WCNRC September Meeting Minutes

Members present: Allison Cochran, Chair; Mike Henshaw, Vice Chair; Johnna Franks, Treasurer; Kerri Roberts, Secretary; Zack Brannon, Andy Baril, Jimmy Madison, Maggie Johnston, and Rollins Jolly

* Allison opened the meeting by introducing Rollins, the new Bankhead Wildlife Biologist

* Zack discussed FAWN with an agenda update.  Jeremy has the shirt order under control. All schools are attending.  There will be 8 stations as in the past.  Johnna asked for a number of kids attending so she could purchase water.  Maggie interjected that if possible, could we please find an alternative to plastic disposable water bottles.  Kerri suggested the council purchase reusable water bottles with the FAWN logo.  Jimmy will confirm the EMS walk-thru on October 7 at 9:00 am.  All that want to attend the walk-thru are invited to.

*  Zack spoke for Mark Finley about a landowner’s conference in Prattville. Asked if members knew any local citizens who would like to donate a gift to the conference for a silent auction.

* Allison gave a report about the Smith Lake Advocacy. She said Renew our Rivers was awarded conservationist of the year and the Smith Lake Clean-Up was a success with a full construction dumpster donated by Hyche Environmental.  They did have lots of Styrofoam encapsulated in plastic.  That type is getting more difficult to remove.  The Advocacy’s next meeting is Friday , October 4, at 6:00 pm at the Arley Fire House.

* Johnna gave a balance of WCNRC as $12,454.46.  That included funds from Alabama Forever for $400 and $1000 from Soil and Water Conservation District.

* Kerri reported she had been texting with Matt Brock about getting a CWD testing drop off in Winston County.  She asked if anyone had a suggestion for a central location that is covered and a deep freeze could be plugged in. Kerri also made a motion about funds for Kevin England’s Envirothon team at WCHS. The council had discussed helping him this year with $500 if he had a team go.  None opposed the motion. The funds are contingent on Mr. England registering a team for the state competition in April.

*  Allison reported on the recent Bats and Forest workshop in Cleburne County.  It was a huge success.  73 attended.  Goal was bat management education for natural resources personnel. 

* Johnna reported for AFC. T  All of Alabama is under a fire alert. Casey is working on FIA plots and they are busy putting in fire breaks and preparing for prescribed burn season with private landowners.

here was a 10 acre wild fire in Moreland earlier in the day.

* Jimmy noted Winston County EMA has a new website and it’s a work in progress so all comments are appreciated. Winstonalema.org

* North Region Tour will be on Amason Farm in Nov in Aliceville

* Alabama PARC meeting at Camp McDowell Nov1-3 and SE PARC meeting there Feb 20-22

Meeting Adjourned. No Meeting October due to FAWN. Next meeting November 21

Not pictured: Kerri Roberts, Zack Brannon

September WCNRC Meeting coming up

The next meeting of the WCNRC will be Thursday, September 19, at the U.S. Forest Service Office on Highway 33 in Double Springs. The meeting will start at 9:00 am. We hope to see you there.

August Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Allison Cochran, Chair, Mike Henshaw, Vice-Chair, Kerri Roberts, Secretary, Lauranne James, Zack Brannon, Mark Finley,  PJ Gossett, Jimmy Madison, John Creed, Blake Addison, Andy Baril. Visitor, Brad Nail

* Lauranne reported that the RC&D budget will be approved next month. Applications for grants are open now. You can apply at www.nwalrcd.org.  Grants are reimbursement type.  There is also a no-till drill available for rent in Winston County.  There will be a field day for no-till drill in Marion county Tuesday, August 20, 3:00-5:00 pm at the Marion County Extension Office.  North West RC&D quarterly meeting will be in Lauderdale county September 10.

