River Management Society Northwest Chapter

River Management Society – Northwest Chapter Meeting Minutes – Boise Symposium May 19, 2016

Attendees: Louise Kling RMS NW Chapter President Martin Hudson BLM, Pinedale, WTY Harry Williamson NPS (Retired), Bend, OR Ryan Turner BLM, Cottonwood, ID (NW Chapter Vice President) Colin Maas Montana State Parks Jo O’Neill BLM, Cottonwood, ID Kai Allen BLM, Medford District, Grants Pass RA, OR Tom Mottl BLM (Retired); NonProfit Organization Dusty Vaugh USFS, Stanislaus NF, Groveland RD, CA Emily Newell AECOM, Environmental Planner Susan Rosebrough NPS, Seattle, WA, RTCA Lynette Ripley BoR, Bend, OR Colby Hawkinson BLM, Grants Pass, OR (NW Chapter Events Coordinator) Kristen Heins BLM Prineville District, OR Rick Thompson Associate Member Frank Jenks BLM (Retired) John B. Newman USFS Snake River, WY, Bridger –Teton/ Jackson RD Monica Zimmerman BLM, Upper Snake FO, Idaho Falls, ID Heidi Mottl BLM, Prineville, OR Mollie Chaudet USFS (Retired); WSR Consultant Judi Zuckert BLM (Retired), Boise, ID Bonnie Wood FS/BLM (Retired), Boise, ID Caroline Kurz River Management Society Ben Schmidt MT FWP Martha Droge NPS / SORP Patrick Kollodge BLM, Prineville District, Deschutes River

 Indicates Action Items Recap of the Year / Lessons Learned

 Trips: - Need to do better on scheduling and implementing trips. - These trips are so important to existing members and help to cultivate new members. - Thanks to Colby, Bonnie, and Rick for such a successful Grande Ronde trip!  Communication: - Need to do a better job of circulating meeting minutes so that chapter members are aware of discussion topics - Providing quarterly updates would also be helpful

 Symposium: Boise Symposium has been a huge success! Thanks to all who helped make it happen.

 Events/Trainings: WSR Trainings in CA/OR were all fantastic and well-attended – thanks to Mollie and Jackie! 1 Looking Forward

 Mentorship – RMS members reflect the “decision makers”, i.e., senior level river managers who have all been working together for a long time. What can RMS do to make these individuals more accessible to river professions wanting to become decision makers. One idea presented was to have lifetime members take on an emerging professional. 

 California Chapter – should the NW Chapter consider integrating the California Chapter until their member base is stronger? 

 Programs

- River Trips

. Rogue River: There has been some difficulty in scheduling the Lodge Trip this year. Colby has received some feedback from Black Bar lodge that they are unhappy with RMS and will not allow us to schedule a trip this year. Some of the issue seems to be with a prior “no-show” where RMS did not follow through with plans and Black Bar was not able to fill the rooms. Lynette and Becky are going to work with Colby to mend ties.  There was some discussion about having the trip include one day of camping, and then stay at Clay Hill and Paradise. There was concern about weather. Kai mentioned that there are still openings for August.

. Deschutes: Patrick expressed interest in leading a Deschutes trip

. Snake River: John expressed interest in Snake River trip – 2 nights

. Main Salmon – Ryan suggested a Main trip in the Fall if we are not able to make the Rogue Trip work.

- River Ranger Rendezvous

. The group discussed the possibility of hosting a RRR in 2017. Ryan and Jo will look into that. 

- Events

. RMS 2018 Celebration of the WSR planning will begin soon!

. What can we do to build up enthusiasm for WSRs? 

 Membership

2 - What kind of information do we get back from our members regarding the river trip? It would be helpful to understand those outcomes. 

- Can we do more with social media? Emily said she had done some work in advance of the Symposium and could continue. 

 Communication

- Let’s consider having a “member of the month”, or a “river of the month” to profile. 

- Profile new members in the newsletter

- Focus on preserving and passing on the culture of RMS

- Not all members are receiving emails generated from the RMS member directory.

- Consider Mail Chimp as an alternative to the RMS member directory.