Minutes of the 2003 Board of Directors Meetings
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TULSA AUDUBON SOCIETY Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors February 4, 2003 President John Kennington called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. at the home of Bob Gard in Sand Springs. Present were: JK, Carol Eames, Bob Gard, Bob and Donna Germany, Marcie Goad, Laurel Henshaw, Amy Lambert, Jo Loyd, Tomye Mainer, Aline Romero, Suzie Tramel, and Cyndie Browning. Treasurer Phil Teter was absent due to illness, and John Kennington presented the Treasurer’s Report in Phil’s absence. A motion to accept the minutes of the December meeting as written was made and passed unanimously. Old Business Bob Gard reported that the deadline for getting newsletter items to Janie Cheek was this coming Friday, Feb 7th. There followed a lengthy discussion about how well the Audubon Adventures fit in with the curricula taught at the schools this year and next. John Kennington asked if anyone had contacts in the school system through which we could see how well the Adventures program meshes with the school benchmarks and possibly offer other source materials to the school if such are available. Bob Germany reported on old plans for another artificial island to be built at about 101st Street South in the Arkansas River as additional breeding habitat for Least Terns. Apparently, the plans were put aside by the Tulsa Public Works Department some time ago, and Bob asked for discussion about whether or not TAS should attempt to bring pressure on the city to take up the project again. John Kennington asked about the possibility of the city supplying the labor for the project (as they had initially agreed to do) if TAS offered to pay part of the costs for materials. It was also suggested that we need to get some idea of the overall cost of the project before we approach the city with an offer to help pay for it. Bob Germany said he would continue checking into those possibilities and try to get more information for us by the next meeting in April. Regarding the Eagle Sanctuary, we’ve learned that the Sanctuary shares a property line with the Nature Conservancy. We discussed how to find out and who to contact about what, if any, development the N.C. has planned for their property. Also, was there a need for fencing around the boundaries of the Sanctuary. Jo Loyd described her efforts to contact someone at the National Audubon Society about “Important Bird Areas” in Oklahoma. Apparently, the NAS isn’t interested in developing such “Important Bird Areas” in Oklahoma unless/until Audubon establishes a state office here. The American Bird Conservancy has designated 8 areas in Oklahoma, but apparently no systematic criteria have been developed to determine what constitutes an “Important Bird Area” in the state of Oklahoma. Jo also reported on the Creek Turnpike property that the Nature Conservancy managed for 10 years. Apparently the OTA manages it now, but Jo still hasn’t connected with anyone to find out if TAS could be named as manager of the property, to allow birders to visit the property and perhaps to clean up the overgrowth of reeds and weeds that are clogging the few ponds in there. Jo agreed to continue pursuing the idea. John Kennington reported that he has mailed the Right-of-Way papers to the city but has yet to receive payment for same. TAS has received Jack Miller’s eagle prints. Now we need to determine how much each print will cost. Several members also expressed interests in obtaining prints of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers for sale. New Business John Kennington introduced an Arts and Birds project for 4th graders in Tulsa area schools that was developed by an Audubon club in Missouri. Brenda Napp, a local artist, is interested in spearheading the project, Lynda Fritts at Oxley Nature Center is also interested. A motion was made and approved to spend money on developing the idea (possibly the Nan Jankowski bequest) for the project, and the matter was tabled until the next meeting in April. Bob Gard reminded the Board members that a Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the February meeting for the purpose of nominating officers and Board members in March to replace those whose terms are expiring this year, namely, Bob Gard, Suzie Tramel, and Patty Moser. It was decided to ask Neely Lowrie and Bob Foster to serve on the Nominating Committee (coincidentally, both were absent from this Board meeting!), and Laurel Henshaw agreed to serve on the committee as well, to prepare a slate of officers to be presented to the general membership at the regular meeting on March 18th, for election in April. There being no further business to be brought before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. The April meeting will be held on April 1, 2003, at the home of Marcie Goad, 6204 So. Fulton Circle in Tulsa.
