Meeting minutes – August 23-24, 2005, Yellville, Arkansas
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Chairman Frank Fiss (TN). The meeting agenda was distributed, along with the roundtable discussion and minutes from the previous committee meeting in Virginia Beach, VA on February 10, 2005.
A. Introduction of Committee Members & Guests
10 committee members were in attendance: Chairman Frank Fiss (TN), Secretary-Treasurer Kin Hodges (NC), John Copeland (VA), Dennis Riecke (MS), Jeff Quinn (AR), Scott Smith (VA), Eric Cummins (KY), Brian Wagner (AR), Jason Olive (AR), and April Layher (AR). Also present were the following guests: Dan Magoulick (UA), Rich Standage (USFS), Darrell Bowman (AR), Kevin Hopkins (AR), Colton Dennis (AR), and Keith Whalen (USFS).
B1. Approval of Agenda
The meeting agenda written by Chairman Frank Fiss (TN) was approved. It was determined that a quorum existed and a committee membership roster was circulated for those present to check and update/add their e-mail contact information.
B2. Secretary’s Report and Approval of Minutes
Outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Riecke (MS) distributed the minutes and
roundtable discussion notes from the February 2005 meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia for review and approval. A motion was made to adopt the minutes and the motion passed.
B3. Treasurer’s Report
Outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Riecke (MS) distributed and reviewed the September 28, 2004 – February 6, 2005 and February 7, 2005 – August 21, 2005 Financial Statements. A motion was made and seconded to accept the February 7, 2005 – August 21, 2005 Financial Statement as presented. The motion passed. The September 28, 2004 – February 6, 2005 Financial Statement was approved at the February 10, 2005 committee meeting. Dennis also reported that we still have $200-300 that we are expecting to receive for the sale of WWSC publications. Kin Hodges (NC) is to follow up on making sure that these funds are received, as well as getting the WWSC checking accounts transferred to his control.
C. Old Business
C1. Jimmie Pigg Memorial Outstanding Student Achievement Award
Chairman Frank Fiss (TN) reported that with our current balance, the WWSC would make very little money by putting the funds from the student account into an interest earning account. A goal of $10,000 was set for the account so that it could draw enough interest annually to fund the Pigg award. Input was solicited on how we could increase the balance of the student account. Jeff Quinn (AR) suggested soliciting contributions from private/corporate funding sources. Frank Fiss (TN) will pursue this option. Preliminary plans are to include background information on the WWSC and the Pigg award with solicitation requests.Jeff Quinn (AR) volunteered to serve on the award committee. Dennis Riecke (MS) suggested that we add a reviewer from academia to round out the committee membership.
Chairman Frank Fiss streamlined the application process to eliminate redundant steps in the application process. This should make it easier for applicants and reviewers.
C2. Committee History
Little progress on upgrading the history of the WWSC was made subsequent to the last meeting. John Copeland (VA) will update the accomplishments of the committee and work towards getting them on the committee website. Dennis Riecke (MS) will assist.C3. Warmwater Streams Values Video Update
The videos have been distributed and we met the obligations to its sponsors. However, the consensus was that not very many people outside of the WWSC are aware of the video, and we need to keep working on getting it distributed more widely. Copies can be ordered from Virginia Tech for $10 apiece, and members are encouraged to burn copies of the DVD for distribution themselves if they have the capability to do so. Dennis Riecke (MS) has a letter explaining the purpose of the video that we can send out with it. A suggestion was made to use the funds earned from video sales to distribute additional copies to new recipients. However, as we are not allowed to make profits from the sale of videos, this is not an option. John Copeland (VA) volunteered to contact the AFS education section again to request that they send out ordering information for the video through their listserver or make it available on their website. John will also look into getting a clip of the video posted on the WWSC website.C4. Compilation of Stream Sampling Programs
The Committee is done with this topic and plans to direct its effort towards assisting with the FMS Fish Sampling Book.C5. FMS Fish Sampling Book
The Fisheries Management Section is developing a book on standard fish sampling methods. Dennis Riecke (MS) contacted them and offered to assist with the section on warmwater stream sampling, and sent them some sampling protocols from various states.C6. Website revisions
Discussion was held on ways we could get revisions to the website posted more quickly, including using committee funds to pay a contractor to do the work for us. The Virginia AFS chapter has a webmaster that has done good work for them at a reasonable price. Scott Smith (VA) volunteered to talk with her about handling our the WWSC website. First, Frank Fiss (TN) will talk to Fred Janssen (TX) about the feasibility of an outside contractor working with his server.
D. New Business
D1. Installation of new Secretary-Treasurer and nominations for Chair-Elect
Kin Hodges (NC) was installed as the new committee secretary-treasurer. Frank Fiss (TN) thanked past secretary-treasurer Dennis Riecke (MS) for his work as secretary-treasurer, and asked for nominations to fill the vacant chair-elect position. Jeff Quinn (AR) volunteered to be chair-elect, and the nomination was accepted by the committee.D2. Future Committee Projects
Accomplishments under the WWSC Strategic Plan were reviewed. It was agreed that more effort should be directed towards improving information exchange between members.The WWSC has been invited to provide a presentation on how warmwater streams are affected by reservoir operations during the plenary session of the June 2007 Reservoir Symposium. The focus of the presentation will be on how to balance water usage and fisheries in impounded streams. No suggestions for presentation topics were received from committee members.
Suggestions were received to do a special symposium on instream flow issues for the Texas (February 2006) or Tennessee (February 2007) meetings. However, it was felt that it was too late to get anything together in time for the Texas meeting, and we didn’t want to focus solely instream flow issues since there is already an Instream Flow Committee.
Conducting a symposium on stream mitigation issues at the 2007 SDAFS meeting in Tennessee was proposed and accepted by the committee. There is a lot of interest in this topic within the Southern Division, as some states have well developed mitigation programs, while others are just developing their programs. The focus could be expanded to how to deal with the Corps of Engineers and FERC on mitigation and relicensing issues. Chairman Frank Fiss will work towards submitting a symposium request for the 2007 meeting.
Scott Smith (VA) is dealing with FERC relicensing on several systems, and he suggested doing a workshop at the 2007 Tennessee SDAFS meeting on the new integrated FERC relicensing process. The possibility of bringing in FERC representatives to present at the workshop was discussed. Scott Smith (VA) and Frank Fiss (TN) will take the lead on arranging this workshop
Dennis Riecke (MS) proposed a resolution to encourage better instream flow standards, as some states are still using outdated standards that don’t fully take into account all uses of streams. The Instream Flow Committee may submit such a resolution, which could be endorsed by the WWSC. Dennis Riecke (MS) will follow up on this with the IFC. The Instream Flow Council recently produced a book that rated each state on the pros and cons of their instream flow determination methodologies.
Frank Fiss (TN) led a discussion on mitigation work planned for tailraces through SARP. The initial focus of SARP was on coldwater tailraces, where coldwater tailraces across the southeast were assessed and mitigation needs were determined. A report has been prepared summarizing the findings of this effort, and it is hoped that this information will prove useful in securing funding for mitigation. SARP is now looking into assessing the status of warmwater tailraces, which have different issues than coldwater tailraces. Ways for the WWSC to support the efforts of SARP were discussed.
Committee business was adjourned for a presentation by Rich Standage (USFS) on the evaluation of Leopard darters on the Ouchita National Forest, and a presentation and field trip on snorkeling surveys and line transect population estimate methods by Dr. Dan Magoulick with the Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.