MINUTES NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY October 18, 2008 Seattle, WA

Board Members Present: Dean Longrie (President), Jane Wentworth (At Large), Mike Marsh (Conservation Co- Chair), John Browne Jr. (Conservation Co-Chair), Scott Moore (Treasurer), Linda Storm (Secretary) Kathy Murray (Editorial Board Chair), Fayla Schwartz (Education Chair), Dr. Elizabeth Binney (Vice-President), Wendy McClure (Olympic Peninsula Chapter), Sharon Schlentner (Olympic Peninsula Chapter) Mark Turner (Koma Kulshan Chapter), Pam Camp (Research & Plant Inventory Chair), Terry Lillybridge (At-Large), Katrina Strathmann (At- Large), Brianne Cohen (Central Puget Sound Chapter), Gary Smith (At-Large), Fred Weinmann (At-Large), Grant Cummings (Northeast Chapter), ), Julie Sanderson (Wenatchee Valley Chapter), Walt Lockwood (At-Large), Priya Shahani (At-Large)

Proxy Representatives: Reba Olsen (South Sound Chapter), Laura Maier (Walla Walla Subchapter of Columbia Basin Chaper), Katrina Strathmann (Central Washington Chapter)

Board Members Absent: Terry Domico (San Juan Islands Chapter), Joyce Bergen (Okanogan Chapter), Janelle Downs (Columbia Basin Chapter), Jim Comrada (Suksdorfia Chapter), Susan Alaynick (Salal Chapter),

Others Present: Catherine Hovanic (Executive Director)

Welcome and Introductions

Elizabeth Binney, Vice-President called the meeting to order at 10:20 a.m., noting the president had not yet arrived but was sure he was on his way. Elizabeth thanked everyone for their time to travel and attend the Board Meeting. Board member introductions followed. Sharon Schlentner noted they had just had a successful burn of the Kah-Tai Prairie and she had photos of the burn. Fred Weinmann noted that the Education Committee had provided financial assistance to the Olympic Chapter to produce a brochure on The Plants of Old and he would pass them around for the Board Members.

Earth Share

Catherine introduced Peg Pearson who is the WNPS Earth Share Representative, currently. She has volunteered to serve in this position for several years. Peg is also a Native Plant Steward who went through our program in Snohomish County in 2000 and has put well over 1,000 hours into activities which benefit WNPS and Washington’s native plants. Peg also helps out in the office each week managing the [email protected] email account answering a myriad of questions and providing resources to individuals who contact us. Peg will explain to us what she does as the Earth Share Representative for WNPS and will introduce Bill Borden, Executive Director, of Earth Share who is with us today.

Peg Pearson thanked the Board for putting Earth Share on its agenda. She said she wished to spend a little bit of time talking about the structure of Earth Share, WNPS’relationship with Earth Share, the benefits to WNPS, and WNPS’ responsibilities to Earth Share.

One of Earth Share’s greatest values to affiliates is its Work Place Giving Campaigns which generates unrestricted donations to environmental organizations affiliated Earth Share. This provides much needed funding for organizational operations. Last year WNPS received over $13,000. Peg explained its like the United Way for environmental organizations. Earth Share Washington is actually older than Earth Share National and ESW started in 1987 with ten organizations. Earth Share Washington is now part of Earth Share National which brings in national organizations, as well as, local organizations.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 1 of 17 Earth Share (locally) has an Executive Director, Campaign Manager and a Board of 8 Directors which are selected from the member groups and 4 at-large members selected from the community. The mission is to support environmental groups that help create livable communities and a healthy planet.

WNPS joined in 1990 in our 14th year of operation as the 14th member. Affiliated groups must apply once every two years. The application, which is prepared by Catherine, takes about 20 hours to complete. Each affiliate identifies with a different environmental category. WNPS is identified with Forest, Habitat and Wildlife. Other categories are 1) Energy and Climate, 2) Pollution and Toxics, 3) Sustainable Communities, 4) Recreation and Parks. Peg explained WNPS is one of the few local organizations which have statewide representation with its chapters and statewide service. Most of the Washington affiliates have a local Central Puget Sound presence only. WNPS must also submit an audit. The application and audit are reviewed and groups are vetted. This ensures credibility in Earth Share and its affiliated groups with donors.

Earth Share, explained Peg, holds an Annual Workplace Giving Campaign which involves hundreds of events at workplaces and includes member group representatives going to these workplaces to talk to employees, to set-up tables about their organizations, and other activities. Dollars pledged at workplaces go to Earth Share and WNPS gets a share of non-designated donations, as well as donations designated directly to WNPS. WNPS receives quarterly checks. Over the past five years WNPS has received nearly $60,000 or an average of about $12,000 per year.

Earth Share offers an online newsletter, day-in-the park events, and other activities for member groups and the public.

Bill Borden will be talking about local workplaces and bringing more workplaces on as ones which offer their employees the opportunity to give to Earth Share. Some of the local big workplace contributors are the state combined fund, King County Employees, REI, Boeing, United Way Option, Microsoft, Regents and Kitsap County Combined Fund. Earth Share is always striving to bring on more workplaces.

WNPS is required to submit a biennial application, an annual report, an annual audit and earned points each year. Peg is in charge of the points spreadsheet which tracks member organization help and support for the overall effort. Points can be received for serving on an Earth Share Committee (Peg serves on the membership committee), submitting articles to the Earth Share newsletter, marketing Earth Share in our own publications and on our website, providing support for Earth Share activities and events. Peg distributed Earth Share brochures to chapters and others.

Bill Borden, Executive Director, said Peg gave a really good introduction of Earth Share of Washington. He said the way Earth Share continues to make money for WNPS is to grow its Work Place Giving Campaigns by getting accepted in more work places. Part of Bill’s job is to go and meet with Board’s of Earth Share member groups and ask board members who they know that might be able to expand Earth Share’s giving program. A number of new companies have come on, one directly brought on by WNPS. Bill distributed materials including Facts about Earth Share and one on current partnerships that Earth Share has with workplaces. For WNPS Directors he also passed out an information request form for new business prospects. The information request form seeks board member information on workplaces that might accept Earth Share into their workplace giving campaigns. Bill said he would contact anyone who has filled out one of these business prospect forms to identify ways that Earth Share might work with the prospect.

