December 5, 2015 Council Meeting Minutes Montana Wild Building 2668 Broadwater Ave Helena, MT Those present: Officers: Lee Boman President, Mark Hanson President Elect, Wayne Gardella - Treasurer At Large Members: Yve Bardwell, Scott Friskics, Barb Harris, Gerry Jennings, Addrien Marx, Charlie O Leary, Rick Potts, Bernie Rose, Greg Schatz, Patti Stienmuller and Alan Weltzien Chapter Representatives: Wayne Chamberlin, Rita Harding, Bonnie Warren, Ruth Kopec and John Larson Chapter Presidents: Daphne Herling, Bill Hallinan and Bernie Quetchenbach Staff: Carl Deitchman, Gabe Furshong, Laura Parr and Brian Sybert Those absent: Julia Ellison, Len Kopec, Allison Linville and Jo Ann Wright 9:00 am Welcome, Introductions, Recognition Lee Lee welcomed new representatives and at-large council members including. - Julie (Julia) Ellison, new chapter representative, Shining Mountain - David Steinmuller, new chapter president, Madison Gallatin - Debo Powers, new at- large Council Member, Flathead Kootenai - Bonnie Warren, new chapter representative, Island Range Chapter - Steve Holland, new at- large Council member, Madison Gallatin Lee recognized two current Council members that have decided to continue providing direction and advise for their second term, Charlie O Leary and Patti Steinmuller! Lee also recognized the outgoing council members including. - Ruth Kopec, chapter representative Madison - Roger Jenkins, chapter president Madison Gallatin - Dan Harper, chapter representative, Shining Mountain - Scott Friskics, past president - He has been on the council for 8 years and Scott reported that it has been a great experience and very rewarding to see the organization grow. He will continue to be involved at the committee level. Lee introduced Bernie Quetchenbach, chapter president EWC and Bonnie Warren, chapter, and they told a little bit about themselves. Lee asked if there were any edits or revisions to the agenda.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda Motion passed unanimously. Consent agenda 1. Minutes from September 12 th Council Meeting minutes should say one person instead of two people. 2. 2016 council calendar 3. Chapter Reports A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent agenda. Motion passed unanimously 9:20 am President s Comments Lee Lee read the preamble from the MWA bylaws and takes a moment to reflect on several MWA successes in 2015 including but not limited to: - Badger Two Medicine - Helena Travel Plan - Bitterroot Travel Plan - Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act - Buttes, Badlands, Breaks Map and weed removal project in Pryor Mountains - Island Range chapter working on partnerships with CM Russell Museum - Outside Magazine MWA recognized as 44 th in country as best place to work. - New compensation plan and organizational map - Young people on the Wild Divide Chapter board - Success in the Whitefish Range - Public Lands Rally in February - Defeating 20 public land bills in the Montana state legislation - Two active student groups at UM and MSU - Financial strength - Record number of CDT Montana trail projects. 9:30 am Executive Director s Report and Discussion Brian Brian showed a state map on the large screen and reminds everyone that this work is lifelong meaningful conservation work and takes multiple generations to solve. MWA works so that when a window of opportunity emerges we are ready to act. We will do what we can in our lifetime and the next generation will stand on our shoulders and pick up our work. Brian asked for all Council members to govern while looking at the organization as a whole. It is not possible to have the same level of work in the whole state at the same time. Our strategic drivers are forest plans, resource management plans and strategic partnerships. We are able to operate at higher degrees of capacity given specific funding opportunities.
