Minnesota Forestry Association Board Meeting - Cloquet Forestry Center
April 6, 2005

Board Members in Attendance:
Bruce ZumBahlen, President
Priscilla Harvala, Vice-President
James Lemmerman, Secretary
John Bathke, Treasurer
Neal Kingsley
Jerry Lenz
Bill Sayward
Terry Helbig
Mike Reichenbach
Carol Jacobs

Board Members Absent: Gordon Rye, Barb Spears, and Bob Perleberg

Others Present: John Rosberg, Joanne Rosberg, and George Anderson; Members of the Carlton County Woodland Committee

A quorum was present.

1. Call to Order by Bruce ZumBahlen, President at 10:11 a.m.

a. Introductions
b. Remarks - attached
MFA has been accepted as a member of the MN Invasive Species Advisory Council and Barb Spears has been appointed as the representative.
c. Additions to agenda
Motion: To approve agenda as amended by John Bathke, second by Bill Sayward, carried unanimously.

2. Welcome and introduction of Carlton County Woodland Committee members

3. Approval of January 26, 2005 Board meeting minutes:

Motion: To approve board meetings by Priscilla Harvala, second by John Bathke, carried unanimously.

Priscilla Harvala asked that the location of the meeting be added to the header for the minutes. (Done)

Carol Jacobs enter the meeting, 10:53 am

4. Treasurer's report: Approval of treasurer's report for 2004, January 2005 and April 2005.

John Bathke will do a balance sheet for board review.

Motion: To approve treasurer's report for 2004, January 2005, and April 2005 by Bill Sayward, second by Priscilla Harvala, carried unanimously.

5. Budget discussion and adoption of the 2005 Annual Budget - Budget attached

Motion: To approve budget for 2005 by Bill Sayward, second by Priscilla Harvala, carried unanimously.

Jerry Lenz will try to do an article about the budget/budget process for newsletter.

Lunch

Committee Reports

6. Communications and Education: Mike Reichenbach, Chair.

a. Plans for the annual meeting April 22-23, 2005; Mike will ask the Metro Chapter to host the annual meeting in 2006.
b. Report on Executive committee conference call; increase in woodland advisor program, MFA will need to handle administration in the future.
c. Update on Million Acre Conference in Feb 10 & 11, 2006
d. MFA will be the fiscal agent; DNR has not made a decision about the registration agent at this time.
e. Deer Classic 2006 - March 10 -12, 2006 seminar; MFA was asked to participate by presenting a seminar. Mike Reichenbach will do session about Woodland advisors. Bruce will inform Maureen Talarico of MFI.
f. Teacher tour - Lake states teachers

7. Government Relations: Bruce ZumBahlen

a. Brief update on the MLEP/MFA Directory - Attached
b. Legislative update - Attached

8. Membership: Neal Kingsley, Chair, report attached

a. Membership survey results
b. Upcoming events, Timber Producers Association April 29, 2005; North Star Expo September 16 &17,2005; and Goods from the Woods September 17 & 18, 2005.
c. Discussion of Tree Farm awards presentations at the annual MFA meeting rather than at the annual TPA meeting as a more appropriate venue: the state tree farm committee and the membership committee will consider.

9. Chapter Relations:

a. Report on meetings with Woodland Councils to become chapters - report attached.

Stewardship Sub-Committee will meet and give the board a recommendation on how MFA should handle Forest Stewardship grants to woodland councils. The question is whether MFA will handle all grants or just grants for member chapters?

10. Region 1 director vacancy - Nominating committee, chair Priscilla Harvala will search for a replacement.

11. Other:

a. Mike Kilgore research's project will organize meetings for two focus groups in late May. Bruce ZumBahlen gave Mike Kilgore contact lists from the Deer Classic to draw names for one of the focus groups. Bruce ZumBahlen will try to find 10 MFA members to participate in the other focus group. Priscilla will include that information in the next newsletter.
b. One of the Minnesota Forest Resources Council (MFRC) work strategies for the next few years is protecting the forestland base; as part of that, the council would like to revisit the Sustainable Forest Incentives Act (SFIA) to see if it's fulfilling its goals. Some changes could improve it, but overall MFA thinks it is still a good program. The MFRC is interested in co-sponsoring a forum to review the SFIA under MFA's leadership.

Motion: MFA will act in a leadership role to address concerns and improvement in the SFIA program. Motion by John Bathke, second by Terry Helbig carried unanimously.

Bruce will explore retaining Kevin Walli as a facilitator for this effort.

c. MLEP requests MFA to officially support MLEP pursuing a voluntary add-on Logger Certification Program. (Background information attached).

Motion: MFA officially supports MLEP's pursuit of the Master Logger Certification Program by John Bathke, second by Jerry Lenz, carried unanimously.

Board meeting schedule for 2005 - the board meetings will continue to be quarterly and the executive board will meet to handle business between the regular board meetings as needed.

Remaining schedule for regular board meeting for 2005 and January meeting in 2006:

April 6, 2005 - Cloquet Forestry Center

Next Meeting - July 13, 2005 - Brainerd, Paul Bunyan Nature Learning Center, 7187 Wise Road - Brainerd, Minnesota starting at 11 am.

October 12, 2005 - Somewhere in Southeast MN

January 11, 2006 - Duluth or Cloquet

Motion to adjourn at 3:24 p.m. by John Bathke, second by Terry Helbig, passed unanimously.

(Note: The January 11, 2006 meeting has been changed to Dec. 15, 2005.

Minnesota Forestry Association
Board Meeting, Cloquet Forestry Center Date: April 6, 2005

Prepared by James Lemmerman, Secretary, Minnesota Forestry Association