Brianne asked about the administrative cost. Bill said WNPS authorizes Earth Share to retain 15% of donations given.

Bill said there will be a bonus to any organization which helps to bring in a new workplace (up to half of all undesignated funds) the first year.

April 12, 2008 WNPS Board Meeting Minutes

John Brown made a motion to approve the minutes for April 12, 2008. Elizabeth Binney seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 2 of 17

Executive Committee Report

Dean presented the Executive Committee Report (Attachment A). Brianne corrected the report in terms of the Central Puget Sound Chapter’s pledge to Rare Care which was $8,000 not $6,000. It was contingent on Rare Care receiving other grants, it is unclear whether those contingents have been met and the chapter will be working with Rare Care about this.

Election Results

Gary Smith, Mike Marsh and Katrina Strathmann served on the nominating committee to identify candidates. Gary Smith explained the process and how individuals were selected for the slate of candidates which was presented to the Executive Committee (Attachment B).

Election results were presented by Catherine (Attachment C). Incumbents Scott Moore and Katrina Strathmann have been re-elected, and new member Priya Shahani was also approved as a State Director by the membership.

The low turn out of voting was discussed as was electronic voting. Julie Sanderson suggested a way to ensure only WNPS member votes would be to put an email address at the bottom of the ballot encouraging members to vote by email. Brianne recommended a ballot form placed on the website, but handled like the Board of Directors’s site where only the URL would be given out on the ballot in Douglasia, but then WNPS members could just go to the URL and fill out an easy election form. Jane encouraged the ballot include some information regarding the importance of voting because WNPS receives little response and initiating electronic voting is to address this. Kathy Murray recommended some statement of certification about membership be included on the ballot, as well.

Mike Marsh made a motion to provide for electronic voting via email, or a form on the website. John Brown seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Catherine will investigate state law, whether or not a bylaws change would be needed, and identify a process to conduct electronic voting for the Board to review during the spring 2009 business meeting.

Officer Elections

Gary Smith reported for the Nominating Committee (Attachment D). Dean Longrie has agreed to continue as president, Walt Lockwood has agreed to serve as Vice-President, Scott Moore has agreed to serve as Treasurer and Gary Smith said he would serve as Secretary.

Gary explained that it was not easy to find board members willing to serve in some of the open positions. He explained that only the at-large, elected board members are able to serve as officers according to the WNPS Bylaws which limits the number of people who can be called upon. He encouraged Board Members to think about this for next year and recognize that these positions need to be shared over the years.

Scott Moore suggested increasing the number of elected board members. Walt thanked Gary for his work and he empathized with the difficulty of filling these positions. He wondered why chapter chairs cannot be eligible. He knows it is in the bylaws, but wondered if this should be changed. Gary noted chapter chairs are voted in annually and this would somehow have to coincide with the officer elections. Catherine said she thought also the original thinking may have been that chapter chairs have plenty to do managing their own chapters, as well as, they are elected to their office by only a portion of the membership rather than the statewide membership. Dean encouraged board members who haven’t served to recognize it is a rewarding experience to be an officer for WNPS. He said there are a lot of Board’s which are smaller than WNPS and the experience is not unique. It’s just a fact for most Boards. Fred said he thought the WNPS Board is plenty big enough as it is now.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 3 of 17

Katrina Strathmann made a motion that the Executive Committee investigate the bylaws and the idea of enlarging the board and make a proposal to the Board. Gary Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Scott Moore said he was willing to take leadership of this with the Executive Committee.

Mark Turner made a motion to approve the slate of officers recommended by the Nominating Committee. John Brown seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2008-2009 WNPS State Officers:

Dean Longrie, President Fred Weinmann, Immediate Past President Walt Lockwood, Vice-President Scott Moore, Treasurer Gary Smith, Secretary

Executive Committee for 2008-2009

The Executive Committee is composed of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, one chapter chair and one other board member. For 2007-2008 this was: Dean Longrie, Elizabeth Binney, Scott Moore, Jane Wentworth and Mark Turner. Now it will be: Dean Longrie, Walt Lockwood, Scott Moore and Mark and Jane said they would be willing to step aside if someone else would like to fill these slots. Terry Lillybridge said he would be willing to serve on the committee. No new chapter chair offered to serve on the committee thus, the new Executive Committee is:

Dean Longrie Walt Lockwood Scott Moore Terry Lillybridge Mark Turner

Board Member Elizabeth Binney

Catherine told the WNPS Board, that this was Elizabeth Binney’s last day on the WNPS Board of Directors. Elizabeth did not choose to run again, but she has been on the State Board for 6 years serving two terms. She has served as vice president for a number of years. On the Executive Committee she has always been responsive on every issue and in every way. She has also served as the Board’s parliamentarian. A gift of a vest with the WNPS logo embroidered on it was presented and board members wished her well.

Standing Committee Reports

Conservation Committee

Katrina presented an overview of the draft policy before the Board titled Grazing of Domestic Livestock on Public Lands (Attachment E). Katrina explained the policy was discussed at length during the April Board Meeting and an Ad Hoc Committee was formed to utilize the WNPS board input and further develop that policy. This committee consisted of Conservation Committee Members wishing to participate and Pam Camp and Terry Lillybridge. Katrina explained Pam and Terry spent extensive hours working on this and a group (Katrina, Terry, Bill, Mike and Catherine) met at in July. She explained it had gone through extensive development, review and wordsmithing. She said the Conservation Committee supports what has been developed and presented to this board and it reflects the complexity of this issue, as well as, the values of the Washington Native Plant Society. It is presented today for the Board’s review and approval. WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 4 of 17

Mark said the policy developed is thorough and recognizes the issue’s complexity but he said there are some waffle words in it which he recognizes creates a compromise document. Still he believes a great job has been done.

Wendy said she is very impressed by the policy. What concerned her is that we have no way to ensure funding for critical things like monitoring. Katrina said the purpose of the policy is to help us work with federal and state agencies and provide guidance in how we believe they should be conducting business. She said it’s not really WNPS’ job to come up with the funding but WNPS is recommending that agencies make this a priority. Katrina hoped it would open the door for WNPS to work with public agencies and would help them move their policies in a direction that we are comfortable with in terms of grazing.