Submitted by:
TULSA AUDUBON SOCIETY President John Kennington called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. at home of Marcie Goad in Tulsa. Present were: John Kennington, Marcie Goad, Bill Foster, Bob Gard, Tomye Mainer, Jo Loyd, Phil Teter, and Cyndie Browning. The minutes of the February 18th Directors’meeting were unanimously approved as reported. Phil Teter presented the Treasurer’s Report.
John Kennington
announced that the Nominating Committee had submitted the
following slate of
officers and directors for the election on April 15th. The
nominees are: Don’t forget that nominations may also be accepted on the floor, provided the nominee has agreed to serve if elected. Tomye Mainer announced that the Audubon Adventures survey is in the mail and she is now waiting for replies. John Kennington suggested that a Program Committee be formed for next season, beginning in September. Anyone who’s interested in serving on the Committee or who has any ideas for new programs should let John know. Tomye Mainer said she will be helping Suzie Tramel on the Field Trip Committee. John announced, to those of us who didn’t know it already, that Bob Germany has resigned his duties as Conservation Chair and Donna Germany has resigned as the club’s historian. Also, Peter Lowen is going back to school and has asked to be relieved of his duties on the Hospitality Committee. It was suggested among those present that a newsletter item be submitted to Janie Cheek to ask if anyone is interested in taking over the Conservation Chair. The concensus of opinion about nominating "Important Birding Areas" in Tulsa is that any ideas should be submitted to the American Bird Conservancy. Regarding the Creek Turnpike Property, Jo Loyd has been told that Pat Siebert has been surveying birds on the property in the past and that she has the key to the gate. The Turnpike Authority and Nature Conservancy seem to feel that if we want to manage the property, we can. John Kennington announced that he still has not received any Scissor-tailed Flycatcher prints from Jack Miller, although it appears there is considerable interest in such prints if we ever get them. Regarding the Least Tern islands, Bob Germany has indicated he will still pursue various avenues of information about the cost of building a new island. Regarding the pending bird art project, John Kennington said that he has met with Brenda Napp (the artist), Carol Eames, Lynda Fritts, and Tara Schulberg, and they are "tossing around" ideas for how to develop the project; for instance, not just doing an art project but perhaps having the kids keep birding journals. Let John know if you have any ideas. John also announced that the library had asked for someone from Audubon to come out and talk about birds for its outreach program. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned to June 3, 2003, at Tomye Mainer’s house.
Submitted by:
TULSA AUDUBON SOCIETY President John Kennington called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. at the home of Tomye Mainer in Tulsa. Present were: John Kennington, Carol Eames, Mary Jackson, Peter Lowen, Jo Loyd, Tomye Mainer, Paul and Patty Moser, Aline Romero, Phil Teter, Suzie Tramel, and Cyndie Browning. The minutes of the April 1st Directors' meeting were unanimously approved as reported. Phil Teter announced that the Treasurer's Report had not yet been prepared. He and Mary Jackson are in the process of getting new signature cards filed with the bank and waiting for an audit of the books to be completed before Mary assumes full responsibility for the office of club Treasurer. It was suggested that Mary Jackson and Bill Foster might serve as the Audit Committee. Committee Reports: Suzie Tramel distributed a list of possible field trips for 2003-04, and asked that everyone review the list, especially if your name is on it as one of the trip leaders, and she'll be contacting each of you about those trips. Or if you have other ideas for field trips, feel free to contact Suzie about them. Lynda Fritts will be forming a Program Committee for 2003-04 so that she won't have to arrange all those speakers on her own. Anyone interested in volunteering on that committee should contact Lynda. We have other committee needs as well. Janie Cheek will probably be stepping down as Newsletter Editor. It'll be hard to find someone to fill her shoes; she's done an outstanding job on the newsletter and her work speaks well of the Tulsa Audubon Society as a whole. Other committees in search of volunteers are the Eagle Committee (Bill Foster has resigned), Conservation (Bob Germany has resigned), and Historian (Donna Germany has resigned). There was some discussion about whether or not Peter Lowen was stepping down from the Hospitality Chairman but after some lively interchange, Peter agreed to continue in that capacity. (If I'm not mistaken, Tomye