FOBHL
Board meeting minutes
Powell C of C Meeting Room
Feb 9, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Powell
Call to order and Welcome – Bob C
Approval of January 2010 minutes: Motion by Jerry Second by Ken
Supt Jerry Case with BICA info:
1 – The new well at HSBend is drilled to over 200 ft to date but has stopped due to the cold weather. It will be finalized once the weather warms.
2 – Mike Snider, Regional Director of the NPS - Denver office is retiring soon. Mike has been very helpful in getting BICA back to a viable recreation area.
3 – The M L boat ramp and new road will be finished when the weather warms.
4 – All the items applied for from the WGF funded by the motor boat gas tax money were approved: More courtesy docks at HSB, new restroom and boat dock/gangway at JimCreek, and a destination platform for the south lake. These items should be in place for use this summer.
5 – BICA has a normal budget this year after several years of continuing resolution funding.
6 – The vacant BICA Chief Ranger position is being advertised presently. Dale Kissner is serving as the acting chief ranger and the south district ranger as well.
7 – BICA has a new zone safety officer, Bob Glover, who spends 50% of his time with BICA and the rest with several other NPS units in the area.
8 – Jerry expressed BICA’s excitement for the large crowds who came to the movie showing of the floating of the BigHornRiver. BICA will continue this type of program and add more educational activities happening in the area public schools in Montana and Wyoming. The visitor center in Lovell will have a major facelift of its display area and some changes to the auditorium. There will be more ranger lead walks and hikes too.
9 – There will be more rangers on the water this year as well as Jerry since he has a new patrol boat. He will be traveling back and forth on the water during the ice free months.
The goal of the rangers is to educate the visitors so they can enjoy a safe wonderful experience at BICA. Using the lowest level of enforcement to accomplish this will be Jerry’s direction to them.
10 – BICA has hired an individual to finalize preparation of the Trails and Roads plan started last summer so it will be ready for more public comments.
11 – Jerry and the board had a discussion about park entrance fees and their use. Over the last few years there has been little checking to see if folks are paying entrance fees by the daily pass, annual pass or senior pass programs. The board felt there may be a lot of lost revenue occurring as a result. At least 80% of these fees return to help BICA accomplish local projects plus they can apply for addition funding from the remaining 20%.
We ask Jerry to check to see if the NPS shield could be placed on the I90 billboard this summer promoting BICA.
Ferrell reported on the Earth Day planning meeting he attended in January. There will be another meeting this month. We intent to help with a booth and to provide helpers where needed. It is hoped that a lot of families will attend this event at the LHS football field on April 24th. We will check with BICA about doing boat safety inspections that day too.
We discussed the Wyoming Wildlife & Natural Resource Trust as a possible funding source. There are many projects that could benefit from this funding. We are checking to see if the AIS program can qualify. Lynn Richardson gave us his insight after attending a meeting in ParkCounty recently.
The Wyoming House Bill HB0018 dealing with AIS authority and funding will be introduced this week. Some of our members have made contact with legislative representatives encouraging their support on this issue. We are concerned about how the program will be funded in the future; presently it will be by an annual fee charged to local and out of state boaters.
The Interstate I90 12’ x 48’ billboard ad, was discussed and the present design was approved. Lamar Advertising will be contacted and informed to proceed with the contract running from March 19 to September 18, 2010.
2010 Bighorn Lake Celebration June 19 - advertising plan: Magnets to give out at shows, The Mustang Guide and areas news papers in June. Area businesses have offered to tag their radio ads again. TCT West will provide donated TV ad time for the entire year on both north and south local channels. Those providing the free boat rides will be helped by sponsors paying for the fuel again this summer.
The Cody and Powell Home and Garden shows are coming up. We would appreciate David be in charge of the Cody show on April 9 and 10 and Bob N the Powell one on May 8.
