CAS Board Meeting Highlights for February 15, 2022

by Douglas Miller

Upon review and board approval, final meeting minutes are posted to the Minutes page. Following are highlights of the unapproved minutes from the February 15, 2022 CAS board meeting:

Nominating Committee

  • Shelby Thomas reports a slate of candidates is still being assembled for the next election. Jim Gast will place another call for candidates in the next Chat.

Conservation Federation of Missouri Election

  • Jim Gast reports that as a member of CFM, CAS has a vote in their upcoming board elections.

Dee Dokken moves we vote for the proposed slate of 12 CFM board candidates. Nancy Bedan seconds the motion. The motion carries.

Committee Reports

Programs

  • Nancy reports that Dr. Sarah Morris has agreed to present a warbler identification program sometime in late March or early April. The program will be jointly sponsored with the Missouri Birding Society.
  • Nancy is reserving the Twin Lakes park shelter for an April 20 program — possibly a shorebird workshop.
  • Nancy has reserved the Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary shelter for the spring picnic on May 22. Bill Mees notes the city has seeded a new prairie next to the shelter.

Education and Outreach

  • Lottie Bushmann reports that both Hog Island scholarship recipients have registered for their summer programs.
  • Lottie will be working with Missouri River Relief on a program for pre-schoolers; date TBA.
  • Lottie will help Sarah Kendrick (of U.S. Fish and Wildlife) with a program in April at the Prairie Fork Conservation Area for Columbia public school students in the Extended Educational Experiences program.

Communications

  • Allison Vaughn reports a newspaper article is in the works regarding the Brad Jacobs Memorial Motus Tower. Jim Gast volunteered to talk with the reporter.

Nature Areas

Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS)
  • Bill Mees announces the completion of the seeding project on the prairie expansion unit.
  • Bill discusses our current proposal for a deer hunt at Columbia’s Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary. No hunting will be allowed on CANS, but hunters may follow injured deer onto our land. The city needs to decide whether to include Bonnie View in the managed hunt program by the second council meeting in May or the first meeting in June. After final board review, Bill will send a letter outlining CAS’s proposal to Columbia Parks & Recreation.
  • Bill spoke with John Timmerman, a contractor who might be able to help with a prescribed burn at CANS. We’ll schedule a time to meet with him at CANS so he can look at the proposed 5-acre area. He’s currently busy, so if we can’t schedule a burn before spring, we’ll look at next autumn. CAS will install the fire lines. We’ll consult with John about who will author the burn plan and who will be on the fire crew.
  • Bill requested permission from the board to apply for another Boone Electric Community Trust grant to create a trail-side interpretive panel about pollinators. Bill will work with Allison Vaughn and Doug Miller to author and design the panel.

Allison Vaughn moves that Bill Mees proceed with the process of applying for a grant from Boone Electric Community Trust grant to create a trail-side interpretive panel about pollinators. Lottie Bushmann seconds the motion. The motion carries.

Field Trips

  • Eric Wood reviewed upcoming field trips. A trip to Eagle Bluffs is scheduled for February 19th. Allison Vaughn will lead a trip to the Rocky Top Trail at Lake of the Ozarks State Park on April 9. If no one else volunteers Eric will lead a Twilight Timberdoodle Trek and/or Prairie Garden Trust visit later in the spring. Lottie Bushmann will continue to lead First Friday trips for the next few months.