Minutes of the Iowa Natural Heritage Association Meeting

26 February 2000
Iowa State University
Hosted by Deb Lewis and Lois Tiffany

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 by chair Tom Rosburg

Members and visitors present: Dennis Schlicht, Daryl Howell, Lois Tiffany, Deb Lewis, Jim Christiansen, Connie Mutel, Neil Bernstein, Erv Klaas, Becky Richtsmeier, Pauline Drobney, Scott Bryant, John Crowe, Steve Main, Paul Weihe, Allison Shaw, Jason O’Brien, Gary Donnermeyer, Jim Dinsmore, and Tom Rosburg

Minutes of the November 13, 1999 meeting were circulated on the email list serve in November and were therefore not read.

Treasury Report:  Jim Christiansen reported savings in C.D.’s totaling $4,000 and an amount of $261 in checking.  The Runkel-Roosa fund has a balance of $482.

OLD BUSINESS
1. Fall 2000 Symposium on Exotic Species
Neil Bernstein reported that the two-day conference will be held on October 6 and 7 at the ISU Scheman Center.  Registration for both days will be about $50.  The focus will be a review of exotic species occurring in Iowa.  A series of papers by experts on various taxonomic groups in Iowa will summarize what invasive species are established in Iowa, what their impacts are, and what the future is for invasive species in Iowa.  Several papers will describe case studies involving attempts to manage invasive species in Iowa.  Round-table discussions are planned to foster individual participation.
 University of Iowa Press will publish the proceedings.  Neil indicated $5000-6000 is needed for publication costs.  Several conservation groups have made pledges to help with publication costs (for example the Wildlife Society, Iowa Natural Heritage).  After some discussion, Jim Christiansen made a motion for the INHA to donate $250, Erv Klaas made a second to the motion.  Connie Mutel suggested to add wording to the effect that the INHA donation should also include individual contributions from members.  The motion was passed.
Website for the Conference:
http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/aecl/invasives/
 

2. INHA Archives
 Prompted by a memo from received from Nixon Wilson, Connie Mutel suggested an effort be made to archive INHA documents.  Apparently while Nixon was secretary, newsletters, field trip booklets, etc. were deposited in archives at UNI.  Daryl Smith was to continue this after Nixon resigned.  At this point it seems uncertain to what extent documents have been archived.  Connie will gather information and check into locations for archival deposition such as the State Historical Library and Iowa State University Library.
 

3. Loess Hills Alliance and research opportunities
 Daryl Howell reported that the National Park Service was awarded money to study the potential of a Loess Hills “park.”  The purpose of the money is to: 1) Gather existing data on the Hills and assemble in a GIS.  This is being done by the Iowa DNR.  2) Provide funds to the Loess Hills Alliance to organize public meetings in the Hills.
 At this time there is no emphasis on new studies for ecological or natural history work.
 

4. Iowa T&E
 A recent attempt by Senator McKibben to introduce legislation that would drastically weaken the Iowa T&E species code was strongly opposed by INHA members and the conservation community in Iowa.  Daryl Howell reported that the intent of proposal was rejected in committee and modified to require the DNR to provide a detailed report of the methods it will use to select Iowa T&E species to the legislature by December 2000.
 Deb Lewis suggested that INHA members might try to develop a slide set of Iowa T&E species to improve public education and perception of the value of T&E species.  Steve Main also suggested that a Web page could be developed at Wartburg to provide access to these images.  Deb and Steve volunteered to work on a committee to investigate this possibility further.
 

NEW BUSINESS
1. Runkel-Roosa Award for 2000
 Tom Rosburg reported that applications for the Runkel-Roosa Award are due March 1.  One application had been received at the time of the meeting.  He also reported that Larry Stone needed information about the award to give to the Runkel family.  Mrs. Runkel is considering making a donation to the Runkel-Roosa fund.  The history of the award was reviewed.  Past recipients have been Allison Shaw in 1998 (with Neil Bernstein) and Becky Richtsmeier in 1999 (with Neil Bernstein).
 A committee was formed to review the applications for the 2000 award.  It will include Daryl Howell, Erv Klaas, and Connie Mutel.
 

2. Survey of Natural History courses in Iowa
 Erv Klaas and Jim Dinsmore described changes in the curricula in Animal Ecology at ISU that have resulted in the deletion of field-oriented courses.  One ramification mentioned by Jim is a lack of students with the appropriate skills for field-oriented summer jobs and internships.  There was agreement that valuable insight into the status of natural history education in Iowa could be gained by conducting a survey of course offerings at colleges and universities.  Erv Klaas will work on developing a survey instrument to determine the trends, quantity, and quality of natural history curricula.
 

3. INHA Foray for 2000
 Jim Christiansen described his concern that without a major question to serve as a theme for a foray, the foray can’t gain the importance and value it needs to draw sufficient participation.  Recent INHA “foray” activities have been no more than a field day.  During a discussion of the possibility of a return to the forays of yesteryear a couple of points emerged:  1) The early forays benefited from much advance planning and organization by employees of the DNR.  With losses of these people from the DNR it has become harder for the DNR to provide this role.  Also, during the last few forays that the DNR did organize, participation was low and sporadic, thus their cost to benefit ratio became too large to make it worth their time.  2) There is a question of how many INHA members have enough time over the summer to participate in a week-long foray.
 Erv Klaas suggested the potential for INHA to combine our interests with other groups to increase numbers.  An example of such a group is the Iowa Association of Nature Interpreters (contact is Jim Pease).
 No foray or field day was planned for 2000.  A committee was formed to develop a list of possible questions that could provide a unifying theme for future forays.  The committee, consisting of Jim Christiansen, Paul Weihe, and Dennis Schlict, will provide a report at the next meeting.
 

4. GAP Vertebrate
 Erv Klaas made a presentation on the current status of the vertebrate component of the Iowa GAP.  The goal is to project the distribution of vertebrate species with models based on landcover data.  Historical data has been used to map the current knowledge of species distribution.  The model divides the state into contiguous hexagonal cells, each about 250 square miles. The project needs the input of experts to fill in information on areas (cells) lacking current data.
 Website for Iowa GAP
http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/cfwru/iowagap/
 

5. Nature Mapping
 Jason O’Brien, from ISU, made a presentation outlining the current status of Nature Mapping, an outgrowth of the GAP which provides a way for volunteers to monitor and report wildlife data.  The Nature Mapping motto is to keep common species common.  Volunteers need to attend a one-day workshop learn reporting protocols.  They select their own project (species and area).  Data can be submitted via email, and soon a web page will allow volunteers to submit, view, and analyze Nature Mapping data. (www.naturemapping.state.ia.us).
 Jason reported there has been high participation by schools, and recently ESRI donated a copy of ArcView (GIS software) to 16 AEAs.  Besides providing important information about Iowa’s common species, Nature Mapping helps to get the public and especially young people interested in natural history.
 

6.  Future Meetings
 We will plan a Friday evening social during the Iowa Academy of Science meetings (April 21).  More information will be sent via email concerning time and place.  If anyone is interested in an INHA field trip during the IAS meetings, let Tom Rosburg know.  Nothing is currently planned, but if enough interest is forthcoming a Sat. afternoon trip to a local County Park (e.g., Brown’s Woods or Yellow Banks) could be planned.
 The fall 2000 INHA meeting will be held at Central College on November 11 with Paul Weihe hosting.  More information on this at a later date.
 

Meeting was adjourned at 12:45, followed by a slide presentation by Neil Bernstein and his students on their research on ornate box turtle movements and habitat selection.