Terry wanted to know if the policy was cast in stone? He didn’t mean he wanted to change it now, but can the Board change it a year or two from now. Catherine explained the Board may make revisions at any time and approve them and the revised version will become the policy of the board. Revisions to policies are noted as they occur. Terry said a lot of work has been done on this, but it could be improved in the future or as circumstances change.

Jane thought an excellent policy has been developed. She would like to see the reiteration of “adequate funding” for site specific management plan in the first paragraph.

Katrina, to clarify, said the Conservation Committee is hoping for overall approval of the policy and not “word- smithing” since it has already undergone a significant amount of “wordsmithing”. However, if there are fundamental issues that would prevent a board member from supporting the policy then the Conservation Committee wants to hear those and try to work them out, so we can get the policy approved.

Priya wondered whether the use of the term “monitoring” alone is sufficient. Many agencies are monitoring but whether they are doing effective, scientific monitoring is not always assured. She wondered if this should not be defined more. The issue of monitoring protocol was discussed by the Board. It was decided that the development of guidelines or recommendations for appropriate monitoring would be better developed in a separate document.

Fred Weinmann adamantly objected to the use of “ native plant enthusiasts” in the first sentence of the background. He said it makes us sound like a social club. Wendy suggested the word “conservationists”.

Katrina suggested that there are three areas which would require minor changes to address board concerns. One is the funding issue for Jane, second is the issue of monitoring, and third the issue of “native plant enthusiasts”. Katrina agreed to work these out but suggested the WNPS Board approve the content now and she would through email try to work out the wording on these issues to accommodate the concerns expressed.

Mark Turner made a motion to approve the content of the Grazing Policy with Katrina working on the three minor issues of: the funding issue, native plant enthusiasts terminology and what is meant by monitoring to accommodate Board member concerns just expressed. The motion was seconded by Fred Weinmann. The motion passed unanimously.

John Brown pointed out that the policy is a compromise and has some conciliatory language but the overall intent is to provide a working document which will enable WNPS to work with agencies and not shut us out of the process.

Fred Weinmann wished the minutes to reflect the Board’s appreciation of those who worked on this policy. It is a complex issue and an excellent job has been done.

Other Conservation Issues

John Brown noted the next issue of Douglasia will provide the Board with an overview of the Conservation Committee’s activities this year (Attachment F).

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 5 of 17 Walt Lockwood addressed concerns recently brought to the attention of the Board by Timothy McNitt about the development of a large parking area for the entrance to the Perry Creek Trail and the Perry Creek Research Natural Area. (Attachment G). Walt explained this area is very special because of the diversity of ferns that occur in this area (33 species listed). Unfortunately the expansion of the parking lot is already a done deal and we’re not likely to be able to affect this. The USFS made this a Research Natural Area in recognition of the uniqueness and special botanical interest this site holds. Art Kruckeberg and Laura Potash did much to make this happen. Unfortunately the creation of a new expanded parking area along the Mt. Loop Highway which will be utilized to access both the Perry Creek Trail and the trail to Mt. Dickerman will increase the visitors to the area and increase the potential for off trail impacts. This will be a 70 car facility with big signage on the Mt. Loop Highway which will attract passers-by that might not otherwise have been aware of the Perry Creek Trail. A mile-long trail from this parking area will then be cut to the Perry Creek Trailhead. Walt noted that Research Natural Area guidelines recommend that recreational activity not be encouraged and increase usage should not be encouraged by the USFS.

Walt Lockwood would like to draft a letter to the USFS on behalf of WNPS to address this issue and seek ways to work with the USFS to protect the area from increased visitation. Katrina recommended that Walt should offer to meet with the USFS to find ways to mitigate the plans. Jane suggested this might include signage to help visitors recognize the value of this place and staying on the trail. Fred recommended the USFS botanist also be cc’d. Terry said it should go to the Forest Service Supervisor, the District Ranger and the team leader which is Ann Risvold.

Walt Lockwood made a motion to approve Walt writing a letter on behalf of WNPS regarding Perry Creek and Research Natural Areas. Fred Weinmann seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Dean Longrie recommended a letter to the regional forester that whenever rare plants are an issue that the Washington Native Plant Society be included on the list for notification. Terry noted that the USFS Research Natural Area Manager has just retired and WNPS should also get a letter out recommending that the replacement position should be one with knowledge of and concern for rare plants.

Education Committee Fayla Schwartz, as chair of the Education Committee presented her report (Attachment H). Fayla said three new projects were funded this year which included a phase 1 of Common Wildflowers of the Wenatchee Foothills webpage, a brochure on the Plants of Old Fort Townsend State Park, and a native plant garden for the Quinault Tribe (senior program). She was pleased the Olympic Peninsula project has already been completed and she was also very happy to have a request from an Indian tribe that could be funded. All of the projects that Susan Ballinger with the Wenatchee School District has developed have been fun to fund. They are imaginative and add native plants to the scientific curricula.

Research Committee

Pam said she did not have a new report from the one utilized during the spring meeting because the Research Committee just accepts and funds proposals one time per year (Attachment I, Research Committee Report for April 2008). Some projects which have been completed since spring are the Ecology of the Black Lily by Holly Zox and the Garry Oak project by Thomas Maertens of the University of Guelph. A report on the Ecology of the Black Lily by Holly Zox will be in the next issue of Douglasia. The Research Committee accepts proposals once a year and a call for proposals by January 10th will also be published in the next issue of Douglasia. Proposals are normally reviewed in February and decisions made by March. Catherine has an archive of all research projects, except for the really old ones, which were simply passed from research chair

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 6 of 17 to research chair and some did not make it all the way through the chain of exchanges nor did they ever end up at the WNPS office once it was established.

