· Treasurers/Membership Report (Boos) 149 members, Balance of $19,464.00. A budget will be prepared for discussion at the December meeting. 149 current members!

II. Old Business

· Approve new bylaws: Approved. Will come before the board at a future meeting to be approved a second time, as our bylaws require.

· Newsletter update and topics for next newsletter

We would like to get the newsletter out before the end of this calendar year. Then come out in March with next issue. The following topics were generated by the group:

Topics for March issue: (suggested January 31 deadline for articles)

Featured terrestrial and aquatic plants: Garlic mustard/Curly leaf (Goggin)

Clean boat/clean water workshops (Googin)

Invaders to watch out for program (Kearns)

Science committee project on mapping (Rolf and Science Committee)

Chapter project update (Braker)

Focus on a regional group (Kearns??)

Plant Industry issues/report

Purple Loosestrife mapping and training efforts by WWA (?)

Governors Council on Invasive Species (Roark)

Future events calendar (all to provide)

Mid-west invasive plants network (Kearns)

III. New Business

· Determine new Secretary to take office after November meeting.

This officer will be in place for about 4 months until new officers are elected. Dave Hamel agreed (with some arm-twisting) to serve as secretary. Motion made and carried to elect Dave.

· Determine course of action for offer of gift from TNC (Could be used for potential staff or other ways to fill gap of Braker leaving the Secretary position).

TNC has offered $5,000 and to hire a staff person on behalf of IPAW to work out of one of the TNC offices using these funds. TNC would provide desk, computer, phone line, etc. to a potential staff person. We should also consider applying for grants so that we could capitalize on these funds as matching the grants.

Kelly mentioned that the newly formed Mid-West group is looking for staffing and that TNC has also offered to house this person somewhere in one of their mid-west offices. This would depend on who was hired, etc. If IPAW was interested we could consider a joint position. That group is likely to be on a slower time frame then we are, not hiring until 5-6 months from now.

Braker will compile a list of what she does in order to put together job descriptions for the secretary and for the potential administrative staff. These will be distributed to the board for comment and finalization so they can be approved at the next board meeting. These will be sent out by email so a final version can come to the December board meeting. All board members should be thinking about objectives for the new staff person in order to direct their work. Job title of Program Assistant was agreed upon.

We agreed that working with TNC to hire and house the staff is our number one option, but circumstances may suggest that we handle the staff through a contract or some other means. We will be flexible. We also agreed to be flexible with the number of hours and time worked in order to hire the right person.

Grants: The Board agreed that we need to be very proactive about looking for grants to help with staffing and to match the 5K gift from TNC. Kelly will look at the “Pulling Together” program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant program. The Beldon Foundation would also be a good fit, they are "looking to fund projects that build the capacity of small environmental organizations”. Braker to look into this program and find out the deadline and application process. Tom Boos agreed to assist with grant writing, and Lauren has offered in the past to assist in this area.

· Additional matters from Board Members

Governors’ task force on invasive species: (Roark) We believe that Jim Reinartz has been appointed. Dan will contact him to confirm. Braker received a call on this recently as well regarding her interest. We suggested that Fred Clark of Clark Forestry would be a good representative to deal with forestry issues. (NOTE: 11/21 Confirmation received that Jim has been appointed; TNC was asked to nominate an additional candidate. Becky Sapper of the Conservancy’s Ashland office will be nominated).

Midwest Invasive Plant Network: (Kearns) This was formed at the NAA conference. A steering committee was formed, the boundaries of this network is not defined in order to not exclude anyone. The group is looking for representatives of agencies, state invasive plant groups, etc to serve on the steering committee. Various committees have been set up including education and outreach, fundraising, State EPPC incubation committee (working on Ohio now), Data management, communications, Research/Science.

The goal of the group is to “Provide coordination and communication among agencies, organizations and landowners to effectively limit and control the introduction and spread of non-native invasive plants in the Midwest.”

Other groups are currently active in Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, and pending in Ohio.

We would like a representative from Wisconsin to serve on this group. Kelly will prepare something for the newsletter and for the listserve.

Future meetings/conferences for IPAW Display

Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association meeting is in December, Pat Googin will set up and staff the booth. Tom Boos will make the payment ($30) that is needed.

Wild Ones – Fox Valley meeting is in January, we also need to be there. Rolf will handle this one.

Education Committee: We need them to develop the list of conferences that we should make sure to be represented at.

Insurance for board members (errors and omissions): Steve Strachota has obtained some information on what would be available – an application form from an insurance company, Braker has this in her files. We will leave this for the pending program assistant to handle. We want to pursue this for both the Board members errors and omissions and for field trips and other activities that chapters or the parent organization might organize.

American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) meeting in Kansas City: Steve Strachota attended this meeting recently and participated in a discussion regarding invasive plants. There were comments made that were not of a positive nature regarding groups like IPAW and the lists of problem plants that are developed by those groups. There is clearly a need to work with these industry representatives in order to find a good middle ground and work together on issues of mutual interest and find ways to share concerns in a positive manner.

Question of how we can work with ASTA on these issues? Jim Scherl is the chair of the Invasive committee with ASTA. Steve Strachota suggests that we meet with him to discuss how we might work best together. What can we do that is positive, what can we work on together? Steve and Dan will set up a call with him. They will include Gary Biel from Minnesota Crop Improvement Association, as per Kelly’s recommendation. Recommendations will come back to the IPAW board for discussion. One comment is that on any plant list that comes from IPAW we need to note where species are commercially important in order to recognize all aspects of the issue.

Many states have come up with Weed Risk Assessment Tools, the one in Massachusetts has included ASTA reps and nursery reps to develop this tool. Kelly will circulate the one from Massachusetts, and possibly others.

Presentations: Some board members and others have developed slide shows/powerpoints that can be used when we are asked to talk to other groups. Tom will put a note together for the newsletter asking for people that have presentations available and we will try and put them on the web site so we can make them available to anyone giving these talks.

Next meeting will be held December 9, 11:00-1:00, location to be determined.

Meeting adjourned at 1:09.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Braker, IPAW Secretary