MEETING MINUTES Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council Meeting was held at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA. 1. John Beckman - Co-Chair, West Virginia DNR I. Committee Reports Team leaders and/or team members reported on progress/recent activity (for the three projects determined at the August meeting): 1. Regional Plant List Goal: To develop a list of invasive (exotic?) plants that covers the entire Mid-Atlantic region. A "master list" will be the first product, but more specialized lists may then be developed for targeted audiences. The group felt that the list should include agricultural weeds. Team Leader: John Beckman Team Members/Resources: Chris Firestone, Faith Campbell, Carol Jelich, Betsy Lyman, Carol Russell, Robert Trumbule REPORT: John has gathered existing lists from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and formatted them into a combined list. This is a starting point, but there are still many unanswered questions about terminology, the criteria used to "list" a plant. He still needs information from New Jersey, and has heard that there is a more current/better list for Pennsylvania. He will ultimately seek review from Heritage Programs, Native Plant Societies, other concerned groups. The "starting point" list was not distributed at this time. 2. Technical Outreach Goal: Provide support for volunteer weed removal projects, in the form of a) demonstration project(s), and b) resources and training in volunteer coordination and weed management methods for project leaders. Team Leader: Louisa Thompson Team Members: Lisa Smith, Jil Swearingen, Betsy Lyman (will send field guide from Friends of Wissahickon Park) Carole Bergmann, Sarah Bishop, Don Cober REPORT: Demonstration project at Patapsco Valley State Park continues, new resources being developed. Project being co-sponsored by the Maryland Native Plant Society and the Cooperative Extension Service Master Gardener program. Combines education of participants in the issues with weed removal work, and long-term qualitative and photo monitoring. They have prepared a slide presentation, and folks interested in starting their own project can come to the demonstration project site or request a presentation "house call." Louisa has combined forces with Jil to work on the Weedbusters Handbook - a resource for the layperson interested in weed management. Includes color photos and line drawings, species and management info (like Louisa's recent brochure), and is in a loose-leaf format. It is currently in draft form, almost ready for review. They hope to have it ready to post of the Native Plant Working group web site by spring. Louisa also invited the group to provide her with information on any other new or ongoing projects, so that she can perform a bit of a clearinghouse function. 3. Regional Data Coordination Goals: a) inventory the relevant or applicable databases, and the types of data currently being collected; b) identify options for format to standardize data region wide (w/ an eye towards national picture); c) educate and encourage states to use common format. Team Leader: Nancy Benton Team Members: Lisa Smith (PA info contribution), Mark Zankel (DE contact/liaison), Nancy Richwine, Louisa Thompson (will send data collection forms she has, would like to consult later about what volunteer program could use), Betsy Lyman (will work with Lisa Smith on PA info) REPORT: Nancy Benton could not be at meeting. Betsy Lyman and Lisa Smith both did some checking on databases in Pennsylvania, and reported a "negative database" started (by Heritage program?) -- it includes information on invasive species, and the absence of native species. Also mentioned Ann Rhodes w/ the Morris Arboretum (she's done flora of PA). Faith mentioned that people are thinking about these database issues at a National Level, and that USGS held a symposium in Florida about 2 years ago on the topic of databases. II. Mission Statement - decision to adopt We reviewed the mission statement drafted and approved at the August meeting. After some discussion, a motion was made to vote on accepting the mission statement; the vote was held and the mission statement was unanimously accepted as written: The Purpose of the Mid Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council (MA-EPPC) is to address the problem of invasive exotic plants and their threat to the Mid-Atlantic region's economy, environment, and human health by providing leadership, facilitating information development and exchange, and coordinating regional efforts. Points of discussion were as follows:
III. Non-Profit 501 (c) (3) status - decision to pursue Faith presented the results of her past experience/recent research on this topic, presented some pros and cons. After some input from others with experience in this endeavor, and some discussion, there was a motion to pursue non-profit status, seconded, and a vote taken with all in favor. PROS
CONS
John Randall and Brian Bowen, who have both been through this process with the CA and SE EPPCs (respectively) both had the comment: it wasn't really that much work; there is minimal routine paperwork until the organization's income exceeds a certain level (around $10 - 15,000). Apparently you can get temporary status relatively quickly, but the final determination can take up to 5 years. John said that if raising money for projects and ultimately for staff is something we envision for MA-EPPC's future, we'll be crippled without legal non-profit status; he commented that hiring a part-time staff person was a critical point in the development of the CA-EPPC. Also, many of the accounting and administrative procedures are just good business practices that we would probably want to adopt anyway, if/when we raise and disperse funds. Other points of discussion:
Further discussion, after the vote in favor of applying for non-profit status:
some discussion about lobbying:
IV. Bylaws We will need bylaws in order to apply for non-profit status. No need to write new ones, we can borrow from existing EPPCs. Lisa Smith volunteered to get those, and reformat to produce draft bylaws for MA-EPPC. John Randall suggested that one thing we may especially want to discuss as a group is how to handle officers and terms. V. Next Meeting Scheduled for January 11, to be held in Harper's Ferry. VI. Additional Discussion A discussion sparked by issues raised by sessions at the conference followed the conclusion of this business. Without attempting to recount the discussion in it's entirety, some of the points made:
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