Fred inquired whether the Research Committee works on anything besides seeking proposals, reviewing them and funding them. Pam said that is what her Committee is currently doing. Fred said Mike is looking for help on the designation of the South Prairie Bog as a Research Natural Area. Pam said her committee could fund studies or inventories if someone wished to submit such a proposal. Mike believed another survey would be very useful. Pam said she had the guidelines for BLM and USFS Research Natural Areas. Terry remarked the boundaries need to be clearly delineated and strangely these areas are categorized as recreational areas and yet the USFS is not to foster recreational use.

Editorial Board

Kathy Murray, chair of the Editorial Board, discussed progress with WNPS’ latest Occasional Paper “Lichen Inventory of BLM Lands on the South Shore of Lopez Island” by Fred Rhoades. She wanted to thank the many board members who have helped including Elizabeth Binney, Walt Lockwood and Mark Turner. They have met with Fred Rhoades and looked at slides of lichens for hours. Kathy is also serving as the editor of the paper and she has worked many hours on it.

As a result of her work on this occasional paper, her first, she has developed a list of things which she believes needs to be done to make the process more formalized. She’ll be taking these recommendations to the next Editorial Board Meeting in early 2009.

Kathy wanted to tell the WNPS Board that we’ve been working with a new managing editor, Cindy Spurgeon and a new layout editor, Sonja Nelson and they have both been working out very nicely.

The WNPS Board Recessed for Lunch.

Additional Conservation Issues

Mike described, in brief, his work with volunteers this year to monitor grazing areas. He told the Board he was pleased that the data collected matched closely the results of the WDFW monitoring sites, which he believed validated the work that they are doing and the results that they are finding.

Mike Marsh presented a proposal to seek funding for a Monitoring Project he wishes to continue in 2009 (Attachment J). The proposal, proposes two different scopes of work. Scope of Work A is for two field workers to measure and monitor 10 plots on the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area. Scope of Work B is to hire one individual who would coordinate volunteers to carry out the same work. Scope of work A would potentially cost $4,750 while Scope of Work B is estimated to cost $22,990. Mike discussed the benefits and draw-backs of each scope of work. Walt recommended plan A might be best for the first year and then plan B be considered for future years. Mike said plan A could provide a very consistent set of data.

Katrina said this has been discussed by email through the Conservation Committee but she wanted to bring up some of her comments to the Board. She thinks the monitoring is an excellent idea but her concerns are about how it would be executed. She sees it as a fairly substantial undertaking by WNPS and believes it is extremely important that it be executed well so that we do not compromise our standing. We want to ensure that we produce a product that is rigorous in its scientific methods. Katrina believed this could be addressed through a group that has interest and experience in monitoring – maybe an ad-hoc committee could be formed. She said very clear management and monitoring objectives need to be identified that develops appropriate monitoring protocol in terms of sample size, etc. She said she understood WDFW is using the Jornada method of monitoring but due to her own background in this area she’d like to look closely at the methodology and be sure that we will get what we are hoping to get in terms of

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 7 of 17 scientific rigor. Mike would like to see this happen. Katrina, Priya, Pam and Terry agreed to serve on such a committee for evaluating the project, the objectives, and the methodology.

Budget Report

Scott Moore, State Treasurer, presented the draft Audited Financial Statements for 2007 to the WNPS Board of Directors which were recently completed by David Bembridge, CPA (Attachment K). Scott told the Board that the auditor would like the WNPS Board to approve this draft as presented. Catherine explained David Bembridge has done the Washington Native Plant Society’s annual audits for a number of years. He is familiar with our organization and is reasonably priced. He also does a lot of the audits for other non-profit organizations under the Earth Share umbrella. State total assets have increased by approximately $36,199 from 2006 to 2007. Catherine explained the permanently restricted funds represent the endowment, the temporarily restricted funds represent funds restricted for special purposes or projects and the unrestricted funds represent the remainder and includes revenue from donor contributions, membership dues, sales of inventory, event income, etc.

Permanently restricted funds are all Endowment and are donor contributed. Board Directed contributions to the Endowment are still a part of the Endowment but they are no longer classified under permanently restricted funds. The reason behind this distinction, is because Board’s of Directors can reverse their decisions and so for accounting purposes and general accounting principles he is required to distinguish between the two. Board directed contributions from 2006 and 2007 amount to $4,970.

Total Revenue for 2007 was $226,737 and total expenditures for program and supporting services was $190,235 resulting in a net increase in assets of $36,502. (3,208 was spent down from the temporary restricted funds).

Catherine explained the In-Kind Donations of 8,383 represent the value of the time spent by Native Plant Stewardship Instructors. Catherine asked the Board to look at Note 9 where this is described. This note also mentions the Starflower Foundation. David Bembridge did not choose to value it as he noted, but Starflower Foundation valued it at $453, 065. This represents the investment in the materials that went onto our website and the costs of developing it all for the WNPS Website. Starflower never had any of this incorporated on their website, so all development was for the purpose of making it available to the public on the WNPS website.

Scott sought Board approval for the draft audited financial statements.

Mark Turner made a motion to approve the draft audited financial statements for 2007. Jane Wentworth seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Chapter/State Cash Reserves (Attachment L). Scott explained this report simply illustrates where the cash assets of WNPS reside. As of year end 2007 $131,580.75 resided in chapter accounts. Year end 2007 is the most recent information we have from chapter’s based on their year end financial statements. WNPS State unrestricted cash as of 10/15/08 is 7,329.85, WNPS restricted funds as of 10/15/08 are 106,275.67.

Scott next presented the WNPS Endowment Report dated 10/15/08 (Attachment M). Scott noted that two CD’s came to term this past summer and instead of rolling them over at a low percentage rate, they were closed out pending a decision on how to invest them. The Financial Advisory Committee recommended to the Executive Committee that $25,000 be invested in a longer term CD at a higher interest rate with Capital One. The remaining amount in the cash account will be placed in an interest bearing Money Market Account at Capital One and be joined with two CD’s which are coming to term in February to purchase another CD.

