CCNRD

Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD)

June 27th Regular Board Meeting Agenda 12:00pm

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 12:07 pm by Chairman Wayne Garman at the USDA Service Center, 117 South 21st Street, Sundance, Wyoming.

ATTENDANCE

Board: Wayne Garman, Ted Parsons, Wanda Burget

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

OPEN ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Water Quality by Carmen — Ms. McIntyre informed the Board of the opportunity for the $500,000 NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) soil health grant. Ms. Deaton (NRCS) would really like for the CCNRD to apply and she would handle securing the agreements. Ms. McIntyre would assist her as needed. The District would receive administration funds for managing the grant. Ms. Burget made a motion to apply for this grant. Mr. Parsons seconded. Motion carried.

Ms. Deaton has been in the field working on the soil health contracts. The check for the administration funds from the Plank Stewardship grant still hasn’t arrived. Ms. Burget made a motion to approve a soil health contract. Mr. Parsons seconded. Motion carried.

WQ Monitoring Season and BMP Projects — Ms. Anderson displayed spreadsheets and plan maps for BMP projects ranked by the CCNRD and NRCS. Ms. McIntyre then provided a summary of funds allocated. Although seven applications were ranked, Ms. McIntyre only reviewed the top three with the Board as there are insufficient funds to approve any additional projects at this time. Motion was made by Mr. Parsons to approve the first 2 contracts. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried. Motion was made by Mr. Parsons to approve the third contract. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried.

The Conservation Field Technician position was discussed. Ms. McIntyre believes we can continue to wait to for more funding opportunities to ensure we created the best opportunity for a more permanent position.

Ms. McIntyre reviewed water quality data collected thus far for the season and reviewed potential MST sampling sites with the Board (Ms. Anderson had figures for the Board to review).

Local Issues by Carmen — Ms. McIntyre received the Carlisle report from the DEQ and is currently reviewing it.

Forest Health by Sarah — Projects are progressing with the better weather. 120 acres have been added. The competitive bidding process is helping funds go further; $175/acre is the lowest price and $215-250 per acre is the average rate. Currently there are 14 thinning contracts totaling 651 acres. All money has been allocated besides funds for audit and some contractual accounting. This grant closes in December 2019.

CAFA update — Ms. Anderson said progress has been slower than anticipated due to weather related events, but there have been no major delays.

Wonder Community update — Ms. Deaton wasn’t available for an update, but June 21st was the deadline. Out of the 9 accepted applications only 5 projects fit the proposal objective criteria; 50% of the interest was toward the removal of scrub oak, which is currently not a management option through NRCS programs. Ms. Anderson talked to Jonathan Sloan about a way to address oak removal through some other grant opportunities, as there is a clear need.

The NRCS State Technical Advisory Committee meeting took place in Casper on June 25th, with Ed Chatfield representing Division 5 as a landowner. Rusty Schwartz mentioned Crook County because our Local Working Group was well attended by many agencies and landowners.

Financials

Financial Voucher — Mr. Parsons made a motion to pay the bills as presented and verify correspondence with the financial voucher for June expenses. Ms. Burget seconded the motion. Motion carried. All checks were signed.

Reconciliation Report — Mr. Parsons made a motion to approve the bank reconciliation report. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried.

Approve Minutes

Mr. Parsons made a motion to approve the June 4, 2019 meeting minutes. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried.

NEW ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Public Records Act — The document was reviewed, and rates and exemptions were discussed. Ms. Burget moved to approve the Resolution 2019-01. Mr. Parsons seconded. Motion carried.

NEPA Training — Ms. McIntyre expressed an interest in attending. The District will cover travel expenses not paid by the Shoshone Conservation District.

Gabe Brown Tour — The Board discussed possible grant options to assist with transportation funding when it is rescheduled.

Vehicle Replacement Fund — The Board will leave the remaining $169 in the Vehicle Replacement Fund and will continue saving money in this account for a future vehicle.

Crook County Fair — The Board would like to be represented with a booth at the Fair.

Keyhole/BoR Concerns – Ms. Anderson contacted the Bureau of Recreation and requested the CCNRD be considered a cooperating agency regarding land management planning efforts at Keyhole. Scott Hettinger from the BoR informed Ms. Anderson that NEPA was signed July 1, 2019, and they have no plans to revise the Categorical Exclusions Checklist (CEC). All work that is still planned is covered in the CEC.

Conservation District & NRCS MOU — This will be similar to the current MOU in place between NRCS and the District. In exchange for our help they provide office space, network, computer, etc. Ms. Martinez (NRCS State Conservationist) would like districts to be prepared to sign them at convention in November; December at the latest. The CCNRD will meet with local NRCS staff on a draft document.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Ms. Burget at 3:05 pm

Office Manager Signature: _____________________________________________________Date: ______________

Chairman Signature: ___________________________________________________________ Date: ______________