convinced Peter to remain as Hospitality Chairman by talking to him in her "teacher's voice.") Old Business: Tomye Mainer announced that some of the Audubon Adventures surveys have already come back, including some that asked her to send the information to other teachers. Phil Teter passed out a proposed budget for 2003-04. Among the items being considered for resale are coffee mugs with Scissor-tailed Flycatchers on them. Jo Loyd said she would look into the possibility of acquiring such cups. It was moved and approved that purchase of the cups would be an one- time expense, the cost to be recovered by selling the cups. Aline Romero volunteered to check on the possibility of reprinting the TAS Scissortail on a new supply of T-shirts for resale, another one-time purchase if it can be arranged. There followed some discussion about whether or not to send a student to Audubon Camp in 2004. Also, we discussed whether or not the Audubon Adventures budget item should be increased, and John Kennington proposed increasing it from $1100 to $1500. After a lengthy exchange, a motion to accept the budget with an increase to $1500 of the Audubon Adventures item was made and seconded, and unanimously approved. Regarding the Creek Turnpike Property, Jo Loyd reminded us that Pat Seibert has the key to the gate, which is all the information she has been able to confirm from both the Turnpike Authority and the Nature Conservancy. However, TAS oesn't own the property so Jo agreed to pursue with the Turnpike Authority and Nature Conservancy, who owns the property and who will pay for its upkeep. A local Eagle Scout, Jess Wallace, then made a brief and well organized presentation to the Board. He wants to build 20 Wood Duck nesting boxes, to be placed out at the Nickel Preserve, as his Eagle Scout Project, and already has the Nature Conservancy's approval to place the boxes on the Preserve. He needed only $230 more to purchase the rest of the materials he needs to make the boxes. The Board unanimously approved a motion to give him the whole $230. After Mr. Wallace left, Tomye reminded us that we need to keep in mind that TAS is committed to support the Deep Fork NWR in Okmulgee and that we should make efforts to steer money their way, rather than to projects like that of Jess Wallace, whose project is already being helped along by the Nature Conservancy. John Kennington reported that he still has not received the Scissortail prints from artist Jack Miller. He also reported that despite Bob Germany's resignation from the Conservation Committee, Bob has offered to continue investigating the possibility of getting the city to foot at least part of the bill for building another proposed Least Tern Island in the Arkansas River. John also reported that a committee has been formed and has already met to discuss the possible art project for next year, modeled after the one in Missouri last year that he introduced to the Board some months ago. Apparently, Donna Germany has asked for guidance what to file in the TAS Archives, and John Kennington said that he would talk to her about it. New Business: John Kennington announced that TAS should consider whom to nominate for the forthcoming elections for Regional Board Member to the National Audubon Society. He offered the name of candidate Ione Werthman and suggested that we might give her our vote as the TAS "chapter candidate." John also discussed the issue of assigning TAS's proxy to the National Society. Unfortunately, National doesn't seem to be supporting the chapters at this time and there is a movement afoot by a group of chapter leaders to present their proxies at the next national meeting in an effort to instigate reforms at the national level. John shared a website address with the Board where they might learn more about this movement to "take back Audubon." There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. The next meeting will be on August 5, 2003, at 7:00 p.m., at Carol Eames' house. Carol's address is 7412 W. 38th Street (north of West 41st in Rolling Oaks), and her phone number is 446-2720. Call Carol if you need directions. Submitted by:
Cyndie Browning
