Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited

Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited May 22, 2010 Nacoochee United Methodist Church Sautee, GA Minutes of the Meeting

1. Call to Order Charlie Breithaupt, Chairman 9:00 am 2. Introductions, Roll Call, Special Guests, Speakers, and Opening Remarks Charlie 9:00 – 9:15 Thanks to the Nacoochee UMC for our meeting place and thanks to the Foothills Chapter and Jimmy Harris for our morning coffee and snacks. Since our last meeting we had the “Hoot on the Hooch” where we drew the winner of the Dream Trip, Ron Adams. The winning ticket was sold by Paul DiPrima. Ron was not able to attend today but he’ll make the trip with his new bride. In April the Rabun Chapter held Rabunite 101 and got 20 folks started as fly fishers. The Fly Fishing for Vets was highly successful with great support from all of Trout Unlimited. Congratulations to Ken Griffin for all his effort. I know the ORCTU and BRMTU both had fund raisers and some chapters had work projects. Hopefully all were successful. Six of us attended the SE Rally in Townsend, TN last weekend and we’ll report more later in this meeting.

You need to know that Doug Reid who has been a stalwart at Trout Camp will miss this year due to his wife’s treatment at Emory. Also, Kevin McGrath’s wife Karen has had surgery for a melanoma and is continuing treatment. Ray Gentry is in Columbia, SC with his 90 year old mother who is in ICU following by pass surgery. Bob Foster’s wife Pat is at home and her therapy continues.

Charlie presented a check for $1,000 to the Savannah River Chapter for seed money as they begin their new Chapter. Thirteen of thirteen Chapters were represented: Blue Ridge: Carl Riggs,

Chattahoochee Nantahala: Ken Bachman, Marcus Tuschel

Cohutta: Alex Watson, Larry Vigil Coosa Valley: Paul Diprima Flint River: Bill Beckwith, Laura Beckwith Foothills: Jimmy Harris, Ron Thomas, Robert Sullivan Goldrush: Fred Ruppel, Marge Ruppel, Kanooka: Tony Kearns Oconee River: Josh Barnett, Rich Rusk

Rabun: Charlie Breithaupt, Kathy Breithaupt, Larry Walker Savannah River: Terrill Fleming, Helen Fleming, Jim Miller Tailwater: Bill Egeland Upper Chattahoochee: Mack Martin, Dutch Earle, Louisa Hanney

1 3) Minutes from the previous Meeting – March 6th - Charlie 9:15 – 9:20 Motion to approve the updated minutes by Marcus Tuschel, seconded by Ken Bachman , motion passed. (Ken Calkin’s name was misspelled.) 4) Treasurer’s Report – Ray Gentry 9:20 – 9:30 Charlie for Ray - Total cash on hand is $105,929.45 Hard copy in archives. Motion to approve by Larry Vigil, seconded by Larry Walker, motion passed. Waiting for BTB monies – Ray is away on a family emergency and will check the bank account upon his return home.

Old business

5) Trout in the Classroom - Carl Riggs 9:30 – 9:40 The 2009/2010 Trout in the Classroom program went very well in Georgia. Nine classrooms around the state participated in the program and all but one had successful releases. Over 1500 students were involved in the study of trout and the release as well as creating tee shirts, posters and doing all the statistical reporting. The 2010/2011 year plans are already being made and several chapters are working on adding classes to the program. Thanks to all the TU members who participated in this past year. Carl showed some terrific slides during the talk. Charlie remarked that he and Kathy visited Fannin County Middle School and how appreciated and welcomed TU was in the school. Jimmy Harris suggested that there be an online Q&A regarding what has happened and their success stories or challenges. Carl Riggs offered to set up conferencing with the folks who are involved in the program. Contact Carl if you are interested in participating in this activity.

6) Trout Camp, final plans - Charlie and Kathy 9:40 – 9:45 We have 45 volunteers – will email the updated schedule this week. The camp is full (24 campers) and all monies are in. We received a nice thank you note from Drew Foster for his tuition paid from several chapters.

