Crook County Natural Resource District

Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD)

October 6th Regular Board Meeting Minutes

CALL MEETING TO ORDER at 12:07 pm by Chairman Wayne Garman at the Sundance USDA Service Center. A conference line was also open for attendance.

ATTENDANCE

Board: Wayne Garman, Wanda Burget (call in), Lily Altaffer, Ted Parsons, Kim Fundaun

Employees: Sarah Anderson, Bridget Helms, Carmen Horne-McIntyre (Call in)

Guests: NRCS District Conservationist Keela Deaton (call in), FSA Executive Director Sarah Hanlon

OPEN ISSUES

NRCS Update- Ms. Deaton stated the NRCS new fiscal year began on October 1. This year, Crook County received 42% of the funds available to this region. Her detail with the soil division ends on October 26. She’s currently working on a two-year trial project for soils deficient in Phosphorus in the county.

FSA Update- Ms. Hanlon thanked the board for the use of the Facebook page for her updates to the public. Currently in her office they are working on fall acreage reports, ARC PLC payments, taking NAP notices of loss, CFAP round 2, and the upcoming County Committee election. Her new employee should be starting October 14.

Water Quality

Ms. McIntyre has completed the sampling season for this year. The ammonia chloride and e coli test results were presented. An annual summary will be prepared later this fall. A 319 application was submitted to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The CCNRD will be partnering with the Campbell County Conservation District under this proposal, with the CCRND managing any funds received. The proposal included funding for continued education and outreach efforts, monitoring and range and water improvement projects. A Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA) water quality contract has been received; the award is for $20,000 to implement a BMP project and initiate nutrient monitoring. Ms. McIntyre is reviewing the DOWL plans for the Crook County Rural Water Study and the Crook County Natural Resource Management plan. She has one WDA grant closing out this month on October 30. Quarterly reporting is also taking place now. Project applications will also be reviewed and ranked shortly.

Forest Health

CAFA update Ms. Anderson has contractors working on projects. She has been writing fire mitigation plans.

Bark beetle update Ms. Anderson stated some projects have been delayed because of dry conditions and fire hazards. Two contracts have changed due to land sales. Mapping will be finalized this week. Funds are totally allocated for this grant.

The Wildland Urban Interface grant proposal has been drafted. The match for this grant is 50/50, so landowner match is still the challenge Ms. Anderson is trying to overcome by using other sources of match. Projects that can be completed with this grant would be thinning, defensible space and fuel breaks. She is hoping to have it finalized this week.

Trails grant update Ms. Anderson presented the draft signage for the trails and they were discussed. Ms. Anderson noted suggestions. She has been working diligently with the Forest Service to complete this project.

Financials

Financial Voucher A motion to pay the bills as presented was made by Ms. Altaffer and seconded by Mr. Fundaun. Motion carried. All checks were signed. The bank reconciliation report was reviewed and signed.

Approve September 1st Minutes A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made by Mr. Parsons and seconded by Ms. Altaffer. Motion carried.

Office Manager update

The Long-Range Plan needs to be advertised by October 16 for the 45 day comment period to conclude before the December 1 meeting. Ideas for formatting of the plan were discussed. Staff is still finalizing and will provide to the Board next week. The Annual Plan of Work and Annual reports are also in progress. The audit by Ketel Thorstenson is nearing completion.

NEW ISSUES

E-Cycling Ms. Helms provided the totals for the events. 4,854 was collected in Sundance and 3,749 was collected in Hulett for a total of 8,603 pounds. Ideas for future events were discussed.

Area 1 Meeting Ms. Anderson, Mr. Garman, Mr. Fundaun and Ms. Altaffer attended the Area 1 meeting in Buffalo, WY on September 24.

WACD Convention Registrations begin now at a discounted rate through November 1. Auction items were discussed and need to be secured as soon as possible for advertising ahead of convention.

OTHER BUSINESS

Time off requests for Bridget Helms (11/5) and Sarah Anderson (10/15) were approved.

Ms. Burget has reviewed the draft county land use plan and has found no issues.

Motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Fundaun at 2:44 pm.

Office Manager Signature:

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Chairman Signature:

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