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LINDHEIMER MASTER NATURALIST BOARD MEETING—June 24, 2019

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MEMBERS PRESENT: Rich Nielson, Mike Hammack, Cheryl Trock, Marilyn McFarland, Jeanie Springer, Debbie Kyrouac, Rich

Bradley, Arthur Williams, Aleta Meyer, Joe Finneran, Jane Schnell. Chapter Adviser: Craig Hensley

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5 PM.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the May meeting had not been distributed. This will be done by email.

TREASURER’S REPORT: There was no treasurer’s report. Rich N noted there is about $7900 in the bank.

PAST PRES. REPORT Rich B described the current status of the Chapter Operating Handbook (COH). The board decided Officer

and Director’s terms will be 12 months; where options are offered in the text, LMN will use “may” to allow flexibility; in

reference to members, the word “certified” will replace “active”. Rich B will continue to work on the COH update and will

report again at the July meeting.

COMMUNICATIONS REPORT Marilyn’s report was distributed before the meeting. She said she will be organizing the

Speaker’s Bureau and will report progress at future meetings.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT Cheryl’s report was distributed before the meeting. She added she will be contacting members who

have submitted no hours to date to learn if they intend to continue their membership.

PROJECTS REPORT Jeanie moved, Rich B second, that the board approve changes to VH credit for certain LMN activities.

These change are described in the Projects Committee report submitted before the meeting. Motion carried.

EDUCATION REPORT Joe’s report was distributed before the meeting. He added he will hold a meeting of the Education

Committee to discuss next year’s curriculum. He has had one member volunteer to help lead the next class. Cheryl asked to

join the education committee to ensure new members are well grounded in VMS.

OUTREACH REPORT Debbie stated she will be the Outreach Director, as required in the COH. Marilyn will head the Speaker’s

Bureau subcommittee. Debbie will need a subcommittee to care for the travelling trunks and is looking for volunteers and a

subcommittee chair. Debbie has nearly finished the trunk inventory and has been valuing the items as well. Member Ben

Pfeiffer is working with her to organize an insect trunk.

CHAPTER ADVISOR Craig had no comments.

OTHER BUSINESS:

State Office will be sending out a survey to all active TX MNs. Rich N has had some conversation with the intern organizing the

survey, but so far it has not been received in the chapter.

The chapter is considering a mentor program for both new and long time members. There was a brief discussion of the matter

but it will be on the agenda in August for a full review of the proposal.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 PM.

Minutes by Arthur Williams, Secretary

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Report 1 – TREASURER

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Report 2 – VICE PRESIDENT (Jim Doyle)

June Report Troy Luepke will be the speaker for our Sept. chapter meeting. As previously reported, Stephen Curtis from TPWD will be the July speaker. The title of his talk is: “Fishes of Central Texas”.

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Report 3 - COMMUNICATIONS

To: LMN Chapter Board of Directors

From: MJ McFarland, Chair, Communications mcfarland1953@sbcglobal.net 210-317-1332

Date: June 24, 2019

Re: Communication Committee Report No. 6

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1. Chair: Records retention policy is tabled.

2. Historian/Archivist – Overview of Chapter Records

a) Review of historical documents continues.

b) Electronic “scrapbook” or annual archive for 2018 is completed & posted on the Website.

3. Newsletter – The 2nd Quarter newsletter (April – June) is in

progress.

4. Out & About

a) Sara made 64 entries into the calendar for April, not

counting changes.

b) Sara sent out 5 Ops & Info emails in April, 7 in March and 5

in February.

5. Publicity

a. The May Flyer on Fireflies was developed & emailed to all

contacts and sent to members via Ops & Info. The

information was posted to HZ/Stammtisch and in the TPML

Calendar. It was posted on the website & Facebook in April.

b. Chapter pamphlet in development.

6. Social Media – Facebook Page Statistics

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7. Webmaster

a) PayPal Button for Donation Page: Still pending – no reply from the person who oks it

b) Website statistics for YTD 2019 - January still the busiest month (don’t know why).

c) Page stats below show the number of views by page from 5/1 – 5/31, 2019. Only pages receiving more than 10

views are included.

Respectfully submitted,

Marilyn J McFarland

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Report 4 – EDUCATION

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Report 5 – MEMBERSHIP TMN LINDHEIMER CHAPTER

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP REPORT

May 2019 Active Members: 170 (includes 30 in-training Rock Stars Class #21) Inactive Member Theresa Frasch requested return to Active Status Active Member Candace Sansone with no activity or contact since Jan 2018 Transfer In: Holly Emrie requested to return back to Lindheimer chapter Chapter Meeting May 16th: 48 members + 13 trainees + 15 guests = 76 Service Pins Earned in May 2019 Golden-Cheeked Warbler: 8 (year total =51 at 36%) 500 Hours: 2 1,000 Hours: 2 VMS Submissions 133 members submitted hours Advanced Training: 472 hours Service Hours: 1,872 hours Surveys Approved: 817 (26 Opportunities) Outreach=Education Adults=1,298 in May 1st Quarter=2,476 Youth=1,173 in May 1st Quarter=3,580 73 LMN members provided 732 hours of Education in May 86 LMN members provided Education in 1st Quarter Recruiting Agrilife Open House 5/4/2019 - 8 interested Chapter Meeting 5/16/2019 - 4 interested Home Visit for VMS Training: 1 Criminal Background Check Passed: 168 out of 170 active members. 1 active member said NO to background check 1 inactive member pending profile update and updated background check Cheryl Trock Membership Director