7) Insurance - Kathy 9:45 – 9:50 Working with Doug Adams Insurance for our umbrella policy. Other states have this policy and we are going to decide whether or not it is a viable option for us. TU National has a liability policy – this would be an accident policy. The state of VA has a comparable number of chapters and members and their policy is $2,000 a year. When we hear from the underwriters we will make a decision on whether or not to move forward with insurance. Mack asked about the deductible and how much would it pay as a total amount. Need to check with the USFS as to any insurance they may have to cover any volunteers. Jeff Durniak mentioned that DNR has insurance for volunteers. Alex Watson will ask the USFS to see if they have any policy for volunteers like the DNR.

8) SE Rally - Charlie, Larry Vigil, Alex Watson, Mike Morgan, Thom Underwood 9:50 – 10:00 We have several power points. The rally has been going on for 7 or 8 years. This year there were 7 states involved: TN, KY, VA, TX, NC, SC, GA. This meeting was held in conjunction with Trout Fest – the Little River Chapter in Townsend TN puts on the Fest each year – there is a fundraising banquet on Friday. The monies raised go toward financial support of the Great Smoky MT Park Fisheries, among other things. On Saturday and Sunday you can attend the Trout Fest activities at no charge. There were lots of big names there teaching casting and fly tying. Larry Vigil said that having the folks from TU National was terrific. Great presentations from CEO - Chris Wood, Franklin Tate – Youth Coordinator, and Damon Hearn – SE Land Protection. Alex Watson commented that we took a hike by a brook trout stream and talked about the restoration there. Charlie said that this would be a good a meeting for Chapters to attend. Lots of good power points are available from the TU National folks. Contact them for a copy. Plans are underway for the 2011 SE Rally – same place – same time.

9) BtB Report - Alex 10:00 – 10:10 The information in your booklet is what will occur over the next couple of years. We have funding from EAS and from individual Chapters. The DNR did not get grant funds from the US Fish and Wildlife Service through the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture because the

2 process was much more competitive this year with more emphasis on connectivity. The intern program is set for this summer – it began May 17th - there are eight young men and women from GA colleges and Costal Carolina. They will be working with Trout Camp on Ramey Creek this June. Alex had to renegotiate a cost challenge agreement with the USFS this year due to insurance issues that dealt with being sure the interns who will be driving USFS vehicles would be insured. Alex thanked Jeff Durniak with his help and advice on the program we have with Josh Seehorn and his Master’s level project. For the first time in 18 years state raised brook trout have been stocked in Georgia streams during the regular trout season in appropriate regularly stocked streams. Alex thanked Jeff for that as well. Also, wild brook trout streams have better habitat as a result of our partnership with DNR and USFS and can support better populations of brook trout. Please read the information forwarded by Kevin McGrath on the BTB program. Kevin stays involved in the legislative issues and has done a tremendous job on keeping us informed when we should contact our representatives concerning a bill. The next work project will be on June 19th on Bryant Creek – please see your booklet information or the electronic information on that projects are coming up this summer. July 10th Upper Chattahoochee, and July 17th on Coopers Creek.

10) Dream Trip wrap up - Ray/Charlie 10:10 – 10:15 Another great success! All 2,000 tickets were sold and Chapters are now receiving their $500 rebate checks. Great runner-up prizes were distributed this year. Thanks again to John McGarity for hosting the trip at his cabin. Charlie will call John in August and see if we can do the trip again and then deliver the tickets in September.

11) Forestar (Amicalola) Tract – Charlie 10:15 – 10:20 Note the letter from Chris Clark in your packet thanking us for our support of purchasing the Tract. The remainder of the monies needed to purchase the land were raised in record time. It does make a difference when we step up as TU of GA and show a solid front. All 12 chapters participated in the donation totaling $20,000. We received a lot of very positive PR for our participation from the conservation community.

BREAK 10:20 – 10:30 am

New Business

12) Apply for awards from TU National - Charlie 10:30 – 10:35 All the information to apply is on the TU National website. Please look over those applications and apply. We intend to apply for the GA Council. Deadline to apply is August 2nd. Please consider the agency professionals you work with as well and nominate them for an appropriate award.

