners to collaborate
 * Place - shared mission and vision - how we came to the agreed-upon mission through active involvement in the community
 * People - how does our valuing diversity contribute to our success - how do we value diversity of people, organizations, and expertise
 * Process - what processes help teaching and learning in the community, and how does that make our organization sustainable
 * Philosophy - how have the institutional philosophies of the various organizations supported / not our mission - how do we sustain?
 * Format
 * 45-minute block
 * greetings (10-min max)
 * video 4-5 minutes (5-min max)
 * audience sitting at round tables with worksheets; we're on a platform
 * audience has 10 min to discuss question (10-min max)
 * self-introduction (30-seconds each - name, affiliation, major role)
 * panel discussion and questions (20-min)

HESS to post Sheffield paper on wiki Put on 16th Sept the seeing the video HESS to organize a meeting for the follow-on session

3) TURNIPSEED APPLICATION -- update from George and Chris
 * Plan revisedaccording to revised management plan template
 * Here is revised plan: [|TurnipseedManagementPlan.2010.07.30.docx]
 * Snow has custody as of 30 July and will be filling holes
 * Perlmutter is revising the lichen section; this will be ready for submittal by the meeting. A draft is posted on the Marks Creek Assessment page: [|Lichen checklsit (mgmt plan sect.).doc]
 * Hess will assemble review team. Subcommittee proposal for review team was to have representation from agencies with a chair who was not too close to the documents. Chair job is mainly to make sure WNPP procedures and intent are followed, and to guide meeting. Our initial thought was Hess (NCSU, Chairman), Cienek (TLC), Pohlman (NHP), Anderson (WRC), Connors (Museum), and Salter (local govt, plus good to have Raleigh join the process). Since spending considerable time reviewing doc, Hess might not be best chair (although I don't feel conflicted). Cienek and Pohlman had given preliminary agreement earlier; Anderson and Salter haven't been asked yet.
 * Review anticipated in September


 * NOTES**
 * Hess recapped where we are
 * Snow is hole-filling with Alexander, trying to get it done before Alexander moves to her new position at the University
 * Perlmutter has revised the lichen section to make it more succinct and move stuff to appendix
 * Snow's target is 30 Aug
 * Applicant can be in the room to help with any clarification, questions, etc; but they do not vote
 * Anderson will talk with Jeff Marcus about WRC person
 * Hess will formally invite review team (done 8/19)
 * Hess will post current (30 July) draft on left-hand nav bar (done 8/19)

4) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) -- update from Toddi Please see the Charter link on this page http://chathamconservation.wikispaces.com/

5) DOMAIN NAME and LOGO-- updates from George and Shawn Charlie,

Thanks for this. I think we'll go with wakenature.org. The ncsu.edu idea is reasonable, because it's free, but we're trying to maintain an equitable partnership among the many organizations involved so that approach doesn't reflect that spirit.

My understanding of domain names is that we can register wakenature.org and, for now, have it send people to our wiki space at wakenature.wikispaces.org Then we can later change it to point to anywhere else we'd like once we create a better website. Is that correct?

Cheers, george

Absolutely, most domain providers will let you forward a URL to another domain, I've often seen this referred to as "making." Usually the way it works is that It won't let you "deep link" to anything in the website your forwarding to. So, while you're clicking around in the wiki, the URL stays the same in the address bar. And yes, you can change it to whatever else at a later date. Just wanted to mention that caveat involved in URL Forwarding/Masking. -Charlie


 * Recommendation from george:** (who will work to make this happen) (1) Obtain domain name wakenature.org and point it to the wiki. (2) Improve the wiki to give it a more public-friendly layout (as much as possible). This would likely involve "hiding" some of the more internal stuff so that it doesn't take up a lot of space on the front page. (3) Seek a class willing to help us create an official web site.

We have the money to pay for this, and I believe Charlie will help us get set up.

Right now, the wiki doesn't allow us to set individual pages for public and private reading. We can either show it all or hide it all. We'd have to pay more (increase from $50/year to $200/year) to get this feature. I don't think it's worth it - I think we can just put the more esoteric stuff off to the side where we know it is - if public users find it, so be it.


