The Board of Directors of the New York State Ornithological
Association, Inc. met at Nuthatch Hollow Nature Preserve in Vestal
on April 16, 2005. The meeting was called to order at 9:43 a.m. Present
were Tim Baird, Brenda Best, Valerie Freer, Phyllis Jones,
Gail Kirch, Berna Lincoln, Andy Mason, Kevin McGowan, Bill Ostrander,
and Carena Pooth.
Summary of Action Items:
1. Approved minutes with changes of previous board
meeting. (Item 1)
2. Approved providing one-year memberships to Stoner Award nominees.
(Item 5c)
3. Approved appointment of Andy Guthrie to NYSARC. (Item 5i)
4. Elected Phyllis Jones to fill the remainder of Bob Miller’s
Director term (Item 7)
5. Requested label be placed inside Derby Hill Checklist. (Item
7)
1. Minutes of Previous Board Meeting –
Brenda Best – In the February minutes in the final paragraph
under eBird, after “...$900 annual maintenance cost”,
add “should New York Audubon fail to pay their half.”
Andy Mason made a motion to approve the draft minutes from the February
19, 2005 Board Meeting with changes. Tim Baird seconded. Approved
unanimously.
2. President’s Report – Kevin McGowan
– Kevin reports that he attended discussions with New York Audubon
and Cornell Lab of Ornithology regarding eBird. He also represented
NYSOA at two lectures.
3. Treasurer’s Report – Bill Reeves
not present. Bill has advised Kevin there are no problems.
4. DEC Report – John Ozard not present.
John’s time is currently being spent on chronic wasting disease
that has been found in deer in Oneida County.
5. Committee Reports
a. Archives – Phyllis Jones – Items
are still being collected. The new brochure has been added.
b. Atlas – Valerie Freer – At the end of March,
116 blocks remained unsurveyed and blockbusters are working where
needed. There will be a new mini-survey this year for the statistician.
Manny feels funds remaining from Bull’s Birds of New York
State should be used for the Atlas. Valerie will pursue this.
Editors are working and some artwork has been finished.
c. Awards – Andy Mason – Two certificates
have been presented (Rothman and LeTendre). Andy will provide a
list to Carena for the website. At the Annual Meeting, all certificates
of appreciation that were presented during the last year will be
mentioned. An article was placed in the April New York Birders
regarding our awards. Andy contacted Charlie Rouse regarding the
Eaton award to get the word out earlier. A list of schools and universities
will be developed (possibly the Biology Departments) for contact
regarding the Stoner Award. Bill Ostrander sent a letter to member
clubs. Bill also asked if there was a better use of “student
scholarship” money. Suggestion was made to give a one-year
free membership to nominees, especially if they don’t win
or can’t attend. Tim Baird made a motion to provide a one-year
membership in NYSOA for all nominees for the Stoner Award. Andy
Mason seconded. Approved unanimously.
d. Conservation – Andy Mason –
We reviewed Andy’s draft letter regarding deer management
and made suggestions to include a stronger statement that population
management (reduction) is needed. Andy will revise and circulate
his letter.
e. Field Trips – Bill Lee not present.
Tim reports there has been no response to our request for a new
chair for this committee. Tim feels that since he gets the club
newsletters, he could publish some of their field trips in New York
Birders. Tim will contact the clubs regarding this.
f. Finance Committee – Berna Lincoln
– No activity.
g. Membership – Brenda Best – We
currently have 653 annual plus 53 life members. Seven clubs remain
unpaid, and Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary has paid their dues for
2005 (did not pay in 2004).
h. Nominating Committee – Bill Ostrander
– The slate of officers and three Directors will be up for
election at the Annual Meeting. Slate is to be published in the
July New York Birders.
