Minutes
Gustavus Land Legacy
September 6, 2002
Gustavus Community Association Building, 9/6/02, 6:13 p.m.
Present: Hank Lentfer, Meadow Brook, Kim Ney, Chris Gabriele, Mike Taylor, Greg Streveler, Nathan Borson, Tania Lewis, Eric Syrene
Unofficial good news is that things are looking good for the $1 Million USFWS grant for which we applied. A group of Fish & Wildlife officials met in Washington, DC to discuss the applications and it appears that we may have made the cut. We should get official word October 1. There is a fear that these funds may be usurped for fire-fighting, as some other conservation funds have been tapped for that. This money would be used to purchase the Dude Creek West parcel using matching funds from GLL ($20,000), Ducks Unlimited ($25,000), and The Nature Conservancy ($300,000). Greg: This parcel is amazing wildlife country.
Greg and Meadow entertained visitors from the Mental Health Trust. Alison is in charge of the 2,000 acres they will be keeping, and Doug was checking out the remaining lands (those that are covered by the purchase agreement with The Nature Conservancy).
From the meeting it became apparent that there are still some questions. Hank will go to Anchorage to meet with MHT and TNC together (including their new development director). The membership agreed that would be a good idea. Questions include:
- Map inconsistencies
- Access. MHT is keeping some lands that will block some of the easiest access to parcels TNC will purchase.
- Accreted lands -- apparently DNR believes it owns the accreted lands, not MHT.
- Purchase agreement expires in March, 2003. Renew as is or re-negotiate the agreement.
The not-so-good news is that funding for the remaining parcels is not obviously forthcoming; the stock market is down, affecting private funds, and federal dollars are being siphoned off for fire fighting. So another part of Hank's mission to Anchorage will be to re-focus the attention of the Conservancy on this project. We thought after the last TNC board meeting approving the project we might see some action from them but they've been quiet.
Meadow conducted a mid-course check on the legacy. Is our management philosophy still on-track? Are we still comfortable with our priorities for land purchase? Are we willing to consider other ownerships besides TNC if that's how things would work funding-wise (i.e. ADF&G). It was generally agreed that we still have the same goals and we need to stay open to all possibilities that will achieve our goal. Meadow said that federal ownership probably would not be considered, however. There was positive feedback about the FAQ sent with the last electric bill and the summer's Saturday Hikes series, which averaged about 10 participants (ranging from 2 to 22). Many of the hikers do not come to these meetings.
Kim asked about preventing trail damage from ORV use. Given that we cannot deny use of the section-line, some are in favor of a muck-hole to discourage motorized visitors rather than a developed trail that might actually increase use. There would be more control on an access route that was not on a right-of-way. Those sorts of restrictions would be addressed in the management plan that we are committed to writing if TNC purchases the lands. Under the management policy, uses may be restricted only if they adversely affect the wildlife or cause irreconcilable conflict with other users.
Fundraising. Should we stop? There have been complaints about the number of fundraisers and the effect on other community fundraising efforts. But it serves other purposes including education, entertainment, and just keeping up the momentum. Plan to have a great celebration if/when the first grant comes through. Continue low-level fundraising efforts working towards our goal of $100,000. Note: the brochures have not worked; we got essentially nothing from visitors this summer. Add PayPal "donate now" button on web site. There are other left-over ideas from last year's fundraising committee. Fundraising meeting to be announced after Hank's October trip to Anchorage.
Meeting Adjourned 1930.
Nathan Borson