* Zack reported on FAWN.  Dates will be October 8-9.  We have confirmations from all schools except for one.  FAWN is coming together as usual but this being Zack's first one, he is not sure what to expect.  Johnna will be getting food. Jeremy will handle t-shirts.  Many members will be helping out.  There will be a walk through October 7 at 9:00 am. The council decided there would be no additional October meeting since most of us will be together at FAWN if anything needs to be discussed. 

*  Allison stated the forest service has hired a new wildlife biologist. He should be on the job and available to assist with FAWN.  September 10 there will be a Bat Management Seminar at the Cleburn Mountain Center in Heflin.  The U.S. Forest Service has officially partnered with Alabama Water Watch for water monitoring sites. These include sites in Bankhead- specifically the inland Brushy Watershed. 

*  Allison also reported Smith Lake Advocacy will be having a Smith Lake Clean-Up day on September 12 at King Ramp.  She asked Kerri if 4-H can assist. Kerri will look into that.  All council members are encouraged to help out.

*  Andy Baril stated there will be a Hunter Education workshop in Jasper, September 9-10. There will be a PLM workshop at Bevill State on September 11.  Cullman will host a PLM workshop September 14 at the Crazy Rooster restaurant.

*  Brad Nail with the Alabama Forestry Association joined us at the end of our meeting and informed the council about their projects in NW Alabama.  They are working on Shortleaf Pine restoration and also improvement of habitat for at-risk species.

Meeting Adjourned. Next meeting Thursday, September 19. 

August Meeting This Thursday

The August meeting of the WCNRC will be Thursday, August 15, 9:00 am at the U.S. Forest Service Office in Double Springs, Alabama 35553

Native Plants Symposium 2019

The first annual Native Plants Symposium will take place at Huntsville Botanical Garden September 12-14, 2019.  For more information and registration visit this website:

http://hsvbg.org/native-plants-symposium-2019/

WCNRC July Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Allison Cochran, Chair, Mike Henshaw, Vice-Chair, Kerri Roberts, Secretary, John Creed, Zack Brannon, Jason Harris, Andy Baril. Guests: Mark Finley, Doug Chapman

* Mark Finley with the Alabama Treasure Forest Association, reported that the $770 appropriated for the Land Owner Workshop in Winston County would be available in 2020 since the WCNRC would not be able to host a workshop in 2019.  Allison thanked him for coming to the meeting and for the funds for next year and stated that our council definitely has plans to host a landowner workshop next year. Hopefully, it will be at Bill Self's property. She reminded the council that Andy Baril had volunteered to lead those efforts.  Allison also noted that we would like to work with Mark to involve more private landowners as our council could always use more private landowner members.

*  Allison noted that Sheree Hamilton is the new forest supervisor and will take over the RAC duties.  On the RAC topic, Mike Henshaw reported that there will be RAC funds available again, but not until September 2020.  Proposal applications will open June 2020. $70,000 will be appropriated for Winston County National Forest proposals. Be thinking about those now. Some that have been mentioned are forest road improvements, Caney Creek Falls improvement, Brushy Creek Public Access off the private property on 63.

*  Doug Chapman, Extension Specialist with Commercial Horticulture, joined our meeting to get our council up to speed on what is going on with Chinquapin trees. He says there may be an Alabama species that differs from the Allegheny and Ozark species. There is research going on with these trees. They are trying to locate any specimen in west Alabama. They are easiest to spot by their bloom which occurs in May/June. For more information visit the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYLWMTTEAeTvZFQzqlT886g

*  Kerri Roberts reported this chinquapin project fits nicely into a new format within 4-H of Citizen Science and that a collaborative effort may be able to happen with 4-H'ers and Doug's research locating these rare trees. 

*  Zack Brannon informed the council that Winston County Soil and Water gave us $1000 for FAWN. He is contacting the Alabama Conservation Officers for a donation as well. No dates have been set for FAWN as of yet, but he is working on it.

*  Allison reported the Bats and Forest Workshop is upcoming in Cleburne County. It will be September 10, at the Heflin Mountain Center.