The Board pursued a discussion on the TIAA-CREFF funds. Catherine explained that the bulk of the loss to the Social Choice Equity Fund and the Managed Allocation Fund took place after 9/26 or roughly all within two weeks. Scott wondered whether WNPS should continue to hold these funds. Mark Turner said WNPS should not sell low and should have patience and wait for the market to recover. Kathy Murray inquired about why these two funds were purchased to begin with. Catherine explained that there was an advisory group that made the initial decision based on

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 8 of 17 Board direction. This direction included conservative investing with the bulk in CD’s. Mutual funds or equity funds purchased should be diversified and at least some of the money should be placed in funds which were socially responsible. TIAA-CREFF funds were selected for low management fees and a credible track record among the advisers.

Catherine explained that our Endowment Policy provides for the Executive Committee to make decisions on Endowment Investments. The Executive Committee has approved the Financial Advisory Committee’s recommendations and this report represents its annual report to the Board on the Endowment.

Fred Weinmann, who serves on the Financial Advisory Committee, discussed the Committee’s plan to get the Endowment Fund over $100,000 in 2009 through an Endowment Fund Drive. The plan is to establish a donor for soliciting matching funds. Since we don’t have an anonymous donor on hand for this purpose, the Committee proposed offering the opportunity to chapters to be that donor. We don’t want to hurt chapters, but we believe chapters could contribute to the matching donation for the Endowment. He noted some chapters do have extra cash from study weekends or other fundraising efforts. Chapters would commit to an amount and if WNPS could match this amount through member donations, the chapters would match the member donations. Fred asked chapters to work through this and he would prepare a letter to chapter chairs with this request and a commitment from chapters. He’ll try to get the letter out soon, so chapters can get this through their fall budgeting process. WNPS would probably want to have a chapter commitment for a specified amount by January or February and then WNPS would do a fundraising campaign for the Endowment sometime after the membership renewal period so we don’t impact donations towards WNPS general operating needs. The idea is that it might be nice to do it in conjunction with Native Plant Appreciation Week. Fred said, we’d need a minimum match of $5,000 from the chapters (combined), although more would be great.

Brianne inquired about the benefit to her chapter. Pam explained that many research and education grants have been provided to individuals within the Central Puget Sound Chapter.

Fred explained the original idea behind the endowment was to free up operational expenses by providing a source of funding for education, research and conservation grants through the endowment. In addition, once WNPS reaches its 100,000 mark we might wish to free up additional funds that are contributed each year by the State of 5% of contributions to the endowment.

Chapters will be the final deciders on the Chapter Match for the Endowment. If there is no support, it will not happen. A list of research, education and conservation grants which have been supported to illustrate the kinds of projects the Endowment is ultimately meant to support could be included in the letter to the chapter.

The final budget to be reviewed was the proposed 2009 budget (Attachment N). This budget proposes $127,500 in expenditures but expects only $111,950 in revenue. We do anticipate on having approximately $27,000 (current cash reserve plus accounts receivable) expected cash reserve at year end 2008 available for 2009.

Scott explained the proposed 2009 budget presented to the board represents a status quo budget without new initiatives. Catherine said some grants for general operational expenses are being written but these have not been figured into this budget. If they should be awarded then the Board could return to the budget in the spring for further planning.

Line item revenue and expenditures were discussed. It was agreed $200 should be added to the computer software/virus protection line item. Catherine did not believe a new computer was needed this year. A new computer was purchased for Linda in 2007 and new one for Catherine in 2008. The third computer in the office is utilized by volunteers and previously by the Stewardship Coordinator. She thought this computer would serve just fine throughout 2009.

Catherine explained the higher personnel costs are a result of increasing Linda Ellis’ hours from 15 hour per week to 25 hours per week. With the additional hours being picked up by the Central Puget Sound Chapter for additional work Linda is doing for the chapter. This began in the beginning of 2007.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 9 of 17 Gary wished to reconcile the proposed revenue and the proposed expenditures. Catherine said it is indeed deficit spending but the Financial Advisory Committee has proposed expenditures in excess of revenue every year and even so, we have come out ahead every year. For non-profits it is difficult to predict revenue when a big portion of it is contributions. There is no way to predict what total contributions will be each year, so the FAC has attempted to err on the conservative side when predicting contribution revenue. In most cases, we have also underexpended what we proposed to expend. Catherine drew the Board’s attention to the cash reserve (7,329.85) and the accounts receivable (19,698.05) – noting the accounts receivable should be in hand by the end of October. Terry Lillybridge recommended these amounts be posted to the top of the proposed 2009 column as expected cash reserve.

It was agreed $27,000 will be added to the 2009 proposed revenue side as expected cash reserve and $200 would be added to the expense side for software/virus protection.

Fred Weinmann made a motion to approve the 2009 proposed budget with the agreed upon changes. The motion was seconded by Sharon Schlentner. The motion passed unanimously.

Chapter Reports

Northeast Chapter (Attachment O) Grant Cummings said the chapter had made money on the Study Weekend and had a surplus budget, so they decided to award three research fellowships. One went to a student at Eastern Washington University and two to students at Gonzaga University. The Gonzaga students are studying a fungus that infects cheatgrass. The EWU student is researching the expected impacts of dam removal (Elwah River Ecology).

John Browne asked about a fire in the . Grant said not much has been done on this. This is a concern to the chapter and others. There is straw being spread for erosion control, but not nearly enough. The chapter no longer has anyone on the Dishman Hills Board, so the chapter doesn’t have much influence. Northeast Chapter members, Mary Water and Dave Noble, are two people who have been very interested in this issue and Dishman Hills. Priya, who is with DNR, did discuss seed selection for the site, with someone who had plans to do reseeding at the Dishman Hills site.

Catherine said it would be really nice to have reports on the research fellowship projects funded by the Northeast Chapter for Douglasia.

Olympic Peninsula Chapter (Attachment P) Wendy McClure said their chapter has had several programs and workshops, thanks to Sharon for scheduling regular monthly programs. Wendy said the chapter has a very nice core group in Port Townsend. She said its still difficult however to bring in people from outlying areas. The chapter offered lots of field trips this summer and there are a number of ongoing conservation efforts. Sharon said they have been working on the Kai Tai Prairie and this year they were able to conduct a controlled burn. The chapter continues to work on its restoration efforts at Point Wilson and they planted some Garry oaks around Sequim on a D.O.T. project.