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Report 6 - PROJECTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Date Rcd

Submitted

by Name of Project App Den Type

Decision

/Dt Comment

29-May-19 n/a Bat awareness x AT 29-May-19

June 27, Fran Hutchins from BCI,

bat awareness presentation, at

Mystic Shores Speaker has prior

approval

29-May-19 n/a

Presentation on

living with urban

wildlife x AT 29-May-19

July 9, Ava Donaldson and Kelly

McCoy of Wildlife Rescue, at

Mystic Shores. Urban wildlife

and info for what to do if you

encounter a wild animal in your

daily life. Had prior approval

6-Jun-19

Julia E.

Morgan

Wild bee hive

rescue and

relocation x VH 9-Jun-19

Saving bee hives which would

otherwise be exterminated.

Member has years of beekeeping

experience

6-Jun-19

Sara

Killough

Use of

Zooniverse.org x AT

citizen scientists help with data

and observations, like iNaturalist

and ebird. Approved only for

Comal and immediate

surrounding counties only.

11-Jun-19

Erin

Harrison

Nature

photography with

camera phone x AT 17-Jun-19

Member is 3rd generation

Professional Photographer. Class

held at Headwaters of Comal

11-Jun-19 n/a

NABA Butterfly

survey in Bexar

County x VH 11-Jun-19 activity had prior approval

11-Jun-19

Eileen

Lenz

Texas Pollinator

Project x AT/VH 17-Jun-19

The goal of the project is to

gather observational data on what

plants are most attractive to bees

and other pollinators. Sponsored

by TX A&M Agri Life Ext

19-Jun-19

Debra

Eanes

Protecting Our

Starry Skies x AT 19-Jun-19

NB WBU, August 17, Holly

Platz. Class of the importance of

dark skies to both people and

wildlife, including migratory

birds. Find out what the Texas

State Parks are doing to protect

starry skies, due to light pollution

and how you can help in your

backyard.

19-Jun-19

Debra

Eanes

How to Turn

Suburbia Into Sub

Birdia x AT

NB WBU, September 7 by Tom

& Patsy Inglet, how to Create a

bird friendly habitat in Your

Backyard

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Report 7 – OUTREACH Outreach Report June 19, 2019 An organizational meeting for the outreach committee was held at TPML on June 12. Rich Nielson, Jane Schnell, Jeanie Springer, Marilyn McFarland, Cheryl Trock and Mike Hammack were in attendance. We had a very productive meeting regarding the future of this committee. Going forward, the proposal is to have an Outreach Director to act as a conduit for requests for speakers and a presence at events. I can serve in that capacity. To gain a better awareness of these activities, Cheryl has offered to provide regular reports of member activities that appear to fall under outreach. It was noted that we have members that speak to groups on their own. Awareness of this activity will better help the director find qualified volunteers when we receive requests for other activities. A suggestion was made to look more seriously at events the chapter is supporting and make sure we don’t over extend our willing volunteers. A suggestion had been made at previous board meetings to break outreach into several subcommittees to better cover this growing endeavor. Marilyn offered to be committee chair for the speakers bureau. Cheryl will also provide information to her regarding members that are able to speak on particular topics. Marilyn asked that we restrict ourselves to a short list of topics for which she has verified (using VMS) subject matter “experts”. She would like this list to include a person or persons capable of speaking about the chapter history. The other big committee would be trunks. We currently have trunks on the topics of skins and skulls, snakes, birds and bird beaks, butterflies, native plants and geology. A trunk on insects is currently being developed by Darlene Varga and Ben Pfieffer. We also have a simulator set-up stored in the AgriLife barn to show the difference in effects of rain falling on different surfaces. This display requires collecting plants at least a week prior to an event. I proposed a committee of 2-3 people whose primary duty would be trunk and display management and maintenance. These duties would include periodic check of the inventory and condition of trunks. We have no volunteers for this committee at this time. Finally, it was decided that for the immediate future the proposed committee of youth education be simply a database of information on this activity as part of the information provided by Cheryl. The director can keep this information along with other outreach activities. Although the PAL program is a part of outreach, the focus for it seems to be well-defined. As with other outreach committees though, I think the big take-away was to keep in touch with one another. There may be other outreach opportunities that present themselves when landowners request a PAL survey. Respectfully, Debbie Kyrouac

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Report 8 – PAST PRESIDENT