Attendees:
Kathlean Wolf
Karen Hickel
Blair Panhorst
Paul Noeldner
Jonathan Santana
Dolores Kester
Tim Nelson
Mike Rewey
Jack Hurst
Trish Okane
Marlene Hardick
Jim Carrier
Urban Tree Alliance: Patricia Chakravorty—canceled, sick.
Approval given from Parks Department. As per original agreement, Wild Warner volunteers will dig holes and water trees.
Craig Klinke with City Parks needs to be contacted about locations; our recommendations about species will be considered.
Madison Area College: Jonathan
So far, has talked with kids about making things on March 28th; 2015, making bird or bee houses, etc. Discussion determined that construction is too complex to set up in the amount of time available. Wild Warner wants trash pick-up and records of early signs of Spring.
Expecting 10-15 students; he will put it out to all students and may get more students who want volunteer hours. Jonathan is supervising students.
Need bags, gloves, dumpster, spikes.
April 18th preferred activity is tree-planting. If Parks digs holes for trees on Friday, we can plant on Saturday. Tim will get ahold of the Patricia Chakravorty and Craig Klinke—will plan on the April 18th to be tree planting.
Addendum: This activity will most likely not work on this date due to timing of tree planting and digging of holes.
Students will be invited to participate in Tree-Week kickoff on Sunday the 19th.
Informational and membership brochure Update: Blair
Membership: dues-paying members can vote on issues. There are 85 people on the email list; we can send out requests for re-upping membership and fundraising.
Unanswered question: Who has the spread sheet on members and membership payments 2015?
Mock-up / first draft of brochure was submitted for correction, comments and input. Suggestions offered by each person in attendance were recorded. Trish Okane and others will email information and edits, all other Board Members were invited to email corrections and suggestions.
We need to price out printing of 500 for 14” x 11” black-and-white brochures.
Karen suggests having many brochures on-hand at the June 28th Northside Fourth of July celebration. Paul and Karen and Blair have a list of places to put brochures out.
Internet presence:
Facebook is currently a closed group that requires administration approval to join. Discussed opening it up to gain more members. The majority view is to keep it closed to maintain control over Wild Warner’s integrity and public image.
Unanswered question: Who is managing the email list? We need to decide this solidly. Paul mentioned mailchimp, an email listserve that allows people to add themselves.
Projects/ Calendar Update:
Need to publicize Earth Day and Arbor Day details; Invite media, FB page, Northside News, Madison Northside. Marlene will assist with publicity.
Paul sent around his article he wrote. I will also write a small blurb for the Northside News about my “Mercy of Trees” photography project. Email Aba directly to ask, Marlene will be help with contacts.
Nature Center/ Walks: Paul
Dedicate the Nature Center on April 19th.
Wood for the bookshelves was purchased for $385. (Need to inquire about reimbursement?) Paul and Kathlean will build them.
Donations formerly originally intended to go toward the professionally-constructed bookshelf ($3500) will instead fund other display items for Nature Center.
Paul talked with Arboretum and Aldo Leopold about developing our Nature Center; bird-cam with display at the center, Adventurer Backpacks, DVD’s, etc.
Trish was asked if there’s any way to get some skeleton stuff
Walks going well. Aba wrote a piece about getting people out in Nature.
Parks can certify people to be “Steward” / Nature Docents. Primary qualifications is “I would like to lead Nature Walks.” Parks will provide other training opportunities.
Trish’s program—we’re in the partnership with Anke and the Nelson Institute / University to do the Explorer’s program. She points out that Paul is a major factor of why this exists.
Website Facelift/ Update: Jonathan
Jonathan has added some templates in WordPress to change the backgrounds, layout, buttons, etc. Needs to meet with Jim about what changes to actually make. Jan Axleson is a resource for Jonathan who could help with the WordPress design.
The account for the website is currently paid through Jim’s account. It needs to be switched to someone else, and fee payment arranged.
Need for members to commit to Park Commissioner’s meeting (2nd Wednesday of every month)
Meetings are at 6:30 p.m. often held at the Water Utility; need to attend or at least monitor the agenda. This is how we’ve been able to advocate for ecologically sound policies in the past, and is also a good learning experience for attendees. Agenda posted a week before on the City website. Tim, Kathlean, Karen, and Marlene agreed to attend in rotation as needed.
Update on grant for gardening: Kathlean
Grant is not going to be integrated with Wild Warner. In the future, we might integrate/expand.
Kathlean mentioned Bird Atlas 2015, Tree Inventory, for those who might be interested in exploring these activities in the future. Might invite Tree Inventory project director from Atwood as a speaker in the future.
Grant for the Lagoon: Jack
Sally Swanson’s $25,000 grant has probably been approved.
Madison Fishing Expo isn’t going to happen again after this. So the money for Jack’s fishing program is up in the air; some benefit from what’s there right now, but we’ll need to replace that funding. Fish prize … Jack is having problems with funding right now. Jack has a raffle going.
April 19th Arbor Day/Earth Day/Bird City: Paul
Mark your calendars. Paul has a lot of things planned; he will present at next meeting.
Invite Jacob Tisue to next meeting. What do we want to ask him?
Can Wild Warner begin receiving mail at the Rec Center?
What is his vision for the park, the Nature Center, the interaction between the park and the Rec Center?
What became of the issue of pesticide use around the Rec Center grounds?
General Park questions/comments:
Jim: Question of salting on trails. Need to walk Castle Creek to pick up trash and check the condition of the creek.
Kathlean: undertaking project to photograph the stumps of all trees that have been cut down in the park.
Bird and animal sightings:
robins, ducks, geese, bluebirds both sighted and heard, red-tail hawks, brown creepers, 15 deer in 2 herds near Jack, 9 deer at his neighbor’s
Unconfirmed sightings of a 4 foot tall barn-owl (Jonathan) and a squirrel wearing underpants (Tim).