TULSA AUDUBON SOCIETY President John Kennington called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. at the home of Carol Eames in Tulsa. Present were: John Kennington, Carol Eames, Lynda Fritts, Bob Gard, Mary Jackson, Amy Lambert, Peter Lowen, Jo Loyd, Aline Romero, Suzie Tramel, and Cyndie Browning. The minutes of the June 3rd Directors' meeting were unanimously approved as reported. Mary Jackson presented the Treasurer's Report and circulated copies of the report to the directors and officers present. A copy of the report will be filed with these minutes in the appropriate records. Committee Reports:There was a brief discussion (and some light banter) about which directors oversee which committees. The Program Committee, consisting of Lynda Fritts, Carol Eames, John Kennington, and Amy Lambert, has set the programs for the 2003-04 season of meetings of the regular meetings. The program will be printed in the annual TAS event guide which should be available in a few weeks. John Kennington reported that Bob Gard had accepted the Chair of the Conservation Committee. Peter Lowen agreed to take over publishing the newsletter. A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously approved for TAS to purchase the Publisher software he'll need to work on the newsletter. John Kennington said he would put together the newsletter for September and October, until Peter has the computer software he needs to take over that duty. The duties of the Hospitality Committee Chair were discussed at length. A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously approved to limit refreshments after the regular meetings to soft drinks and light snacks. The Hospitality Chair will purchase these snacks and soft drinks, the cost of same to be reimbursed by TAS, thus eliminating the burden on the Hospitality Chair to solicit volunteers to bring refreshments to every meeting. No one has taken over the Hospitality Chair yet but several names were mentioned, and several board members volunteered to contact a few of these people to see if any of them would accept the position. We still do not have a Historian to take over those duties from Donna Germany, who recently resigned the position. Old Business:Regarding the ongoing interest in the Creek Turnpike property, it has been concluded that no natural history project of any kind will be provided there, at least as far as the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (that manages the property) is concerned. We've also learned that Broken Arrow is creating a jogging trail through 91st and Garnett Streets. It's not necessarily the kind of "natural environment" that most members of Audubon would choose, but it seems to be all that developers of such property want to provide. John Kennington reported that he still has not received the Scissortail prints from artist Jack Miller. He also reiterated, from our last board meeting, that although Bob Germany has resigned from the Conservation Committee, Bob has still offered to continue investigating the possibility of getting the City of Tulsa to foot at least part of the bill for building another proposed Least Tern Island in the Arkansas River. You may recall that at our June meeting, we agreed to support Ione Werthman as our candidate for regional representative to the National Audubon Society. John Kennington was pleased to announce that Ione Werthman did, indeed, win the election. New Business:Carol Eames announced that she had decided to wrap up the affairs of her backyard wildlife habitat organization, Make Every Home a Wildlife Habitat, after organizing and chairing the group for the past 10 years. In the process of winding up the affairs of the group, Carol suggested that the annual Garden Tour, normally held the 1st weekend in June (9-5 Saturday, 12-5 Sunday), might be an excellent project and fund-raiser for Tulsa Audubon to take over. In fact, National Audubon has recently announced a similar "backyard wildlife habitat" project and encourages the local chapters to pursue some kind of a similar project. Jo Loyd made a motion, with Bob Gard seconding, and the board unanimously approved the plan of establishing "Audubon at Home in Tulsa," which would begin preparing for next year's Garden Tour under Carol's guidance. Carol stated that preparing for the Garden Tour takes a lot of work, but it's fun, draws a good turnout, and should be very successful as a local fund-raiser. It was also proposed that the members of MEHAH be offered a year's membership in the National Audubon Society, in appreciation for their work in the past and to encourage them to continue supporting TAS as it undertakes to produce the annual Garden Tour. There followed some discussion about the Osage Trail in northern Tulsa, a project which may benefit from funding and further development if the Vision 2025 propositions are passed in the September election. By the way, the trail got its name from the Osage Railroad that once used the tracks that ran along that roadbed. Another discussion concerned further planned development in Mohawk Park, also to be funded by Vision 2025, if it passes. The members were urged to write and/or call their City Councilmen and County Commissioners to protest against too much development. There's little enough wide-open green space left in Tulsa; do we really need a water park in Mohawk Park? Lynda Fritts announced to the group that Bob Jennings had finished cleaning out his office at the Oxley Nature Center and had left behind half-a-dozen boxes of old "nature" and birding books to be given to anyone who wanted them. The Nature Center staff had already selected those volumes to be added to the Center's library, and if any TAS members are interested in looking through the boxes and taking any of the books, they should contact Lynda at Oxley. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. The next meeting will be on October 7, 2003, at 7:00 p.m., at the home of Paul and Patty Moser. Their address is 6305 South 90th East Avenue in Tulsa; phone number is 252-2824. Submitted by:
Cyndie Browning
TULSA AUDUBON SOCIETY Vice President Lynda Fritts called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. at the home of Paul and Patty Moser in Tulsa. Present were: Lynda Fritts, Carol Eames, Bob Gard, Marcie Goad, Mary Jackson, Amy Lambert, Peter Lowen, Jo Loyd, Tomye Mainer, Paul and Patty Moser, and Cyndie Browning. The minutes of the August 5th Directors' meeting were unanimously approved as reported. Mary Jackson presented the Treasurer's Report and circulated copies of the report to the directors and officers present. A copy of the report will be filed with these minutes in the appropriate records. Committee Reports: Tomye Mainer reported that the Audubon Adventures packets were being sent out this week. TAS has provided Peter Lowen with funds so he can purchase a scanner to use in connection with his preparation of the TAS newsletter. It was also suggested that he add the dates for the upcoming seed-collecting event at Nickel Preserve to the next edition of the newsletter. Hospitality Committee: There was a length discussion about the current state of the Hospitality Committee, in particular, about Elaine Renning's willingness to act as Hospitality Chairperson until she came to understand that the committee would not be run the same as it used to be. Elaine had understood that she could recruit volunteers to provide snacks at each meeting, and then apparently learned from John Kennington (absent at this meeting) that the Board had decided to do away with volunteers bringing the snacks, and instead that Elaine herself would be responsible for picking up soft drinks and some sort of salty snack before each meeting, for which she would be reimbursed by TAS. She was unwilling to act under those restrictions and so it appears that at present, we do not have a Hospitality Chairperson. So what are the duties of the Hospitality Committee, and especially, the Chairperson of the committee? Not only to greet the members and set up the box containing the name badges, recovering said badges after the meeting, but also to provide snacks at each general meeting and to clean up the kitchen after the snacks have been put away. It was the general consensus of those board members present that these duties were too burdensome to lay at the feet of one person. And we discussed again the "limits" we thought we had agreed on at the August meeting, but which have apparently been interpreted in various ways by some members of the Board. Tomye Mainer asked, "if I am the Board member in charge of overseeing the Hospitality Committee, then do I or don't I have the duty to seek someone to take over the duties of Hospitality Chairman?" Although the bylaws designate various standing committees, all other committees are to be appointed by the club president, who appoints a chairman of such committee, and then the appointed chairman solicits volunteers for his/her committee. At the very least, it is the club's tradition for the various committees to be led by one or the other directors, but such tradition is not included in the bylaws. One idea bandied about was whether or not to modify the bylaws to change this procedure, or at least to codify it. In the end, it was decided to table further discussion about the Hospitality Committee until our December meeting, when John Kennington will be present, since he has been involved in past discussions and interactions with Elaine Renning and others about the Committee's duties and responsibilities. Conservation Committee: Bob Gard brought up the issue of trail development under the Creek Turnpike around Garnett, and the club's concern about the impact of those trails on the wetlands in that area. Eagle Property: Dave Edwards is monitoring the mowing and clearing of the access road to the Eagle Property. Old Business: Regarding the backyard habitat project previously known as "Make Every Home a Wildlife Habitat" and now known as "Audubon at Home in Tulsa," Carol Eames reported that there are now 7 people on the committee for the Garden Tour on June 11-12, 2004. The committee is now putting together a list of possible gardens for the tours, as well as nurseries who may wish to set up booths at each site. They're also revising the National Audubon garden tour guide book, making changes specific to Tulsa. Some of the ideas discussed at the meeting were a display about backyard wildlife habitat to be set up at Oxley Nature Center, displaying