*  Andy Baril informed us that there will be a PLM meeting for Loggers and Foresters in Walker County September 11, at Bevil State. The meeting is free. There will also be a Deer Management Workshop in Bibb County August 16, at Sawmill Restaurant.

*  Allison informed all that the Turkey Federation did refund the money owed from the Fishing Derby to the council. All finances have been squared away from the Derby.

The meeting adjourned. Next meeting August 15, 9:00 a.m.

WCNRC June Meeting Minutes

WCNRC Meeting 6/20/19

Zack Brannon, Andy Baril, Andy Scott, John Creed and Allison Cochran

* Andy Baril is working on landowner pond visits.

Walker County will be hosting a forestry workshop at Bevill on 9/11; flyer forthcoming.

The ACNRC N Region Landowner Tour will be in Fayette, but no date is set yet.

Fishing Derby was a success, thanks to all that participated and made it happen.  NWTF donated $550.  $579 dollars of WCNRC funds from Winston Co Commission Firewise Ed Fund were used.  NWTF’s check for $500 wouldn’t work, so Allison paid with WCNRC fund and NWTF will pay WCNRC $500.  Allison used NWTF’s $50 cash on prizes at Wal-mart.  All receipts are sent to Johnna and NWTF chapters for purchases of food and prizes and supplies.  Forest Service spent about $1100 on fish and portable toilet.  Gateway donated some drinks which help offset costs.  We have a few leftover prizes that will be used for next year.

* Keep eyes out for cogongrass and report to AFC and ALDOT.  Bankhead found a big spot on the Forest in Black Pond and will treat this summer. Andy B is using EDmaps to report spots he is seeing which goes to Auburn.

Alabama Bat Working Group will hold a Bats and Forests workshop for natural resource professionals in Heflin on 9/10.  More info to come.

Ala Bat Working Group also held their Annual Bat Blitz in June in Hamilton and we worked closely with Marion County AFC.

Zack is already thinking about FAWN and talked to School Board, although we won’t set a date with them until school is back in session.

* Andy Scott is taking a 2 month detail to Mississippi’s National Forests and Blake Addison will be the Bankhead Acting District Ranger in that time.

Bankhead has been working in Southern Pine Beetle Mitigation/Prevention mode for the last few years. In the next few years, we will be moving into more longleaf restoration work to respond to America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative and an increased Forest Service regional challenge for more acres of longleaf pine woodlands.

Roads on the Bankhead are in the shape they are in due to weather and a number of other factors. We are hoping road maintenance will begin this summer.

Andy shared that in last year’s herbicide site preparation and non-native invasive species contract, we lost the hardwood reserve trees on about 300 or so acres due to a combination of factors.  For this year, we are making contract changes to take corrective action.

The Slick Ford timber sale is completed and in our longleaf restoration area.  He encouraged folks to visit the area and see the quality work going on down there in Black Pond.

* Zack shared that Mike Henshaw attended the Forest Service Resource Advisory Committee meeting and funding won’t be awarded this year, but will be awarded in October 2020.  The application deadline is June 2020.  The council discussed several ideas, including trails and recreational access with partners and that we would work together in advance of the deadline to pull partners and ideas together.

* Andy Baril asked about the Recreation Working group and decisions on future direction for recreation on Bankhead with input from the stakeholders.  Andy Scott responded that essentially Bankhead will start a “Trails” NEPA project to address issues and will need partnerships to help manage.  At Caney Creek waterfall, he is expecting a full recreation site type trail and will look at other areas like Soughahogdee, Payne Creek and Sipsey Trail to designate as trails and manage.  The Houston renovation to tent camping is on the slow burner.  We have put in proposals to remove infrastructure, like bath houses, at Brushy Lake and Houston. 

There was discussion on the Alabama Trail, an effort led by the Alabama Hiking Trail Society and how it might connect with Bankhead and take pressure off of the Sipsey Wilderness.

Meeting Adjourned. Next meeting Thursday, July 18