GCWG Board Meeting Minutes 1/10/16


Location: TThe meeting was held at the Mountain Parks Electric Community Room. Appetizers and dinner were at 5:00 p.m. followed by the board meeting

Board members present: Al Rothenbach, Bob Saint, Tom Whitten, Jim Magill, Roger Shaw, Christine Lee, Gary Perkins, Paisley, Jack Reichert.
GCWG members: Stephen Lee, Ann Steers, Holly Whitten, Sue Perkins, Beth Collins

The meeting began at 6:25 p.m.

APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER 13 MINUTES. Al Rothenbach made a motion to approve the Sept. minutes. It was seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

TREASURER'S REPORT – Tom Whitten – We have $5156.67 in our account. A bill for approx. $140 for the Website and Domain Name is still to come. We also have about $1187 remaining in Joan Shaw's fund to be used for signs after discussion with Nick Schade (Forest Service).

MEMBERSHIP – Al Rothenbach – Renewals are coming in slowly. Al sent an e-mail to all members who have not yet renewed.

VOLUNTEER HOURS – Al Rothenbach reported that thus far Toni has recorded 3950 hours for Ύ of the year. He presented a report on activities and hours. Trail hosting is one of the areas that is probably underreported. This is one of our activities that should have more coverage. A suggestion was made to put the volunteer hours report on the website. This was deemed to be a good idea.

CLOTHING INVENTORY – Bob suggested that we wait until spring to re-order.

TRAIL HEAD REGISTRATION BOXES – Stephen Lee – Said that about ½ of the registration reports have been sent to him. He will e-mail the rest of the volunteers and remind them again. We will also need a new registration box volunteer for Roaring Fork (Lisa VonderHaar and Tom Papathakis have moved out of the county).

VOICE OF THE WILDERNESS REPORT – Holly Whitten – She reported that Nick Schade and the Forest Service have been mostly concentrating on trails, etc. on the east side. (There is to be another trail in the St. James Protection Area). On January 20 there will be a meeting with Jeromy (CPW rep) who will give a talk on animal issues in these new areas. The National Park Service is also opening comments on the East Shore Bike Trail. We should make comments because this bike trail will affect the Knight Ridge Trail that we and the Forest Service worked on last year and finally opened up to hikers. We should comment as a group and as individuals.

REPORT ON THE 2015 WILDERNESS WORKSHOP IN MISSOULA – Bob Saint – These workshops were attended by about 200 people Some of the same agencies that attended last year's Albuquerque workshop were represented and one of the sponsors was the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance. Both private agencies and government agencies were present. Workshops dealt with Wilderness issues. (One, for example, dealt with “Marketing Wilderness”). Ralph Swain presented a talk on a 6-Point Program that could be used both by Volunteers and by Rangers/Agency employees to help them deal with the public. Where are you coming from? Introduce yourself. Size up the situation. Discuss appropriate behavior or skill. Outline/explain how it benefits the resource. Make a positive impression. There was a workshop on Millenials. How to approach wilderness as an epic experience. The last speaker talked about the need for more diversity in wilderness volunteerism.

NAME TAGS – Bob Saint – Will be finding a source for name tags this spring.

BY-LAW CHANGES – Jim Magill – Section 3 -Voting Between Meetings--- Two by-laws were approved in concept at the last board meeting but Jim put them into language that was appropriate. An executive committee (officers) were created and given the power to approve any matter or issue between meetings. THERE WAS A MOTION TO APPROVE THE LANGUAGE REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND ITS POWERS. The MOTION PASSED.

NEWSLETTER DISCUSSION – Should the newsletter be sent out via e-mail rather than snail mail. The consensus was to keep sending out the newsletter via U.S. Post Office (did not cost that much and copies could be given out at Parade, ArtAffair, etc.) but also to let our membership know it was available on our website. An e-mail sent to our members with a link to the website when newsletter was available.

WHITE DEER PARTY – Sunday, January 31 at the Y – The Board will bring chili. Bob will e-mail members their food assignments. If the weather is bad and we have to cancel, a notification will be sent out by 4:00 pm.