The chapter was also very involved in Botany Washington coordinated by Fred Weinmann. The chapter helped to lead field trips and support the weekend.

John Browne inquired about Port Angeles and the Community College, maybe a subchapter there, would attract and support additional WNPS members. Conservation activities are gearing up for the Elwah Dam removal in the area. Fred said there are probably lots of enthusiastic people in the Port Angeles area, but they have yet to find anyone enthusiastic enough to set up their own meetings as a subchapter.

Fred mentioned the Olympic Forest Coalition is following the Dosewallips road reconstruction project very closely. The reconstruction of about 700 feet will be built uphill through old growth forest, it was opposed and the opposition was upheld. Fred said approximately 500 comments on the EIS were received by the USFS and about 361 comments opposed the project. Fred believed the Record of Decision is near, but did not know what it will be. Fred said the Olympic Peninsula Chapter did prepare a letter in opposition.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 10 of 17

Walla Walla Subchapter Laura Maier said the WNPS members in the Walla Walla area love being a subchapter of the Columbia Basin Chapter. She said the problems are similar between the full chapter and the subchapter except for scale. They do have a joint field trip planned for October 25th to hike up and look over the because of a new book called Where the Great River Bends which is suppose to be published in November.

The subchapter coordinates their activities with a small group of conservation organizations in the area.

Laura said they are also working on a field guide of native plants which are being drawn and scanned into the guide. It will cover 9 trails. Laura said they received $3,000 locally through an art funding group and they received $5,000 from REI. Laura also said they have been provided free use of the Whitman College large scanner.

Wenatchee Valley Chapter (Attachment Q) Julie Sanderson said they had seven scheduled hikes and of those 7 hikes, 5 were attended by at least one person. She said, in all, 45 people attended hikes this year. The chapter continues to work with other Conservation groups and they have jointly a window in downtown Wenatchee called the Conservation Corner where events and activities are posted. She said groups represented include Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, WNPS and others.

Of issues and concerns, the chapter has a very low chapter membership right now. She said there are about 22 people from their area, others are from outside their area. She said the chapter has been sluggish in the last few years and they have not had a newsletter either for this time period. They are trying to decide whether or not they can even consider themselves an active chapter. After the study weekend they will reconvene to consider this more. Fred said, WNPS has to have an active chapter here – its one of the most diverse areas of the state. Julie said there is only a chapter chair (herself) and a treasurer. She said they don’t have a full board and they did not even have elections so she considers herself really more of an interim chair and feels uncomfortable conducting business on behalf of the chapter.

Julie says they will host the 2009 Study Weekend and with Terry and Pam’s help it seems as though they have rounded up enough individuals to call it a chapter event.

Dean said the Washington Association of Conservation Districts will be having their annual meeting in Wenatchee in November.

Central Puget Sound Chapter (Attachment R) Brianne Cohen said that even though CPS is the largest chapter, they too have similar problems with the same people doing the same jobs and not a lot of replacements which creates burn out. Brianne said Chrys Bertolotto who had been the chair for the past three years did a lot of great work to bring on new people and to fill positions, so except for their fundraising chair they have a full board. They are also brainstorming more at-large positions to fulfill more roles.

The chapter has a large budget and a large reserve, so they are brainstorming ways to use these funds well. The chapter’s healthy budget is largely because of very successful and increasingly popular native plant sales.

Brianne said the chapter has hired Linda Ellis for more hours (as mentioned previously) and she is working on member engagement. The chapter is trying to increase member involvement. The chapter has also been working with Catherine to get an intern whose time will be split between WNPS State and CPS. Brianne thinks this will also enhance their engagement and outreach activities.

Koma Kulshan Chapter Mark Turner said he didn’t have a written report but Koma Kulshan continues to be active. He said their terrific program chair has stepped down, but he has found someone willing to serve as co-chair. The chapter will be working to find this individual a partner, as co-chair.

Their field trip coordinator has also been serving a long time.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 11 of 17 Each spring the chapter also has an Annual Plant Sale in conjunction with the Flora and Backyard Habitat Fair sponsored by Bellingham Parks. The chapter is considering ways to spend their budget and are looking at ways to involve and engage younger people.

Koma Kulshan also works with local conservation groups.

South Sound Chapter Reba Olsen said she didn’t have a report to present, but the chapter is active and they offer their programs in both Tacoma and Olympia each month. Reba said its usually separate groups, but some people do go to both.

Reba went through the Native Plant Stewardship Program in Pierce County in 2006. There will be a Natural Areas Stewardship Training in 2009 funded by the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (Pierce Conservation District Funds). The program will be coordinated by Anna Thurston and the funds will go through WNPS.

Central Washington Chapter Katrina Strathmann reported for her chapter. She said the chapter has been trying to focus energy in the summer time on field trips and a program meeting once a month throughout the year. Programs are held in Ellensburg and Yakima. They schedule the program location based on what works best for the speaker.

Last year the Central Washington Chapter partnered with the Yakima Valley Community College who is trying to bring in speakers to expose their biology and science students to science they would not normally be exposed to in the classroom. Central Washington brought in a speaker to talk about shrub-steppe and sage grouse and the college did a lot of outreach which brought in a good-sized audience for the event. She estimated over 80 people attended the program. She said they plan to do this again with Gary Lentz and his talk on David Douglas in November. Also, Katrina is working with Priya to have her come and talk about pollination ecology which is her specialty.

For the first time, the chapter is also planning a Holiday Potluck for the membership to bring them together for good food and friendship.

WNPS State Education Committee provided funds for Dr. Eugene Hunn to speak at CWU about ethnobotany. He came and gave a lecture on a Saturday and conducted a hike in the Wild Horse area.

Suksdorfia Chapter Dean Longrie, reporting for the chapter, said the chapter continues to have regular meetings and field trips and they are looking at some Garry oak projects.

Okanogan Chapter (Attachment S)

Guidance to Chapters

Mark Turner, Anna Thurston, Wendy McClure and Chrys Bertolotto were appointed to an Ad Hoc Committee at the last meeting to seek input and to develop guidelines for chapters regarding a number of issues the chapters have struggled with including:

1. Payment to field trip leaders or speakers at WNPS Study Weekends. 2. Sale of items by other organizations at WNPS events. 3. Requiring honoraria/payment to chapters or individuals for WNPS volunteer talks on native plants/native plant gardening, etc to groups or organizations. And they added the issue of professional referrals.

