WRP Executive Committee Meeting
Minutes
Members Present: Tina Proctor, Mark Sytsma, John Chapman, Susan Ellis, Jim Athearn, Scott Smith
Members Absent: Mike Stone, Ted Grosholz, Blaine Parker, Nate Dechoretz, Dwight Williamson
Next call: December 12, 2002, 9:00 Pacific Time
1. WRP Meeting
The Committee discussed the WRP meeting and made suggestions on how to improve it. Everyone thinks the “Roundtable” portion of the meeting is important and we want to continue it and would like to come up with a way to make it shorter and smoother. Ideas are: to have a role call to assure that the member representatives or alternates are allowed to speak first; to have each person submit a ½ page with bullets prior to the meeting so that it can be compiled and passed out; follow the roundtable with a long break so people can talk; some kind of timing mechanism but we aren’t sure what yet.
There was a suggestion that we have everyone quickly introduce themselves at the beginning.
There was a suggestion that we have specialized presentations in the evening so not everyone would have to attend.
Concern was expressed that we tried to cover too many topics.
Tina will get volunteers for an ad hoc “Annual Meeting Committee” for next year, and planning will begin earlier than it did this year.
2. Work Plans
Tina sent out a draft of the Work Plan developed at the meeting in Salt Lake City. The Committee discussed details of getting proposals to cover the approved projects which will be reviewed by the Executive Committee. Proposals will include scope of work, time-line and budget. More information is needed on some of the projects and then the Work Plan will be sent out to the members.
One project recommended by the Coastal Committee is to add information to the list of experts in the Appendix of the Rapid Response Plan. Susan suggested that UC-Davis has a funded project which provides graduate students to do invasive species research. She will check to see if this would be a project that they could cover.
There was a lengthy discussion about the need for a list of research priorities and how to accomplish that. Mark and John suggested that we get researchers together at a symposium and produce a product like “Research Priorities for Conservation Biology” published by Island Press. Scott made the point that we need to be working with policy and regulatory people also and that we need to determine how to integrate the two. The Committee decided that the proper forum for discussing a symposium was during the Inland and Coastal Committee conference calls.
The Committee directed Tina to develop a new time-line for committee planning which would request that the inland and coastal committees have their draft work plans for FY2004 completed by May, a review by the Executive Committee by July and finalization at the annual meeting in September. This will allow more time for planning and also for consideration of WRP priorities as a whole.
It was also suggested that there is a need for a list of members of each of the committees.
3. State Accomplishments
Scott is working on incorporating the suggestions from the annual meeting into a list of what the WRP should be tracking as far as State accomplishments. He also suggested that we provide the Halting the Invasions CD produced by the Environmental Law Institute to all the state programs. Susan asked Tina to check with the states first because some of them have probably already purchased it.
4. NAISA - update
Tina and Scott wrote a draft letter to the sponsors of NAISA which supports the legislation in general but doesn’t go into detail. It was approved by the Executive Committee and will be sent out next week. The latest communication from the Northeast-Midwest Institute mentions that House Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans will be conducting a hearing on NAISA during November – most likely after the elections but before Thanksgiving.
5. Spartina Workshop
Scott suggested that there is a need for a workshop on Spartina and that we might combine it with the next WRP meeting in September, 2003. The Committee decided not to discuss this in depth now but it will be brought up during the planning for the meeting.
6. Report to ANS Task Force
Scott will give the WRP update at the ANS Task Force meeting discussing what has been accomplished and what we plan to do in FY 2003. Tina suggested that he might allow Kim Webb a few minutes to talk about the development of the Rapid Response Plan since she worked on its development. Scott spoke with Sharon Gross about a letter from the Task Force to the Governor of Hawaii asking for an appointment of a representative to the WRP. She said they would get one out promptly since the next Task Force meeting is in Hawaii.
7. Next conference call
The next conference call will be December 12, because the November call is scheduled at the same time as the ANS Task Force meeting in Honolulu. The Committee will review any proposals for funding by e-mail between now and then.
8. Announcement: Jim Athearn mentioned that the 12th International ANS meeting will likely be in New Orleans in November 2003.
October 10, 2002