i. NYSARC – Kevin McGowan – To
replace Willie D’Anna, Kevin proposes to appoint Andy Guthrie
to NYSARC with a term ending in 2009. Andy Mason so moved with Phyllis
Jones seconding. Approved unanimously. Kevin feels that appointees
should be in place before the expiration of a term so that we do
not operate without a full complement of members on NYSARC. Gerard
Phillips is resigning his NYSARC position, and in July we will vote
on someone to serve out the remainder of Gerard’s term. Proposed
changes to NYSARC guidelines have not been finalized. Someone from
NYSARC needs to meet with the board to discuss these changes. It
is now too late to change NYSOA by-laws this year.
j. Publications – Tim Baird – The
Board feels New York Birders gets greater readership and
is getting better all the time, but Tim would like the graphics
to improve. It was felt the Annual Meeting insert in the April issue
was not detailed enough. The March Kingbird is almost ready
for publication. The June issue containing the CBC results is in
fine shape and will be back on track. Geoff LeBaron has advised
we may publish CBC results. This issue will not be larger due to
including CBC results.
k. Web site – Carena Pooth – Carena
presented a chart showing website usage for the past two years and
the number of visits has steadily grown, with March 2005 showing
almost 8,000 visits. Jeanne Skelly is working on a list of NYSARC
reports submitted by species.
6. Old Business
Change in Governance – Andy reports that
the Ad Hoc Committee was disappointed in our reaction and that they
thought we said no to a change in governance. The Board does feel
that individual member voting without club voting is not acceptable.
We also realize we would need proxy voting and that quorum size
would increase. The question remains, “How do we accomplish
individual and club voting?” Should we research other 501(c)3
organizations? There currently is no overwhelming need to change
governance and we should proceed carefully so as not to destroy
the good things already in place. This issue will be discussed with
the delegates at the Annual Meeting. Our thanks go to the Ad Hoc
Committee for their hard work.
New York eBird – No agreement is in place
yet. Kevin has talked with New York Audubon and they have committed
to pay half of the $900 annual maintenance fee and agreed to participate
in the web content of the front page. Brian Sullivan advises a new
version of eBird is due out in June with new tools. We are looking
at a probable summer opening of New York eBird. Regional filters
need to be developed with Bob Spahn, and Kevin is working on regional
maps. We will ask New York eBird to be present at the Annual Meeting
(paper session or poster or both).
7. New Business
Resignation of Director – Kevin announced
that Bob Miller has resigned his Director position due to health
reasons. His term would have expired at the Annual Meeting in September
2005. Andy Mason made a motion to nominate Phyllis Jones to fill
this vacancy until the election at the Annual Meeting. Berna Lincoln
seconded. Approved unanimously.
Birds of North America – This
publication is now online with slight enhancements, and is available
for a $40 annual subscription fee. It is regularly updated and includes
sounds, images, and new publications. Cornell Lab of Ornithology
is offering this to NYSOA as a fund-raiser. For each NYSOA member
who subscribes at the $40 level, we would get 25% ($10). An agreement
is required and we would promote BNA with materials the Lab provides
(flyers, mailings, on our website, at the Annual Meeting). This
agreement would be renewed each year. It was asked if the $10 would
apply to renewals after the first year. Kevin advises we would be
paid quarterly based on use of an access code. Carena asked if we
could offer BNA at a discounted price of $30 to anyone who joins
NYSOA. Kevin will discuss this further with the Lab and hopes to
have this ready by our July meeting.
Copyright Infringement – Brenda
was contacted and presented with a Derby Hill Checklist that copied
our Checklist of the Birds of New York State verbatim with
the exception of the hawk section. The Derby Hill Board of Directors
is asking for permission to use our checklist “after the fact.”
We decided that a stamp or label is to be placed on Page 3 stating,
“Checklist of the Birds of New York State © 2003
as approved by the New York State Avian Records Committee, is provided
by New York State Ornithological Association, Inc. (formerly Federation
of New York State Bird Clubs, Inc.), PO Box 95, Durhamville, NY
13054, www.nybirds.org.” Derby Hill will also be advised this
does not grant permission for future printings.
Phyllis Jones made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded
by Gail Kirch. Approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
