Ohio Society of American Foresters Business Meeting

OSU Campus

Columbus, OH

Wednesday March 21, 2007

Chair David Apsley opened the business meeting at 1:00 PM. He thanked the OSU Forestry Forum for helping set up for the meeting and asked folks to sign the get well cards for OFA Director Bob Romig.

Dr. Jerry Bingham, Director of OSU School of Natural Resources gave a brief history and description of the recently dedicated Cowan-Touse meeting room in Kottman Hall.

District 9 Council Report:

Roger Weaver highlighted 5 upcoming issues with the National Office:

• There is an 88% retention rate of SAF members, and 70% retention rate of Student members. National is considering changing the membership structure to two categories: member and student. Also consideration to abolish the current “sliding” dues schedule and develop a flat dues rate of: Student member- $35.00, Member- $135.00, Retired - $105.00, and “post-student rate” of $85.00, which would be for recently graduated students for up to 5 years after graduating.
• State society insurance
• Future of the Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy was cancelled in 2007 due to lack of funding/support
• Electronic voting by members
• Changing the name of the Society of American Foresters to something else. Roger would like for Ohio members to share their feelings with him on this issue.

Roger mentioned that he is also interested in getting demographic information on SAF members and looking into establishing local SAF chapters within the state.

Treasurers Report: Gregg Maxfield distributed the treasurer’s report that contained the account balances as of February 28, 2007

Dan Yaussey motioned that the treasurer’s report be approved and Mark Ervin seconded. The treasurer’s report was unanimously approved.

Membership: Jeremy Scherf reported that there are 236 total current members, which includes 180 regular members. Student membership included 8 new members from Ohio State Students and 20 from Hocking College.

Ten-year pins were presented by Jeremy Scherf to Jim Bartlett and Christine Hodgson. Twenty-year pins were awarded to David Apsley and Bob Long.

Communications Committee: Stephanie Miller distributed the communication’s committee report. The membership survey was helpful to the committee in improving communication effectiveness. The Hetuch newsletter is an important means of sharing information with the membership. Stephanie introduced Casey Munchel as the new Hetuch editor. Casey will be exploring the option of offering the Hetuch in hard copy format again.

Continuing Education: Kathy Smith encouraged members to pick up documentation for this meetings CFE Credits. Kathy reminded the group that the there was a Woodland, Water and Wildlife Conference scheduled in Mansfield on April 4, 2007. She reported that the recent GIS course for Natural Resource Professionals was filled, mainly with wildlife oriented people.

Forest Science: Bob Long reported on the current status of the EAB in Ohio. There were currently 26 counties in Ohio under the ODA state quarantine. Ohio was also a part of the federal quarantine established by APHIS, which also included Michigan and Indiana. Bob reported on the continuing white oak decline in southern Ohio and that there is an attempt to bring back the oak SILVAH training program to Ohio, possibly in 2008/2009.

Foresters Fund: Lee Crocker encouraged those present to participate in the 50:50 card raffle that is being held at the meeting. Proceeds from the raffle will support the Forester’s Fund. The drawing will be held at the end of the day.

Call Before You Cut campaign: Tom Berger briefly reported on the CBYC campaign which is designed to provide professional forestry information to private landowners before they make a decision to harvest trees. There were numerous sponsors of the campaign, including OSAF which donated $3,200 through the Forester Fund Grant. The campaign includes billboards at various locations in Ohio, a 1 –800 #LO can call, radio sots and articles in the media. To date approximately 320 calls had been received by LO having nearly 15,200 woodland acres.

Policy: Dave Apsley reported for Roger Williams that the policy committee wanted to update the white paper on the emerald ash borer, develop a statement on the proposed merger of the OFTL and CAUV laws, and also considering developing a white paper regarding white tail deer population in Ohio, similar to what other state SAF chapters have

Council of Fellows: Walt Smith reported that there will be changes in how fellows are elected. John Dorka is Ohio’s most recently elected fellow.

Student Chapter Reports: OSU: Steven Rist updated the group on OSU Forestry Forum activities including: meeting 5-6 times/year, donating funds to renovate the Blue Rock SF Fire tower, and becoming a member of the OSU President’s Club. The OSU Forestry Forum does have a scholarship set up for forestry students through an endowment fund.

Hocking College: Kyle Sigley updated the group on recent activities, including: attending the National SAF Convention in Pittsburgh, and organizing a chestnut tree hike near Hocking College. Future activities for the club include a river trash clean-up by canoe and planting 10,000 trees this Spring in Hocking County.

Awards:

• Cowen/Embree Scholarship Awards in the amounts of $550.00 each were presented to: Kacey Ray at Ohio State and K.J. Mason at Hocking College.
• Communicator of the Year: Tom Berger
• Outstanding Member of the Year: Eric Roush
• SAF Fellow Award: John Dorka

Dave Apsley presented outgoing chairperson Lee Crocker with some Purdue paraphernalia to show his and the OSAF membership’s appreciation for the job Lee had done the previous year.

New Business: Dan Yaussy mentioned that that from the treasurer’s report, the interest generated from the Cowen/Embree CD Account is covering more than enough for the Forester’s Fund. Dan made a motion to take the scholarship donations from last year checking (2006) and move it to the CD. Mark Ervin seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Bill Schultz made a motion on investing the interest accrued from the CD. The motion was seconded. After some discussion, it was decided to table the motion until the summer meeting in July.

Summer Meeting: Stephanie Miller discussed highlights of the OSAF summer meeting and announced that it will be held in Upper Arlington. The date for the summer meeting will be Wednesday, July 18.

Meeting Adjourned at 2:40 pm.

Respectfully Submitted By: Gregg Maxfield, OSAF Secretary/Treasurer