SPRING CAMPING TRIP – Is filled. But there is a waiting list. Needles Outpost Campground (Canyonlands National Park) – May 9-12, 2016

SUMMER ACTIVITIES:

Monarch Cabin /Junco Cabin Hosting – Monarch -probably Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays like last year. Junco – Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. A discussion followed on what to do with and how to handle various suggestions. For the Forest Service :

  1. Backcountry Quota Sheets – Kept by the dispatcher on duty on the weekend when the Forest Service office is not open. Also to have a procedure when the radios do not work. 2. Have a solar powered battery charger at Monarch Cabin so that one battery could be charging at all times. 3. Have an external antenna at Monarch so that the repeater could always be reached from inside the cabin. DISCUSSION: The dispatcher on duty having the quota sheets idea was implemented last year. The other two ideas will have to be implemented by the Forest Service.

  2. Suggestions for CGWG: Set up system for having ANRA passes on hand. Set up system for having the supplies we need on hand. Have an updated book describing area hikes. Have three people at Monarch on busy holiday weekends. Make the sign up process for Monarch/Junco easier and allow signups online before the spring meeting. Stock plastic trowels to sell to backpackers for burying waste. DISCUSSION: Buy more passes at the beginning of the season and let either Dick Sprague or Bob Saint know if the supply gets low. Also do the same with the supplies. It is difficult enough to get two people for holidays let alone three. Signups can be called in or dates given to people who will attend the meeting. After much discussion it was felt that the best time to give out plastic trowels was when permits were issued. Since most of the permits are issued by the Forest Service they should be responsible for such a gesture. GCWG could stock a few for when we issue permits.
TRAIL/CAMPSITE HOSTING – Bob Saint – Reported that Nick Schade would like to have CGWG volunteers do more campsite hosting at Crater Lake or Bowen Lake because those sites had the most problems. There was a fairly heated discussion on this idea. Some of the board expressed a problem with acting as “policemen” without having authority. Also this means backpacking into these areas and many members do not backpack anymore. Trail hosting was also discussed – wearing our GCWG shirts and acting as ambassadors for the wilderness.

WILDERNESS STEWARDSHIP TRAINING – Bob Saint - There was a training last year but only a few people signed up. This year there will be an article in the paper two months before the date. A suggestion was made to put this into the school newsletter to get younger people to sign up.

TRAIL WORK DAYS – Bob and anyone else interested will get together with Nick Schade to set up summer schedule. Put into newsletter.

GRANBY PARADE – YES or NO – Looking for a coordinator. Booth? Yes. Seedlings? Yes. Ask for someone to help coordinate the parade at the White Deer Party or the Spring Meeting.

ALPINE ART AFFAIR – July 16&17. Sue & Gary Perkins will be out of town so someone else will have to coordinate. Ask at White Deer Party or Spring Meeting.

DAISY DEMOLITION DAYS – Beth Collins – Yes . Will set date later.

SPRING MEMBER MEETING – Sunday, April 10.

SUMMER PICNIC – Set for Sunday, August 7, 2016.

NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY – Saturday, September 24, 2016.

ORIENTATION HIKES – Christine Lee - Ingrid Anderson will probably coordinate. Day of hikes will be set up later. Probably on Tuesday or Wednesday.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Four board members' terms are up for election: Jim Magill (term limited), Gary Perkins, Bob Saint and someone to fill the remaining one year term for Doug Smith who resigned last year. The nominating committee will be: Jim Magill, Al Rothenbach & Gary Perkins. The nominating committee will present their slate at the Spring member meeting.

HOW TO ATTRACT YOUNGER MEMBERS: A perennial issue. Sue will contact the counselor at school. Get in touch with church groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, Eagle Scouts. Gary Perkins will get in touch with an Eagle Scout leader he knows.

MARCH BOARD MEETING – Sunday, March 13. Tom & Holly Whitten agreed to host this meeting.

OLD BUSINESS/NEW BUSINESS: None

There being no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Submitted by: Christine Lee, Secretary


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