Mark reported for the committee. A letter was sent out to all chapter chairs and others involved in Study Weekends and relevant issues. They received about 13 pages of comments (Attachment T). After review of the comments they synthesized a set of recommendations (Attachment U) to put forth but they should not be considered a mandate. There were some very strong opinions that chapters should be able to do whatever they want to do, but other chapters such as

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 12 of 17 Koma Kulshan and South Sound Chapters who recently had study weekends felt their should be some guidelines – due to internal arguments on managing and compensating the field trip leaders, speakers, volunteers for study weekends.

Mark discussed the recommendations and the reasoning that went into them. He said they would not please everyone, but they represent a compromise.

Fred asked whether someone who helps organize the Study Weekend and leads a field trip is included in the free registration and meals. Mark paused and said the guidelines intend to treat all field trip leaders the same, so individuals doing both would qualify.

It was noted that state and federal ethics laws do not allow acceptance of payment and/or gifts of free registration and meals. Mark said he understood that, but he believed it incumbent for the state employee or federal employee to refuse the offer and not incumbent on WNPS or the chapter to make these decisions. Mark said state/federal issues are mentioned in the background for the guidelines.

Pam wondered why the WNPS Board needs to do anything can we not just put these into the Study Weekend Guidelines that already exist?

The motion made by Mark was that the recommended guidelines be accepted by the WNPS Board of Directors with the understanding that they are not mandated. The motion was seconded by Mike Marsh.

The Board continued its discussion before voting on the motion. Walt was opposed to the recommendations and he did not see a necessity for them. Chapters are diverse and have different situations and it seemed to him that chapters who host the Study Weekend once every 8 years or so and who agree to host it should have the discretion to do what they need to do. He said its true chapters may have disagreements on compensations and who should be compensated, it still just seems to him that this is something which should be worked out at the chapter level and made by the judgment of those involved in hosting the weekend. He said WNPS is a volunteer organization and most chapters have people within their chapter who are happy to volunteer their time to help with the organization or volunteer their time to lead a field trip. They are not asking for nor do they need compensation. This is true for field trip leaders and often the speakers. It will vary for each study weekend. He thought state recommendations along these lines might generate more dispute than if it was decided within the chapter.

Jane asked: isn’t this in response from one or more chapters seeking guidance? Mark affirmed that it was Koma Kulshan and South Sound chapters who sought advice. Jane thought it good information for chapters. It suggests ways for chapters to address these issues but does not require the recommendations be implemented. It’s still left up to the chapter discretion. Mark thought if these had been in existence during the Koma Kulshan hosted study weekend it might have reduced the friction.

Fred said once you make these recommendations, however, it becomes something of a state position. And he disagreed with the recommendations.

Terry said the challenge is the wording. These guidelines were produced because of confusion at the chapter level about what to do. They are not meant to be a mandate. Perhaps some qualifying language should be used – that an analysis, seeking input, was put together by an ad hoc committee and this is the result. Chapters may choose to go by this, but they do not need to follow them. Terry said its ridiculous to throw this in the garbage and if it helps some chapters decide these issues they should have access to the input and thought that went into these.

Fred did not believe there should be a suggestion out there that we should provide registration and meals to field trip leaders at study weekends. The people who should lead field trips at study weekends should be our members who want to attend the study weekend and lead a field trip. He believed that is what volunteerism is all about. When it comes to a speaker there may be a need for special expertise and they may not be members of WNPS. On occasion it may be necessary to provide an honorarium to secure the right individual with the right expertise. He believed speakers to be a different category from field trip leaders.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 13 of 17 Jane still believed we should have a reference document to help chapters know what others have done. Walt said options should be outlined so that chapters know they have many different options for addressing this.

Sharon said she did not believe this has ever been done -- to provide all field trip leaders and speakers full registration and meals. Sharon believe it to be a lot of money to offer this kind of compensation to all field trip leaders and she believed negotiation and gratitude for volunteerism should be the fundamental approach.

It was estimated the cost might be $125 to $150 per field trip leader and then there might be 25-30 field trip leaders.

Terry said it should be presented as a series of options. Mark said if we don’t want recommendations then we should reject these and move on.

Fred asked: have times really changed this much? For 30 years people have volunteered to lead field trips for our study weekends. Now, do we have to offer compensation to get field trip leaders?

Julie Sanderson said it was clear to her that if she was asked to lead a field trip that was what she was asked to do and did not expect to have a full study weekend funded for her. If she chose to attend the full weekend then she would pay for it, but if she did not, she’d just show up on the day and lead the field trip. Some people might not even want to attend the study weekend.

The Board voted on the motion on the floor. The motion failed to pass. (2 yea’s, 10 nays, 4 abstentions)

Mark discussed the three other items.

On sale of items. No state recommendation or policy. Board consensus and support.

On speaker honoraria. No fee should be charged if you are representing the chapter. Donations may be accepted on behalf of the chapter. Board consensus and support.

On professional referrals. No state recommendation or policy. Board consensus and support.

Dean thanked Mark for his efforts.

Strategic Plan 2003-2010

Catherine thanked Board Members for their review of the current strategic plan and providing input on activities they or their chapters have done to implement the goals. Clearly, we are not going to be able to have any meaningful discussion so late in the day with so little time.

Fred has suggested the idea of a two day meeting in the spring with one day dedicated to our regular meeting and the second day for Strategic Planning. Not the creation of a new strategic plan but a review of our progress to date on the current strategic plan and what we should be doing in the final two years, as well as, plans for future strategic planning.

Dean said he would encourage a two day meeting, personally. He wanted to know the Board’s wishes and when it should happen.

Fred recommended we should do this every other year without ever writing a whole new plan, but just updating and assessing the focus of the next few years.

The first weekend of April will be targeted (April 4th and 5th), but Catherine asked the Board to be flexible in case a great place at a great rate could be obtained on another weekend in April.