Jerry L will serve as Treasurer for FOBHL this year and will be doing the financial record keeping in QuickBooks. This will allow us to send out membership renewals as needed via email or mail. He will also handle the deposits and expenditures for the FOBHL checking account. The first membership renewal reminders will be sent out soon.
Friend of BighornLake Volunteer Project Suggestions - 2010
1. Information kiosk placements at North Kane, South Causeway and Barry's Landing
- BICA need to decide on locations for the Kiosks which will have to be marked. Also a time will be scheduled for Maintenance to drill holes for posts.
- Volunteers to put up posts and construct Kiosks.
2. Driftwood piling near the causeway and Horseshoe Bend
- We will need to make sure it’s in the burn plan and burn the piles.
- Volunteers will pile driftwood
3. Landscaping around the new well and in the Horseshoe Bend Campground
4. Litter pickup going south from the causeway – What about the Habitat and helping with the BICA adopted highway section?
5. Help with Zebra/Quagga Mussel education and AIS decontamination wash stations
6. Barry’s Landing Camp host for a weekend or two this summer
7. Possible campground programs
8. Earth Day Festival April 24at LHS football field in Lovell.
FYI
Pat Slater (Powell Walleye Pro) will be taking FOBHL membership and AIS info to the Billings Chapter of Montana Walleye Unlimited annual banquet in Billings on March 6.
We attended the Town of Byron town council meeting on Jan 26 to answer AIS questions since they had already sent out the pamphlets.
The Town of Lovell paid to have 2200 AIS pamphlets (provided by WGF) inserted into the Lovell Chronicle in late January.
In mid JanuaryNorthwestCollege setup two AIS information stations with posters and hand outs on campus. Also NWC TV came to the VC at BICA in Lovell on January 27 to do a TV interview about AIS with Cass Bromley of BICA, Dennie Hammer of WGF and Bob Croft of FOBHL. We even had some actual mussels laden articles from Lake Mead to show during the filming.
There will be an AIS Summit meeting in Casper on March 16 from 8am to 5pm. This meeting is to inform all water users in Wyoming about AIS with presentations from federal and state government agencies in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Lynn Richardson, our new director will attend representing FOBHL. FOBHL will pay for the hotel room and Lynn will cover his own transportation costs.
The Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2009 which includes the Crow Compact is still in Congress. Jerry reported that NPS along with the USBR is watching it closely. Our Wyoming Congressional group continues to stay on top of this.
BighornLake is at a pool elevation of 3629 feet this is 2 feet higher than predicted. Ice is now 22 to 28 inches thick on the Wyoming end. The fishing has really slowed recently.
Chris Wilkinson and Christy Fleming of the Interpretive Division at BICA meet with the Lovell Schools. Bob C along with Chris and Christy also met with NW College President Paul Prestwich and staff to discuss educational opportunities for both BICA and the institution.
The February monthly conference call of the Bighorn River Issues Group was today. Since the mountain snow pack is 30 to 40% lower than normal for this time of year outflow from YT will be reduced to conserve storage. On Thursday February 11 outflow will drop from 2770cfs to 2500cfs. Around March 1 flows will again be reduced to 2000cfs if the snow pack doesn’t show a significant increase toward normal. The 3 month weather forecast shows it will be warmer and drier for our drainage areas. The USBR is using the new Rule Curve method along with their present forecast methods. If the current trend continues BighornLake, Boysen and Buffalo Bill will not fill this year. BighornLake will be at 3626 feet at its lowest level and reach 3637 feet at its highest (3 feet below full lake). One positive thing is all the reservoirs are at above normal levels of storage for this time of year. BighornLake is 2 feet above the projected lake level for February 1.
On March 23 at 7pm in the Fagerberg building room 70 on the campus of NW College in Powell Bob C will be joined by BICA Superintendent Jerry Case and Interpretive Chief, Chris Wilkinson for a program about Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
The next board meeting of FOBHL will be at the Bighorn Federal meeting room in Lovell on March 9 at 6:30pm.