Legislative Context The polarized Congress makes it difficult to pass legislation but there are small windows of opportunity. What s going on in Congress? 1. Reauthorization of the land and water conservation fund. Montana has benefited from this fund and our delegation is focused on this task. 2. The U.S. Forest Service is not operating at a high level because their budget has shrunk over the years. The formula to fund wildfire suppression ends up shrinking their overall budget. This fact helps reinforce the argument that the U.S. Forest Service in non- functioning. This problem is playing out all across the west. Congress is trying to fix the funding formula to be able to have more discretionary funds via the Fire Funding bill. Congress needs to get these things resolved to clear the deck for our projects Senator Tester has done what he can to get the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act (FJRA) into the fire- funding bill. But the Obama Administration doesn t want any place based legislation in the fire- funding bill because they don t want more opposition. The fire- funding bill is not the right vehicle for place- based legislation right now. We are entering into an election year and there are a number of Senate races to watch. It is likely that any movement on legislative proposals will grind to a halt during the election year. Senator Tester is now looking at ways of moving parts of FJRA like the Blackfoot Clearwater. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project (BCSP) has strong local support. This landscape and proposal might be introduced as a stand along piece of legislation. There is also the possibility that the Upper Blackfoot River, lands north of Lincoln and Nevada Mountain could be added to the BCSP. MWA continues to face challenges in southwest Montana. This is a very challenging political landscape with not a lot of support. Sun Mountain Lumber isn t interested in FJRA anymore. We currently are unable to find agreement with them. We are going back to individual groups like the Ruby Valley Stock Growers because of our good relationships with them. In the Snowcrests they won t oppose our work but they want certainty around grazing. We need to go back to the drawing board in southwest Montana and reach out to the agricultural community and the county commissioners, without better engagement of those two groups it will be hard to move forward. We have had new conversations with Madison and Beaverhead County commissioners. They seem to be more focused on what they can do within each of their counties.
Charlie O'Leary commented on his frustration for the lack on movement in southwest Montana, he is interested in freestanding bills. Charlie discussed possible additions to the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness. Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Brian reported that the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders (MWA, the Yaak Valley Forest Council, Stoltz Lumber, Chaz Vincent, Mark Peck, the school district, the Troy Snowmobile Club and others) recently met. This group has been in discussions about timber management, motorized use, and Wilderness designation on the Kootenai. This area has a 30- year history of conflict with these issues and was once ground zero for the timber wars. Amy Robinson has done a lot of work in Lincoln County and has invested heavily in Kootenai Forest Stakeholders group. The group all signed off on their recommendations, which would add another 94,000 acres of Wilderness to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, recommend 35,000 acres of Wilderness to the Montana side of the Scotchman Peaks and 36,000 acres to the Yaak Rodrick Mountain and Grizzly Peak. This is a total of 180,000 acres of Wilderness recommended by this partnership. The group also recommended 56,000 acres of snowmobile trails. Guidelines for timber management were also identified. Now the partnership will build these recommendations into a legislative proposal. Amy Robinson has done an incredible job on this partnership but is also stretched between the Whitefish Range Partnership and Flathead Forest Planning. Ashley South in Libby is working 28 hours per week and we also have a part- time fellow in Whitefish. Badger Two Medicine We are hopeful the Department of the Interior will cancel the oil and gas leases in the Badger Two Medicine. All of our intelligence tells us they plan to cancel all the leases. There are four leases totaling 45,000 acres. Solenex has asked Judge Leon to work out a settlement. If they can t work out a settlement then we ll be in legal battle. We have revived our 1999 lawsuit to challenge the validity of the leases. Tim Presso from Earthjustice will advise us on how to move forward. Upon cancellation of the leases we could state working on a campaign for National Monument status but this movement has to come from the tribe. It will completely change the political dynamics to have this movement come from the Blackfeet Tribe instead of conservation groups. Yve Bardwell asked who would manage the land if it became a National Monument? Brian responded that National Monument status provides great flexibility for management. A National Monument is much more attractive than Wilderness designation. There would probably be some element of co- management. A management plan would be developed. Brian closes by reminding the council that we are participating in five different forest planning process in the Gallatin- Custer, Flathead, Helena- Lewis and Clark,