 * NOTES**
 * Consensus is to go forward with wakenature.org
 * Anderson notes that you can buy a bundle with all the extensions as a bundle (.com, .org)
 * Anderson notes that google sites is good
 * logo still moving forward
 * HESS to move domain name forward

6) REPORT YOUR VOLUNTEER HOURS!! Toddi will bring volunteer forms for all to fill out. Scott will get them back to WRC.

Let's start the fiscal year off right by making sure we all record our hours for the WRC. Please see this (old) note from Jacquelyn; she has asked that we send our forms to Jeff Marcus at jeff.marcus@ncwildlife.org or to the new person who will hopefully be assigned to work with us after she leaves. Dear Wake Nature Preserve Partners:

The Urban Wildlife Project I coordinate for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission is funded by a federal grant program called SWG (State Wildlife Grants). We receive SWG funds to assist us in implementing the Wildlife Action Plan (WAP), and the Wake Nature Preserve partnership's efforts are helping meet urban wildlife goals outlined in the WAP. Because the partnership is helping us address these goals, we can report hours and miles you all contribute to the partnership as an "in-kind" match.

To meet SWG funding requirements, we have to report "in-kind" contributions to the feds in June. It would be a huge help if you could fill out the attached form, and resend to me by June 1. Listed below are dates of this past year's meetings. On the form, you can list all hours/miles driven for meetings you attended on one line. You can also list hours/miles for any other activities in subsequent lines.

Here is the form for submitting in kind hours: [|InKindReportingForm.doc]

**Note from Hess: Note that there is a "** **Report Your Service** **" link in the navigation menu on the left of the wiki page. It contains the forms and several approaches to reporting service.**

NOTES
 * WRC uses volunteer hours as in-kind funding for federal support
 * Steelman handed our WRC forms for people who would like to submit hours that way

7) Wildlife Habitat Council (george)

I attended a meeting of this group at NCSU on 11 Aug. They are a lot like WakeNature - a group that certifies corporate land as wildlife habitat - they have an application process, criteria, the whole works!! Even a sign (see below). Much more formally organized than we are at this point, including membership fees, and sign fees. It's worth a look at their application process to see how they do it - not very different from us. One thing they ask for in their management plan that we do not (and perhaps should) is a statement about how the work being done on the land will be evaluated. They also have a 2-year recertification process.

I include below a photo of a sign from IBM in Research Triangle Park for our thoughts. (Thanks to Darryl Bloch, Facilities Engineer at IBM, for the photo!) Note that it gives credit to the sponsoring business as well as the certifying agency. This might help us think through how we incorporate WakeNature signage with local government park signage.



8) UPDATE - NCSU Leopold Wildlife Club interested in helping with mammal survey and salamander habitat restoration. (Hess)

I've had conversations with Chris Moorman (NCSU Wildlife faculty) and Will Wood (President, Student Leopold Wildlife Club). Following Meghan Lobsingher's attempt to get mammal trapping done as part of the 10 Sept workday, I contacted Chris asking if there were any courses that would like to take this on as a service-learning opportunity. Chris noted that it was too late for fall, as profs already have things lined up ... but he suggested that the Leopold Club might be a better route any way, as they were more likely to have the interest, time, and manpower to properly set and monitor traps and scent stations. Will Wood contacted me on 16 Aug and expressed strong interest. Our first step would be to come to one of their meetings - 1st and 3rd Tues of each month at 7PM on NCSU campus - to talk through what we'd like done and see how we can help one another. We'd have to have a pretty good idea of the kind of inventory we want. They'd also be interested in carrying out some of the salamander habitat restoration specified in the management plan.

We'll need someone on the WakeNature end to coordinate all this, and to attend that first meeting to get things going.

9) UPDATE - TogetherGreen grant announcement delayed until week of 23 August. (Alexander & Connors; note by Hess)

Audubon has let John Connors know that the process of getting the final sign-off on the TogetherGreen grant with Toyota has been delayed slightly, until some time the week of 23 August. We are still in the running, we just don't know yet.

10) ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY -- Meghan and Chris have discussed the need to deal with some of the lespideza in August before it goes to seed, and LaTroya is looking for additional filming opportunities. Chris is thinking about this as a staff + volunteer workday. Meghan to report further. NOTE FROM HESS: This has already happened - perhaps we can hear a report.