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Fort Collins Audubon Society
Board of Directors Meeting

October 7, 2010

ATTENDEES:
Heman Adams, Scott Cobble, Eric DeFonso, Ron Harden, Karl Krahnke, Jessie Meschievitz,
Bill Miller, Louise Parker, John Waddell.

OTHERS PRESENT:
None.

CALL TO ORDER:
Vice-President Bill Miller called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M.

INTRODUCTIONS: – All:
None.

MINUTES – Review, revise, and approve – All:
The September, 2010 minutes were accepted as written.

AGENDA REVIEW – All:
None.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: – All:
None.

REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES:

REPORTS OF OFFICERS:

Treasurer’s Report – Waddell:
1. The checking account balance on October 6th, 2010 was $3,884.04.
2. The total balance was $11,706.80.
3. September 2010 expenses included:
a. $94.46 to the USPS for mailing September Newsletters.
b. $500.00 to the USPS as a deposit to the FCAS bulk-mailing account.
c. $112.29 to PostNet for processing the September newsletters.
d. $375.00 to Print It for printing the September newsletters.
e. $375.00 to PrintIt! for printing the October newsletters.
f. $16.05 to East Moon for Dave Leatherman’s meal.
g. $9.34 for copying expenses.
h. $15.90 to Qwest for phone service - August 16th to September 15th .
i. $27.00 for change for the birding fair.
j. $350.00 to Friends of Hustai National Park, Mongolia.
k. $20.00 to Wells Fargo for wire transfer fee of donation to Friends of Hustai.
l. $150.00 to Auto Integrity for van rental for Raptor Research Foundation field trip.
m. $50.00 for fuel for van used on the Raptor Research Foundation field trip.
4. September 2010 receipts included:
a. $335.00 for Birdathon 2010.
b. $20.00 for two Colorado Wildscapes.
c. $238.11 for 12 memberships: 0 National and 12 local.
d. $55.00 for donations from two individuals.
e. $68.00 for donations received at September Program meeting.
f. $0.20 from Wells Fargo for interest on the checking account.
5. Next CD maturation is June 6th, 2011 for $3.000.00 plus interest.
6. FCAS Income Tax Return was filed electronically on March 27th, 2010.
7. Birdathon 2010 status: $2,870.15.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES:

A. Membership – Pruessner:
1. The number of electronic newsletters has more than doubled during the past year,
increasing with each succeeding edition.
2. The number of USPS newsletters has decreased by 20% during the past year.
3. One possible reason the USPS newsletter percentage decrease has not matched the
electronic newsletter percentage increase may be due to an increase in membership.

B. Finance – Adams:
No discussion.

C. Education – Thomas:
1. Joann has made 12 presentations in the past four months.
2. Karl suggested that perhaps Joann could mine the FCAS membership list to see if
any members are master naturalists who would be willing to volunteer.
3. Joann indicated in her report that the River Watch materials had been returned to
CSU and that, if the Board agreed, she’d repay the $200.00 tuition. The Board
refused repayment because Joann had spent months trying to locate a site on the
Poudre River for testing. No site was available.
4. Four of the eight people in attendance at Equalizer pond on September 16th were new
to the area and were invited to the October Program meeting.
5. The Northern Colorado Birding Fair was a huge success with attendance at 758. Bill
Miller and Joann Thomas each led a bird walk at 7:00 a.m. Ron Harden also
participated. Scott Cobble provided moral support later in the day. The FCAS
exhibit was on the Art of Camouflage. FCAS also gave a basket for the silent
auction.
6. Scheduled future events:
a. Oct 21st: Backyard Birds – Livewires – Mountain View Presb. Church – Loveland.
b. Oct 28th: Equalizer Pond for HPEC – 8:00 A.M.
c. Nov 3rd: Backyard Birds – North Shore Health & Rehab – Loveland.

D. Conservation – Miller:
No discussion.

E. Field Trips – DeFonso:
1. The Raptor Research Foundation field trip was on September 26th. Nick Komar led
the trip and John Waddell drove the van. There were six participants, all of which
were conference attendees.

F. Newsletter – Jones:
No discussion.

G. Programs – Meschievitz:
1. October 14th: Program meeting featuring Jon Stravers, Audubon’s Mississippi River
Initiative Driftless Area Coordinator. He is an expert on the Red-shouldered hawk.
2. November 11th: Program featuring Nathan Pieplow, sound recordist and expert
birder, speaking on bird sounds.
3. February 10th, 2011: Program meeting featuring Mark Leslie, Regional Director, for
Colorado Division of Wildlife, speaking on Bear Management.