and Lolo National Forests and the BLM Resource Management Plan in Lewistown. This is a tremendous amount to manage for the organization. 10:48 Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan Lee The Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan was recently completed. Several MWA members and staff participated in the travel plan process. Motorized interests opposing the travel plan filed a lawsuit a couple of weeks ago. Our Litigation Committee voted 7-0, with one member yet to vote, in favor of signing on in support of the Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan. Daphne reported that this forest supervisor has been beaten up over this travel plan and we need to have her back. The power of our relationships with the BNF is making all the difference. Lee called for a motion to approve the recommendation by the Litigation committee to support the Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan. A motion was made and seconded to sign on in support the Bitterroot National Forest Travel Plan. Motion Passed Unanimously 10:51 am Break 11:00 am Treasurer s Report and Discussion Wayne Wayne presented the October financial statements. On the balance sheet we moved funds into investment accounts. We moved $403,000 out of the Council designated operating funds and into Vangaurd. A motion was made and seconded to approve the October financials. Motion Passed Unanimously The Finance Committee would like to update our investment policy by removing funds that have been closed in D.A. Davidson and reducing the operating funds required on hand from four months to two months. If we need more cash we can access our funds quickly and replenish our cash in one or two business days. A motion was made and seconded to update and simplify our investment policy. Motion Passed Unanimously We know we are going to be short $50,000 in this year s budget because of losing support from two foundations. The staff has identified expenses within this year s budget to cut. We have been able to collectively identify $47,000 in savings. We also have a position vacancy so we are able to recoup this shortfall. Brian explained that in the last twelve months of the Obama administration many funders are shifting their support to National Monument campaigns in other states. We lost $35,000 from the Conservation Alliance to this movement. Another foundation decided to fund us at half of what they did last year. These two losses
totaled $50,000. Also there is uncertainty in the pending election. Some funders are signaling that they don t want to invest in place- based campaigns until then learn the outcome of the election. We have a diverse portfolio of work and so we can ride the ebb and flow of funding. We are lucky to have healthy reserves. The draft audit is complete and the Finance committee will meet soon to review the audit. The Finance committee will continue to discuss the excess of chapter funds. The Finance committee needs to do a better job about communicating their expectations for chapter funds. Daphne requested that when the Finance Committee takes on the issue again that they reach out the CRC and include chapter representatives and presidents in the discussions. Wayne closed by saying if anyone has questions, concerns or thoughts on financial matters please call and visit. He has an open door policy. 11:25 am Report of Ballot Results and Council self and full evaluations Patti & Scott Ballot Results Patti reported that we received back 406 ballots for council nominations. 355 via the mail and 51 voted online via our survey monkey ballot. The CEC will consider doing an eblast and a mailing next year. Approved by our members for at- large council members for three- year terms are are Debo Powers, John Larson, and Steve Holland. Wayne Gardella was approved for a one- year term as Treasurer. Council Evaluations The CEC conducted the full and self- evaluations surveys via survey monkey this year. We received 18 responses out of 28 council members possible. We would like to have more responses in the future. The overall tone and content of the council evaluations were very positive. The CEC focused our discussion on recurring and persistent issues of concern that appeared in the survey results. Examples of such issues include: too much meeting time spent on reports, especially from staff and chapters; too little time spent in genuinely generative discussion; and failure to make the best use of all the talents, skills and experiences that council members have to offer The CEC is offering a few specific suggestions to share with the council that, hopefully, will begin to address these issues. Similar suggestions also appeared on several council evaluation forms. We suggest: Size of the council There have been suggestions over the years to reduce the size of the council. This can potentially help with promoting generative discussion. This also may help to engage everyone at higher level. Currently we have three officers, fourteen at- large
members, six Chapter Representatives and six Presidents totaling 29 Council members. Questions are: What are the strengths of having a council this size? What are the limitations? Is this a subject that warrants further discussion? Council comments include: Alan believes the Council is too large. Bill thinks the generative discussions are attractive. Ruth thinks the size of the Council is also reflective of the state itself. We may not hear from people in various parts of the state. Possibly lose diversity with smaller Council size. Rick thinks the current size of Council reflects the diversity and scope of the organization. Addrien thinks it is a Council members responsibility to become engaged. Greg thinks much business could be conducted via conference call instead of meeting time. Gerry suggests dividing into groups during meetings for greater discussion. Rita s experience hasn t been stifled by the size of the group because it is run well. Rita likes the bigger group for diversity of people. Role of committees Patti reviewed the role of committees. A lot of work is done at the committee level. She asked what type of work would the council like committees to bring forth to meetings. Wayne thinks there are a lot of moving parts. There is always going to be the need for the the business of business We always