13) FFF – Jimmy Harris 10:35 – 10:45 The first weekend in June – Federation of Fly Fishers conclave will be at Unicoi State Park in Helen. There has been tremendous response – over 100 signed up for the BBQ on Friday night. There will be many seminars outside and on the water. Several big names in the fly fishing world will attend. They have run out of booth space to rent. The event is June 4th and 5th at Unicoi from 9 am – 5 pm. BBQ Friday night and banquet Saturday night. Go to www.LiarsClub.com www.SECFFF.org to find more information. Please spread the word to your Chapters. (look at Jimmy’s shop newsletter for the sites)

14) National meeting – Charlie 10:45 – 10:50 Dates for the National meeting will be September 15-19 2010 in Waterville Valley, NH. Larry Vigil will be attending – Charlie will attend as well.

15) Zip Codes - Larry 10:50 – 11:00 TU assigns you to a chapter by a zip code. Charlie and Larry will review the assigned numbers and contact the Chapters concerned if any changes should be made.

3 16) Rechartering – Larry 11:10 – 11:15 This session we will recharter six chapters. It is a process we have to do every four years with the Chapters. All six qualify to be rechartered.

17) Elections next Sept and Nominating Committee – Larry Vigil 11:15 – 11:25 Carl Riggs, Ken Bradshaw and Larry are the nominating committee. If you have a nomination for any of the officers; Council Chair, 1st and 2nd Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. You can nominate yourself. If you currently hold an office please let Larry know how you feel about your current position. The new slate will be announced in September. Terms run for two years.

18) River Clean Up Days - June 26th – Charlie 11:25 – 11:30 TU National decided last year to have National Clean up days. Blue Ridge and Rabun Chapters have clean up days planned. Savannah River Chapter will probably plan a clean up as well. Please let Charlie know if you have any plans.

19) Other new Business & Chapter Activity Announcements Charlie 11:30 – 11:45  UCCTU and Cohutta chapters – Garland will get in touch with these chapters and let them know what we need to do to earn our points for the grant money.  Charlie got a call from DNR the auto tags will be updated. We now can have the whole tag to advertise. Art work is possible. We have contacted Broderick Crawford and June Landreth, Tom Landreth’s widow – so they can submit their art work for consideration. The money raised will be earmarked for DNR and coldwater fisheries.  Ken Bachman – the Chattahoochee Nantahala Chapter was awarded the US Fish and Wildlife Service SE Regional Director’s honor award for Outstanding Volunteer Service on May 13, 2010. There will be an event on June 4th and 5th it will be Seniors day and family day in the Suches Hatchery in Chattahoochee National Forest.  Rich Russ for Oconee River Chapter - he and Josh are going to a SE Conference for SC Footrails coalition hikers on climate change this weekend.  Trout Adventure Trail – Blue Ridge Mountain Chapter - they are the national test program for this. Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girls Scouts will participate – there is a questionnaire at the end and you will get a patch. They have all approvals except for the Application Society – they hope to get that in a few days. This will be on the website to show them what they need to look for on the trail. Ralph Artigliere is heading this up.  Bill Beckwith – Flint River Chapter worked with the DNR cleaning up a trail. They collected 34 large trash bags worth of stuff. They want to put up a sign that shows that TU worked on cleaning the trail.  Carl Riggs - Fannin County has been designated as the Trout capital of GA. Whole idea is to bring people into GA when they can’t fish in other parts of the country in the North.  Jeff Durniak suggested that if you need a program speaker call Jim Kidd to ask about land acquisition. He is retired from the USFS and was the land acquisition specialist. There is money available but you have to work to get it.  Mack Martin – REI – we asked for a grant for Trout Camp. Mack is not sure if we received that but if not we will reapply next year. Mack was in the REI store in perimeter last Saturday and talked with about 20 people who had never heard of Trout Unlimited. All of them took an application and were interested in what we do. Mack feels that we need to do a better job of getting the word out. The other store in Kennesaw plans to have the Cohutta chapter there. It will be interesting to see what kind of participation they will have.  Fred Ruppel – had lots of success at Bass Pro Shop. On that day Gold Rush met many folks who were not aware of TU. They made a partnership with an exclusive golf course and plan activities there to fish, tie flies and work with kids. Also Big Canoe has a fishing day and the Gold Rush Chapter will help with that. Several new members have signed up as a result of this.

4  Dutch Earle, President of the UCCTU returned their rebate check for $500 to be used for Trout Camp. Thanks Dutch!

20 ) Adjourn – Goal = High Noon! 11:35 am Thanks to the GA Foothills Chapter for being out host today.