H. Volunteers – Miller, Thomas:
No discussion.

I. Audubon Colorado Update – Miller:
1. Bill, who replaced Ron as FCAS AoC delegate, attended the Saturday, October 2nd,
AoC Board meeting in Canon City. Three meetings are scheduled for 2011: February
5th, June 18th, and October 8th. Because the regional office is in Fort Collins, AoC
requested that FCAS host the October 8th, 2011 meeting. FCAS will do so. AoC
normally likes to conduct business in four to five hour sessions. Perhaps there will be
a field trip. There were representatives from all active Colorado chapters at the
meeting. Platte and Prairie has relinquished its chapter to National Audubon Society.
2. Christo has proposed suspending 5.9 miles of fabric horizontally above the Arkansas
River along a 42 mile stretch of the river between Salida and Canon City. It will be a
two year project to drill cable anchor bolts into the riverbanks for the cables from
which the panels will be suspended. The exhibit ‘Over the River’, if approved, will
be for two consecutive weeks in August, 2014. Ron said it would be appropriate for
FCAS to take a stance on the project on wildlife issues. Bill will forward SeEtta
Moss’ literature on the project to the Board.
3. AoC, early in the summer, submitted comments to BLM in opposition to the
proposed leasing of a site for geothermal energy exploration. The site is less than
half a mile from the only public GUSG lek in Colorado. Geothermal exploration
involves a similar level of activity as oil or gas exploration. If the site is developed to
harness and distribute the steam, it would end GUSG use of all nearby habitats.
4. Ken Strom has worked this summer with the Colorado Renewable & Conservation
Collaborative to successfully reach consensus on the first five sets of Best
Management Practices to guide wind energy development and prevent it from doing
unacceptable damage to wildlife. This initiative involves AoC in a lead role with the
Nature Conservancy and the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, sitting at the table with the
dozen leading wind corporations in Colorado.
5. Bill will send Ken Strom’s Audubon Colorado Executive Director’s Report, dated
October 1, 2010, to the Board. It contains further information on Geothermal Energy
Development, Wind Energy Development, as well as information on Gunnison
Sage-Grouse listing, GOCO and the Legislature, and other issues.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. Birdathon – Miller:
1. More money is yet to come in.

B. Mongolian Horse Adoption Follow-up – Krahnke/Waddell:
1. The Horse adoption process is finished. FCAS will receive occasional updates from
Hustai about the horses.

C. Need Reprints:
1. Membership Application – Cobble/Miller:
a. The Application Cards were picked up from Print It! by Bill. The process is finished.
2. “Birds of Larimer County, Colorado” Checklist – Harden:
a. Ron has completed the changes and updates for the checklist. Joel used Publisher
to facilitate spacing.
b. FCAS will print 1,000 copies for $210.00. Bill will pick up the checklists.
c. The FACS email address, Audubon@fortnet.com, will remain on the checklists.

D. Phone Number – Miller:
1. The consensus of the Board was that, due to the infrequency of calls, economically, it
made sense to discontinue the phone number.

E. Feral Cat Issue – Harden:
1. Ron moved that the statement read by himself regarding Trap-Neuter-Release at the
September Board meeting, including reference, be adopted by the Board. Louise
seconded the motion. With no objections, the motion was adopted.
2. John added the correct formatting for the reference and the resources.

F. Nominating Committee – Thomas/Miller:
No discussion.

G. Chapter Calendar – Miller:
1. Scott volunteered to maintain the chapter calendar.

H. NAS Chapter Annual Report – Miller:
1. Bill will begin working on the report.

I. Representative to SWIG – Miller:
1. Bill will become the FCAS chapter representative to SWIG.

J. NAS Rocky Mountain Regional Headquarters in Fort Collins – Miller:
1. On January 1st, 2011, the official office and mailing address of AoC will be in Fort
Collins where it will share space with Audubon Wyoming. This will be home base for
all three staff currently working the main office: Ken Strom, Stephanie DeMattee, and
Tricia Hamilton. At the same time, AoC will share office space with Colorado Trout
Unlimited in the Alliance Center building.
2. The Alliance Center location is needed because of AoC’s frequent activities and projects
in the greater Denver area, including work with the state legislature and state
agencies, the TogtherGreen education program, IBA restoration efforts, etc.

K. Van for Raptor Research Foundation’s Annual Conference – DeFonso:
1. The van was rented from Auto Integrity for $150.00 and driven by John.

L. Set Date for Fort Collins and Loveland Christmas Bird Counts – Miller:
1. The Fort Collins Christmas Bird Count will be on December 18th, 2010.
2. The Loveland Christmas Bird Count will be on January 1st, 2011.

M. Direct Appeal Letter – Assign Responsibilities – Miller:
Scott suggested that, given the number of items remaining to be completed, the Board
consider mailing the Direct Appeal Letter sometime in 2011 rather than in late 2010. This
met with Board approval. Also, the volunteer times and miles data will be no longer be
taken from the period September 1st, 2009 through August 31st, 2010, but rather from
the period January 1st, 2010 thru December 31st, 2010.
1. Draft Appeal Letter – Miller:
a. No discussion.
2. Accomplishment Card:
a. Collect Volunteer Times and Miles – All, Cobble:
i. No discussion.
b. Create 1st draft of Accomplishment Card – Thomas:
No discussion.
3. Design Donation Card – Pruessner:
No discussion.
4. Incentives – Need Ideas – All:
a. Not this year.
5. Identify donors for matching monies – Miller, Others:
a. Not this year.
6. “Prime the Pump” article in September – Miller:
a. Completed.

N. Rocky Mountain Raptor Program – Miller:
1. Bill informed the Board that RMRP is hurting financially. The Board agreed that Bill
could write a general piece for the Ptarmigan about supporting the RMRP financially.
2. Jessie suggested that perhaps RMRP could do a Program for January, 2011. Bill will
check with the Senior Center about flyers, extra room, and invoicing. He will also talk
with RMRP.
3. FCAS would pay the RMRP speaker’s fee.

O. Website Updates – Hurmence:
1. John will discuss website updates with Joel.

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Conduct of the Business Portion of Program Meetings – Harden:
1. Ron suggested the most appropriate and effective way to encourage attendees to become
members of FCAS is with words of invitation, mentioning that membership benefits
conservation and natural history education. Ron also suggested that admonishment was
ineffective in membership recruitment.
2. FCAS must insist that speakers use lapel mics if they are available. The mics should be
placed on the collar as near the throat as possible.
3. Those that have announcements should be ready, near the podium. Announcements
should be carried on in a business-like manner, friendly but efficient.

OTHER ITEMS:
None.

ADJOURN:
The meeting adjourned at 8:50 P.M.

 

 

 

 

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