have to do certain business items but then perhaps we could facilitate breakout sessions of different committees. This could cut back the amount of reports and it becomes more session focused. Committees could divide up and get more efficient in what they are doing and thus give Council more time for open discussion. From Alan s perspective the work of the EEC rarely manifests itself at Council meetings. Substantive discussion is hard with this size of group. The purpose of committees is to do the work of the Council. Every Council meeting needs to have a committee update if there is something to report. Mark believes the role of committees is doing the work of the council. It is worth revisiting the central work of the committees. What is it the committees are doing? Bernie wants more discussion and less reports. Written reports could be developed and included in the consent agenda. He would also like to see more chance for these committees to meet in person. Patti suggested using more technology to bring us together. Chapter Reports Scott discussed the Chapter Reports and possibly limiting reports and information sharing during meetings to those items for which the council is expected to make a
decision. For example, it is preferable to have council members read chapter reports in advance and spend meeting time discussing chapter- related issues brought forward by the Chapter Relations Committee that require council decisions. Staff Reports Use staff reports to provide the council with information it needs to make decisions. Having staff provide program updates during council meetings runs the risk of blurring roles and responsibilities delineated in our governance model. How much do we want to hear from the staff? John thinks there is a good balance of staff reports. Rita asked how into the weeds does the council need to know about what staff is doing. Daphne reminded everyone that staff reports are at the discretion of the ED. The bottom line is that our governance says obtain regular reports. Need to use our electronic communications more than we ve done in the past. Council Training Focus council training on issues genuinely related to board (policy/governance) versus staff (managerial/administrative/programmatic) roles. How do we tailor council trainings to the needs of our council? Suggestions include: Governance Training Orientation training How to read a balance sheet Trainings in negotiations Public presentations Patti reported that a group of CEC committee members are reviewing the bylaws over the next year. Additional Comment Chapters can submit their newsletters to Kassia for updating their chapter page at wildmontana.org. 12:10 am Updated Chapter Charter Discussion Daphne The chapter charter has not been revised since May of 2009. In looking at the document when compared to chapter bylaws. We need to bring alignment to this document. This is an agreement between state council and the chapters. The main points that have been changed include: - Chapter s will adopt MWA mission statement but can create their own mission statement. - How chapters are formed and chapter boards are elected. Chapters must have one annual meeting per year where board members are voted on. - Chapter s can write bylaws and the CRC must approve them. - Chapter s can make their own policies and protocols.
- - - - Put language in charter that says Chapter Presidents are encouraged but not required to attend Council meetings. Chapter Representatives are still fully functioning members of the council. No change to financial management. Chapter boards reviews staff work plans. This has been changed in accordance with our governance policy. Field staff is encouraged to share relevant information about their work plans with chapters. Questions Barb asked if there a requirement that the chapter maintain records. Chapters are encouraged to maintain all newsletters that can be easily accessed. Minutes of meetings are sent to Laura. Barb suggests the need add language in the chapter activities section about record keeping. The Chapter Charter could be approved after adding the record keeping function. Daphne stated that the CRC will work more on the document and bring it back to the February meeting for approval. 12:00 pm Lunch Laura reported on the location of the staff council retreat on May 20-22, 2016. The event will be located in Lincoln at the Cane Ridge West Retreat Center. This will be a very cost effective place to meet. There is camping, cabins, shower houses, a large main lodge and lots of activities outside like fishing, basketball, baseball, fire pits, horse shoes, etc. Should be a fun location and very central for folks to travel. Gerry reported that Wild Fest 2016 planning is coming along nicely. The event will be in Great Falls at Giant Springs State Park. There is a large planning committee made up of Great Falls volunteers and IRC board members. 1:00 pm Chapter Effectiveness Discussion Lee From Lee s viewpoint as Council President he enjoys seeing successes being generated by chapters, staff, and council. One of the most important opportunities he sees involves chapters. I believe the recent Chapter Training organized by Len and our Chapter Relations Committee was an important first step. Lee believes the Council needs to address the following five issues: 1) Sustained leadership within chapters. 2) Our Flathead Kootenai chapter is hanging in there thanks to John, Amy, Greg and others, but otherwise is not a functioning chapter. 3) With six chapters attempting to cover our state, the vast majority of communities don t benefit from having a chapter. That includes southwest Montana and large areas east of Billings. 4) MWA membership has remained steady for the past 10 years. There hasn t been a connection between our accomplishments and growing influence on membership. 5) The first Strategic Direction listed in our Strategic Plan is:
Outreach and Mobilization; Share the values of wilderness and wild lands and their positive impacts on communities. Build broad based bipartisan support for wilderness protection through outreach and mobilization of influential constituencies. The words chapter or membership are not used in the goals or objectives regarding the Outreach and Mobilization strategic direction. Discussion Greg asked about the purpose for chapters. Gerry responded that the Chapters are the organizations grassroots. Chapters provide members with the connection to the organization and mission. Bill stated that in the Helena area 2% of the population are members. There are no Lincoln members or Augusta members. Bill would like to work to get 2% membership in each of the rural communities in the Wild Divide Chapter region. Mark asked what does it mean to be a member? We need to tell people what it means to be a member of MWA. Spell it out. He thinks membership should be a higher priority and wants to have a membership base that is powerful. Gerry mentioned that we used to have a membership committee. Follow up with members is so important. We need to engage them more. Membership is personal. Make it personal. Brian explained that numbers matter. It is very powerful to say that we have 3500 households. Our delegation listens to those types of number. He also says that you never know when a $10 member can be a $10,000 donor. Members also give us a pool of additional activists. Addrien talked about ways to get membership contributions quickly and easily with business cards. She puts a barcode on the back of it that links to a paypal account. With a card you have an immediate way to pay for membership. You have to make it immediate, otherwise people forget. Leadership Succession At the Council level we do a lot of succession planning. This council is successful because we have sustained leadership but the organization struggles to have sustained leadership in many of the chapters. Gerry states that we need to engage people right away and give a person a task they are interested in. That person will be on track to become more engaged. Chapters simply don t have the numbers to have effective nominating committees. From Lee s point of view the Island Range Chapter has the best leadership succession process and it happens on an ongoing basis. You have to make things fun for example the Shining Mountains Chapter has dinner and beer at every board meeting.
Lee asked how we extend the benefits of membership to all parts of the state. Again the Island Range Chapter works with smaller communities through their ambassadors. They find a volunteer in a smaller community who wants to be involved as an advocate or point person for their area. Laura mentioned using dues share money to help recruit and make a personal connection with new members. Perhaps use some of the money to employee individual(s) to help with recruitment and retention. Brian thinks Kassia s and Kelsee s work both help. Kelsee s work is routine and mechanic. And Kassia s marketing plan is wide and supports membership. Direct one on one engagement is the most productive way to engage members. Wilderness Walks are a wonderful way to meet with people, get to know them and follow up with them afterwards. People don t want to feel accosted. Walks and Wilderness And programs are a soft sell. How do we grow membership? Make it a priority. During the next Strategic Plan Revision the Council should really consider giving membership more attention. As a Council, developing an effective Strategic Plan is the most effective way of doing anything. Kelsee is fairly new in her role as membership coordinator but she ll be reaching out to chapters in the coming months to develop specific chapter membership plans. 2:08 pm Political Engagement Committee (PEC) Discussion Barb The recommendation from the PEC reads as follows: The Political Engagement Committee recognizes that the character of MWA, and the perception of MWA, must be considered during any discussion related to political effectiveness. Information gathered by the Committee, along with staff and council input, led to discussions regarding additional staff workload, funding availability, MWA member perceptions, and MWA's position in the conservation community. Consideration of those topics resulted in the following recommendations by the Committee: 1. At this time, the benefits of forming a 501(c)(4) organization do not outweigh the time and resources such an organization would require. Therefore, MWA should not seek to form a 501(c)(4) organization at this time. 2. The Committee should meet after the 2016 elections to consider whether a 501(c)(4) organization would have helped us pursue our organizational objectives. The Committee then should reconsider whether or not to proceed with the formation of a 501(c)(4) organization.
3. Given the long- term considerations necessary for MWA's continued success, the Committee should be an advisory committee of MWA, used and consulted with as deemed necessary by the President and Executive Director. Committee members: Rick Potts, Barb Harris, Bernie Rose, Brian Sybert, Len Kopec, Greg Schatz, John Larson, and Lee Boman. Discussion MWA s position in conservation community is that we are a leader and we get things done. We don t need to be a 501 (c)(4) in order to be effective. Bernie stated that he still thinks MWA should pursue a 501 (c)(4) but at this point it is too late for the 2016 election. Clayton Elliott is now part of the Montana Conservation Voters and our relationship with that entity will be good and constructive moving forward. Barb reported that the committee considered a PAC but that was met with some negative feelings. A motion was made to approve the above recommendation from the Political Engagement ah hoc Committee. Motion Passed Unanimously 2:30 pm Break 2:45 pm Discussion of Executive Director s performance Executive Session No meeting minutes taken 3:15 pm Adjourn