various garden ideas for wildlife-friendly habitat. Also, donating gardening books to the library, and the possibility of supporting scholarships in horticulture. National Audubon members have been purchased for all MEHAH members who were not previously members of Audubon, and for those members who are already Audubon members, their memberships have been extended for one year by TAS. Bob Gard reported briefly on the field trip to the Osage Trail that had been held the morning of the Board meeting. Bob had sent a letter to the city about the over-use of herbicides along the trail, and will need to follow up that letter to make sure the matter is brought to the attention of the people in charge of such matters. There followed a discussion about the effect of the recent passage of Vision 2025 on development along the Arkansas River. Although the islands in the River are designated "eagle and tern preserves," it's clear that the commissioners aren't overly concerned about destruction of Least Tern nests when they release water from Kaw Lake and other reservoirs along the river system. Lynda Fritts proposed forming a committee to prepare an outline of recommendations to be sent to the city commissioners regarding how to proceed with 2025 developments along the river, and in the city at large. New Business: Janet Slater, previously the TAS secretary, passed away last week, and the memorial service in her honor will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, at All Saints Unitarian Church in Tulsa. Peter Lowen will include a brief write-up about Janet's life and contribution to TAS in the next issue of the newsletter. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. The next meeting will be on December 2, 2003, at 7:00 p.m., at the home of Tomye Mainer, 3709 W. Urbana Street (nearest main intersection: 91st Street and 129th E. Avenue), 459-7582. Submitted by:
Cyndie Browning TULSA AUDUBON
SOCIETY President John Kennington called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. at the home of Tomye Mainer in Tulsa. Present were: Carol Eames, Bob Gard, Marcie Goad, Mary Jackson, Peter Lowen, Tomye Mainer, Paul and Patty Moser, Suzie Tramel, and Cyndie Browning. The minutes of the October 7th Directors’ meeting were unanimously approved as amended. Mary Jackson presented the Treasurer’s Report and circulated copies of the report to the directors and officers present. A copy of the report will be filed with these minutes in the appropriate records. John Kennington asked Mary Jackson to be sure to send a copy of the property tax bill on the eagle property to Dody Nesbit so she can pay it. Announcements The Christmas Count dinner will be held at Gail Storey’s house the evening of the count. Be sure to call and tell her you’re coming and what you’ll bring with you. John Kennington received a packet of brochures from National Audubon Society about the Great Backyard Bird Count in February, if anyone would like to have one. He especially encouraged anyone who can post them in a school or library, to do so. Committee Reports: Hospitality Committee: In the ongoing discussion about the duties of the Hospitality Committee and, especially, the Hospitality Chairman, John Kennington reviewed the decision made back in August, that TAS would provide a salty snack and soft drinks for each meeting. In fact, John said he’s already bought several meetings’ worth of snacks and sodas, and will just bring them to each meeting. Patty Moser said she would provide plates, cups, and napkins for the December 16th meeting, our annual “show-and-tell: slide presentation with holiday snacks after. Basically, there is no Hospitality Committee at present since John doesn’t mind picking up snacks and soft drinks when he’s at the market anyway. We do need a volunteer to set out and collect the member name tags and sign-in sheets at the meetings, and Carol Eames volunteered for that duty. As for cleaning up after the meetings, John suggested that we just “muddle along” for now and not undertake to change the current arrangements regarding “hospitality” until next summer, when the new club president will take office. The bird prints given to each featured speaker were given to Elaine Renning when she initially agreed to be Hospitality Committee Chairperson so we need to get those back from her, probably at the December meeting. Newsletter: The newsletter looks wonderful. Peter’s doing a really good job. John asked Peter to find out what it costs us to get each issue of the newsletter printed, assembled, and mailed since our income from National is expected to be reduced to next-to-nothing next year and we need to consider any and all areas where we can reduce the club’s expenses. Also, we need to find out whether the workshop that assembles the newsletter will be open in December in time to help with the next issue of the newsletter. We