Meeting Minutes
Wednesday March 9, 2022
The meeting was virtual due to COVID-19 concerns
Attendees:
Gabrielle Oldham Michael Morgan
Kathie Jarmon Katie Kranich
John Bennett Ron Anderson
Rob Feldt Dori Murphy
Gabrielle brought the meeting to order at 6:05PM.
The February minutes were reviewed.
Motion: Gabe motioned to accept the minutes and Ron seconded. The minutes were approved with no corrections.
Treasurer’s report
John indicated there was no activity on the bank accounts, but requested reimbursement for the $100 registration for the St. Mary Anne’s Garden Market for tree giveaway and outreach, which he paid out-of-pocket.
Motion: Ron motioned to reimburse John for the $100 amount he paid to secure the 10’X10’ space. Dori seconded. The motion was approved.
John mentioned the request for funding by the Maryland Big Tree Committee, and that a check would be written as soon as he and Rob can get together. The motion was previously approved. John is very pleased by the amount of support from boards across the state.
John said the $1,500 (MBTP) request was not approved as there are no funds, otherwise probably would have been. He further stated that Anne Hairston-Strang (Acting State Forester) would like to look at alternative funding for MBTP support, as the MUCFC can’t be relied on to continuously fund the program. He further states there was some talk about legislative action, but feels it’s not going anywhere.
As far as Cecil Board funding, Ron mentioned that he had not heard from the two contacts he had reached out to.
Big Tree Program
Update:
John gave the county report, and details are provided below:
· John obtained the signed permission from the owner for BT-3978, the 293-point pin oak on which he reported last month (#6 in MD). The owner was in the hospital so it took two weeks before he could “officially” register the tree although he had verbal permission on 2/2.
·
He
did some hiking in Calvert Regional Park over three days in February and identified
5 new trees that may qualify—two mockernuts, a pignut, a pin oak, a red
maple. The last two have an old barbed
wire fence attached so he will need to get the county to remove the barbed wire
so it can be measured. The area is also
quite wet so we will wait until a drier season to measure. We can do the hickories anytime as they are
on dry land.
· John received the permission for re-measuring BT-2398, the big ginkgo in Colora. Plans should made to do a trip before we get busy with Garden Mart and Buffer in a Bag. Here’s what we have:
3 new trees at Calvert Regional Park—all very close and relatively easy
1 black cherry re-measurement at Elk Neck State Forest across from the Arboretum—a bit of a walk and some briars to cut away.
2 re-measurements in Perryville—both easy terrain, little walking
Ginkgo at Colora – easy
Northern red oak in Elkton on the bank of Big Elk Creek—a dangerous tree to measure.
That would be 8 trees—a good day’s work. That will leave the beech in Chesapeake City for which we have no permission, and the new yellow poplar in Earleville which will be a hike. The board discussed dates that could work for doing the measurements, and the 20th and 27th were picked as the best dates. John will follow up with an email and schedule. One tree in particular will be troublesome to measure and John asked Katie and climbing gear.
John brought up the potential standards for minimum circumference for sycamores. The proposed change would not allow 300 point sycamores, but instead would reflect a new limit of 70% of the current champion. John says this would eliminate many sycamores currently in the database as the new minimum would become about 350 points. John disagrees with the proposed change as it doesn’t hurt anything to measure and include them and would further eliminate about 50 trees currently in the database.
NRCC Update: Gabrielle gave the NRCC camp update:
· Gabrielle gave the report on NRCC and said there are currently 26-27 applicants with another received today (3/9). She reports that Alan Clotz with DNR Fisheries retired, but his assistant has agreed to fill in. Another DNR Wildlife staffer—Harry Spiker—also retired. Harry used to talk about bears, and Gabe isn’t sure who will cover this in the future. Also, Becky Wilson used to help with urban forestry, but may not anymore.
· Gabrielle will be going to Washington College March 19 for a workshop for 8th graders and plans to introduce them to NRCC as well.
· April 2nd is the Tome 5K
· NRCC curriculum came up, and John asked if the (Forestry Foundation) Education Committee will handle new curriculum and other details. Gabe isn’t sure, but wishes to be involved.
· John asked if there will be help [at camp] from interns, and Gabe said “yes”.
· Gabrielle reported on the MAEOE conference, which was held virtually due to COVID concerns. No one visited the NRCC “virtual booth” which was disappointing.
· She also reported that there are currently no Cecil NRCC applicants. But the Tome School’s Envirothon Team is really good, and that they may have some interest there.
· Gabrielle finally report that this will be the 50th ANNIVERSARY OF NRCC!
Website Update:
Ron gave the update:
· He reported that Cecil big trees are posted and up to date.
· Rob mentioned that he had seen the other Cecil FB page, presumably started by the Forestry Foundation. Rob will look into having it point to the Sailor Site http://www.cecilfb.sailorsite.net/.
Old Business:
· The board discussed packing trees and that there could be volunteers from kids from Tome.
· County Public Works asks for trees each year, and Rob will reach out to Clyde Van Dyke to determine how many they want. Gabe feels they usually want ¾ of the order and provided a name for Rob to call.
· John feels the board could budget for 500 to giveaway and leave the remaining about for the county.
· Gabrielle says Tome will want 50 for the 5K to be planted at the Tome School.
· Help will be needed to bag.
· Gabe needs tables and chairs and a tent for the 2nd. John said to talk to Shawn Day.
· John said St. Mary Anne’s giveaway space is booked and the event will be the last weekend in April (April 29th and 30th).
New Business:
· Ron says there are dead ash everywhere from EAB, but the understory is thick.
· John points out that “Gypsy moth” has been renamed to “Spongy moth”. Rob feels this is referring to the spongy appearance of the egg cases.
· John also point out that fires in Florida were ranging when he was there recently.
· Michael indicates there is a lot of tree death out there—beech ambrosia beetle is coming up from the south along with other insect pests. Pine bark beetle too.
· Michael feels strongly that much oak death is from bacterial leaf scorch.
· Maples having black oozing spots—probably a root disease. It’s just too wet for them.
The meeting was adjourned approximately 8:00PM.
The next meeting will be held on April 6th (Maryland Arbor Day!) at 6PM, currently planned for Black Hill Ranger Station.