The Board of Directors of the New York State Ornithological
Association, Inc. (NYSOA) met at Nuthatch Hollow in Vestal on February
7, 2009. The meeting was called to order by President Bill Ostrander
at 10:00 a.m.
Present were Bob Adamo, Tim Baird, Joan
Collins, Jane Graves, Gail
Kirch, Victor Lamoureux, Berna Lincoln,
Stan Lincoln, Bob Mauceli, Bill Ostrander, Bill
Reeves, and Kathy Schneider. Phyllis
Jones, John Ozard, Andy Mason, and Carena
Pooth attended via teleconference.
SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS:
- Approved November 2008 Board Meeting minutes. (Item 1)
- Approved the 2009 NYSOA Budget. (Item 4 under Finance Committee)
1. Minutes – Kathy Schneider made a motion
to accept the November 2008 meeting minutes with changes. Jane
Graves seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.
2. President’s Report – Bill Ostrander
reviewed the NYSOA Committee lists. Manny Levine’s name
should be taken off the Publications and Key Contacts lists. Carena
Pooth should be added to the Publications Committee, with Tim Baird
as Chair. John Confer and Joan Collins should be added to the
Conservation Committee.
3. Treasurer’s Report – Bill Reeves
gave the Treasurer’s Report. With regard to the motion passed
during the November 1, 2008 board meeting: he closed the Atlas Fund
and moved the balance to the General Memorial Fund; and he closed the
Member Clubs Awards Fund and moved the balance to the General Operating
Fund. Bill also gave financial details for the NYS Young Birders’ Club. He
also noted that 6 Kingbird issues went out last year when 7 were budgeted.
4. Committee Reports
Membership – Bob Mauceli gave a PowerPoint
presentation titled, “NYSOA Membership Building”. (The
Membership Committee participated in a Teleworkshop on February 21, 2008
and the presentation was their report to the board.) Memberships
have declined, and there are no new clubs joining NYSOA. The committee
believes the problem is a communication problem. They would like
to develop membership campaign objectives and target audiences. Many
discussions ensued including offering electronic options for publications
(with the advantage of color), offering online subscriptions and renewals,
and identifying potential groups to target for new membership. The
committee has asked that board members send suggestions for increasing
membership. They would also like to see a position created – “Director
of Club Relations” to enhance regular communication with member
clubs. Berna Lincoln reported that there are 552 individual NYSOA
members, 44 clubs, and 50 life members.
New York State Young
Birders Club (NYSYBC) – Carena Pooth gave the
report on the NYSYBC. They currently have $969. Memberships
include: 12 young birders, 13 adults, and 10 clubs. Carena
reviewed which NYSOA member clubs have had presentations to introduce
the NYSYBC. Seven young birders and 7 parents recently held
a 4-hour meeting in Stoney kill, and a 2-hour field trip during
the Waterfowl Count. Carena listed the NYSYBC officers. The
students are putting up flyers and writing articles for club members’ newsletters. Publicity
for the new group will run in several magazines including The
Conservationist and Wild Bird Magazine. They
hope to hold one field trip a month in partnership with a member
club. Carena also provided a written report of NYSYBC website
updates.
Publications – Tim
Baird reported that the January New York Birders newsletter
issue is out. Shai Mitra gave an update on the Kingbird. Berna
reported that issue 58-3 may be at the printers and three weeks away
from coming out. She said that publication of the Kingbird is
6 months behind, which confuses membership tasks and causes headaches. Bill
Ostrander will ask Shai for a schedule.
Web site and eBird – Carena
Pooth provided a written report of NYSOA website updates. It is
hard to go between NY eBird and the home page of eBird, and it is a problem
to try and get data out of NY eBird in a form that can be used. A
suggestion was made to have Bob Spahn and a person from eBird attend
our next board meeting to discuss the problems.
Atlas 2000 – John
Ozard reported that the NYS Museum is so happy with the Atlas exhibit,
that they have extended it to August 16th! After that date, the
exhibit will begin to travel to other locations in the NY, with the Roger
Tory Peterson Institute next in line. The Museum plans to scale
the exhibit so it will be portable for travel. Cornell is pleased
with sale of The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State: 900
pre-orders, and 1700 books sold by January! John also reported
that the DEC will pay the Museum for part of the exhibit. Some
of the original art is owned by the artists, and some artifacts came
from the Museum.
Conservation – Andy
Mason reported that there are no new issues since the last meeting. He
is working on a second draft of the NYSOA Conservation Policy. Andy
gave an update on the mining issue occurring at the edge of the Iroquois
National Refuge raised by Brenda Best at the last board meeting. There
will be a draft Environmental Impact Statement on this project out
in the spring.
Bylaws – Berna
Lincoln reported no new updates.
Awards – Andy
Mason reported no new updates.
NYSARC – Bill
Ostrander reported no new updates.
Archives – Phyllis
Jones reported that she updated indexing for the Kingbird, New
York Birders, and the minutes. Beginning in September, Phyllis
will be wintering in Florida. She will be stepping down as Archives
Committee Chair and needs a replacement. The person should be
detail oriented (such as a Librarian), and send information to Cornell
every 3 years.
Nominating – Kathy
Schneider reported no new updates.
Finance Committee – Berna
Lincoln presented the 2009 General Operating Fund Budget. Kathy
Schneider made a motion to accept the budget, and Bob Adamo seconded
the motion. We discussed the increasing cost of the The Kingbird, possibly
due to the color covers that were not mass produced like the old covers. Bill
Reeves and Shai Mitra will investigate the reasons for increased costs. The
budget shows income of $18,905 and expenses of $33,750. The membership
dues amount of $22 needs to be increased, but the group was reluctant
to pursue an increase during the recession. A vote on the motion
was taken, and it was unanimously passed.
5. DEC Report – John Ozard reported that
Kim Corwin is in her last week with the DEC. They hope that she
will be able to work on a new project to revise the Endangered Species
List for birds and mammals (with Federal funding).
John reported that seasonal work is up in the air due to funding. DEC
is still short of biologists from attrition and an inability to hire. Fortunately,
much of the bird work is federally funded, including the Marsh Bird Monitoring
pilot project in the Hudson Valley.
There are ~50 BCAs in the state, and the DEC lacks staff to work on
them, and funding is a question mark.
Old Business:
Annual Meeting – The board discussed
when to hold the day-long event, and decided that late September or early
October would work. Birding, lunch, and the delegate meeting were
discussed and an estimate of 50 delegates was used to plan for the event. Montezuma
and Owego were given as potential options. Gail Kirch will research
Owego, and Jane Graves will research Montezuma.
New Business:
The next board meeting will be held on April 4, 2009.
Kathy Schneider made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:14 p.m. Jane
Graves seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Collins
Recording Secretary |