talked about the possibility of offering the newsletter as a .PDF file on the TAS website, to those members who volunteer to receive it that way and don’t care if they receive a hard copy of the newsletter in the mail or not. Those members who are willing could then print out the newsletter from the website if they wanted one. We also discussed whether or not the “local” membership fee (presently $10/year) would be eliminated for those members who elect to read the newsletter on the website, or should we change the wording in the bylaws to indicate that the $10/year fee is for membership in TAS, regardless of whether or not members receive a hard copy of the newsletter. John also suggested that Peter check into the relative difference in cost of perhaps reducing the number of issues per year to 4 but increasing the number of pages per issue vs. leaving the 6 issues per year as is. In either case, knowing how much each issue costs now will help us decide later whether changing the frequency and appearance of “The Scissortail” would reduce the cost of it. Budget: John Kennington announced that the art school project, at least as we had originally discussed it, is just not going to happen this year. Mary Jackson announced that the $25,000 CD came due today and asked whether or not she should advise the bank to just roll it over “as is” or move it to another bank. She had made several calls to local banks to see what interest rates were being offered, and it seemed that no one was offering that much more (or less) in interest than where the CD is presently held. It was the consensus of those present to roll over the CD for another 6 months. John asked Mary to bring the final income and expense figures from 2002 to the next Board meeting, to give us some idea about next year’s budget. John explained again that the dues share from National Audubon will be eliminated altogether very soon, perhaps even in 2004, and we need to find either other fund-raising events or reduce the club’s expenses so that we don’t spend more money than we have. Fortunately for us, the Garden Tour in June 2004 is likely to be a very profitable fund-raiser for TAS. Conservation: Bob Gard reminded us of the letter he’d written about the use of herbicides along the Osage Trail, and advised us that he’d recently received a very nice letter from the director of Tulsa County Parks. The letter said Tulsa didn’t want to adversely affect the area but efforts were being made to supplant what’s growing along the right-of-way, maybe down to the bottom of the slope. Bob suggested that for now, we’ll just keep an eye on it and write again if anyone notices anything adverse in the foreseeable future. Old Business Jack Miller contacted John Kennington and said he wants to donate the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher prints to TAS. The Board will discuss the price to sell them for at the next Board meeting in February. John mentioned the “Take Back Audubon” movement, adding that our new Regional Director, Ione Werthman, had urged the members to vote the alternate proxy. Of course, as of this Board meeting, it was now too late to send in your proxy if you hadn’t done so already. We discussed the “Audubon at Home” program being promoted by National Audubon and Cyndie Browning asked, “for once and for all, what is the name of this program in Tulsa? I’ve heard both ‘˜Audubon at Home’ and ‘Gardening for Life,’ and I don’t know which to call it.” We decided that “Gardening for Life” was a more interesting title so that’s what we’ll call it. At present, the booklet prepared for the Seattle Audubon is being revised to “personalize” it for the Tulsa area. Vision 2025: John Kennington said he will talk to Lynda Fritts about ways TAS might support, oppose, or encourage programs to be funded under Vision 2025 as needed to promote the club’s interests in Tulsa’s wildlife conservation. New Business: Bob Gard told us that he’d talked recently to Bob Germany, who’d told him that his (Bob Germany’s) contacts at the Fish & Wildlife Service were urging us to support their resistance to more radio towers being built in Cobb County, even though Cobb County is pretty far away from Tulsa. Marcie Goad asked, “why is a radio tower bad?” and someone (I don’t remember who) answered that some species of birds will not nest in an area anywhere near such a tower. Tomye Mainer suggested that TAS write a letter to the F&W that we share their concerns about putting up the tower, even though it won’t affect Tulsa directly. Bob Gard said that he would call the F&W contacts and ask them what we might do to help support the movement against putting up the towers. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. The next meeting will be on February 3rd, 2004, at 7:00 p.m., at the home of Bob Gard, 4245 Rustic Road, Sand Springs, 241-4273. Submitted by: Cyndie Browning |