Board Meeting Dates for 2009

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 14 of 17

The Board established April 4th and 5th tentatively for the spring business meeting and October 17th for the fall business meeting.

Natural Areas Conference -- September 15-18, 2009 (Attachment V)

After discussion the Board asked Catherine to:

1. Pursue a potential shared sponsorship with the Native Plant Society of Oregon 2. Contact DNR requesting some specific needs they may have at this point, that we could help to fulfill.

The consensus was that the WNPS State Board did want to help and participate at some level.

SERNW 2009 – May 19-22, 2009

Gary Smith said a packet of information (Attachment W) has been sent to individual who at the last board meeting indicated an interest in participating on behalf of the WNPS Board on this conference (Gary, Scott, Katrina, Mike, Brianne, Jane and Kathy). He said there are three primary tracts one dealing with urban forestry and open space, another with the agricultural rural interface and one on watershed issues. The conference is scheduled to take place in Lynnwood. Gary explained partnerships and sponsorships. He said there would be invited speakers and open sessions.

Scott noted how WNPS had entered into a partnership last year and was able to offer talks on shrub-steppe and coordinate the Grazing Forum. Monetarily it was very rewarding for WNPS with WNPS earning about $4,000.

Gary said there will be an open evening that he is planning for the general public which will focus on the Evergreen Cities Act and its implementation.

The cost of a session sponsorship/partnership will be $625.00.

SERNW needs to know by the end of the year on organizational partnerships. Fred said the Conservation Committee has discretionary funds within the Committee and if they want to sponsor one or more sessions with speakers than the Conservation Committee should make that decision and spend the money.

Gary wanted to make sure that the WNPS Board was OK with him representing WNPS while working on the SERNW collaboration. The WNPS Board supported his work.

WNPS Study Weekend 2009

The Wenatchee Valley Chapter has agreed to host the Study Weekend in Wenatchee and it is schedule for June 5th-7th. Pam and Terry have been doing the preliminary planning and organization. It will be held at the Chelan County Fairgrounds in Cashmere. There is a place for programs and meals. Camping accommodations are available on site, but hotels and motels will need to be retained separately by participants. This will be a very busy weekend in the Wenatchee area because of an annual Rotarian Bicycle event which draws hundreds of people to the area. A notice is going into the upcoming Douglasia regarding the need to make reservations for motels and hotels if individuals plan to attend the study weekend but do not wish to camp. Full registration information will be made available in the spring 2009 issue of Douglasia.

Botany Washington 2009 WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 15 of 17

A location has not been identified at this point, but the Methow and Republic might be possibilities. Fred said he could not commit to this, at this time. He indicated we really need some local help to make it happen.

Native Plant Appreciation Week 2009

The Board wished to continue Native Plant Appreciation Week. It was decided to coincide it with the CPS Native Plant Sale on May 9th and Bellingham’s Flora and Backyard Habitat. It was decided to request the week of May 3rd – May 9th for Native Plant Appreciation Week. This is different than what we have in the calendar, but Catherine thought it would be fine to make this change. Bill agreed to contact the Governor’s office.

Other Business

The day’s decisions and task assignments were reviewed.

Assignments:

Catherine will look into providing for email voting and report back to the board in the spring.

The Executive Committee will investigate and consider options for composition of State Board and bring back a proposal/recommendations to the Board for the spring meeting. Scott offered to lead this effort.

The Executive Committee is now: Dean, Walt, Scott, Terry and Mark.

Katrina Strathmann will work on minor edits to the adopted grazing policy as per the Board’s direction.

Walt Lockwood will draft a letter to the USFS regarding our concerns about the expansion of the parking area which will potentially increase visitation and impact Perry Creek Trail.

An Ad-Hoc Committee has been formed to help Mike Marsh with the development of his monitoring project and they will address the projects objectives and evaluate the monitoring protocol to be used. This committee includes: Katrina, Priya, Terry and Pam. Others may be consulted.

Fred will draft a letter to chapters regarding matching funds for the Endowment.

Catherine will pursue the possibility of a joint sponsorship with NPSO for the Natural Areas Conference and will seek more information from DNR on their specific needs and how we might help with this Conference.

Gary Smith will work with selected interested individuals on the WNPS Board (Katrina, Scott, Mike, Brianne, Jane and Kathy) on a WNPS/SERNW Partnership. What it might be and the Conservation Committee will consider providing funds for this partnership.

The 2009 WNPS Business Meetings are scheduled for April 4th and 5th (flexibility requested and approved for the dates of this two day meeting) and October 17th.

Awards

John Browne would like to see the Mentzelia award implemented to acknowledge an outstanding partner to WNPS. He’d like to see Steve Scherer receive this award. Steve has hosted a program on KUOW for years and years which has dealt with native plant landscaping and sustainability. John would like to express our gratitude for his advocacy of

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 16 of 17 native plants. This could be developed and decided upon during the Strategic Planning session scheduled in April when there is more time for thought and discussion.

Respectfully submitted,

Catherine E. Hovanic Executive Director

ATTACHMENTS*

Attachment A WNPS Executive Committee Report Attachment B Nominations for Board Vacancies Attachment C Election Results Attachment D Nominations for Slate of Officers 2008/2009 Attachment E Draft Policy for Grazing Domestic Livestock on Public Lands Attachment F 2008 Conservation Highlights Attachment G Perry Creek Research Natural Area/Parking Development Impact Attachment H Education Committee Report Attachment I Research Committee Report Attachment J Monitoring Project Scopes of Work Attachment K Audited Financial Statements for 2007 Attachment L State/Chapter Cash Reserves (ytd and 2007) Attachment M Endowment Report Attachment N 2009 Proposed WNPS Budget Attachment O Northeast Chapter Report Attachment P Olympic Peninsula Chapter Report Attachment Q Wenatchee Valley Chapter Report Attachment R Central Puget Sound Chapter Report Attachment S Okanogan Chapter Report Attachment T Input on Guidelines for Chapters Attachment U Recommendations for Guidelines for Chapters Attachment V Natural Areas Conference Background Attachment W SERNW Background

*Attachments available upon request.

WNPS Minutes 4/12/2008 Page 17 of 17