GPAC Executive Committee, October 1994 (folder 1 of 2)

MINUTES TO

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

June

1-2, 1993

Rapid City, South Dakota

Attending: Thomas Army, Frank Dickson, Darnell Lundstrom, Mylo Hellickson, Helen McHugh (for Charles Laughlin), John Miranowski, Darrell Nelson, Richard Wootton.

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mylo Hellickson.

2. Hellickson recognized Darnell Lundstrom who has been identified by North Dakota State University to fill the unexpired office term of Bill Pietsch. Lundstrom assumed the role of Chairperson Elect of the Executive Committee and will progress through the other Executive Committee offices.

3. The minutes for the October 20, 1992 meeting of the Executive Committee were approved as corrected. Under item VI, the financial report is for the 1992 meeting, not the 1991 meeting.

4. Executive Director's report.

a. The 1993-94 Operating Budget (5/1/93 - 4/30/94) was approved as:

Salaries Secretary Workstudy Travel Postage Telephone

Printing and duplication Supplies and materials

Equipment purchase and repair TOTAL BUDGETED EXPENSES:

FY 94 Budget $13,130 500 7,000 1,200 325 2,500 250 50 $24,955

b. The financial report for the 1992 annual meeting can be summarized as: Registration receipts

Expenditures, Lincoln Expenditures, Fort Collins Net Surplus:

$4,476.00 3,420.39 1,011.61 $ 44.22 c. The financial accounts of the GP AC held at Home Federal Savings Bank, Fort

Collins include balances of:

Executive Director's account (4/23/93)

*

Forestry Committee account (4/16/93) Crops and Soils account (3/31/93) Wildlife account (3/31/93)

*

Includes $800.00 of the Water Committee.

$6,017.54 4,672.18 2,448.29 1,510.12

d. An update was given on the involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Service in GPAC Standing Committees and on new Task Forces. In anticipation of one or more of these agencies opting to become supporting members of the GP AC, a committee was appointed to provide recommendations to the Executive Committee about how integration of these agencies into the GPAC should proceed. The committee includes Tom Army, Dick Wootton, Melvin Skold (Chair), and Walter Woods (CSRS). The committee will provide a report to the Executive Committee for its fall, 1993 meeting.

The Executive Committee also voted to recommend extension of an offer of potential membership to the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS would be invited to a two-year free trial membership.

The Executive Committee also voted to recommend inviting Texas Tech University to become a full university member of the GPAC. The recommendation will be offered to the GPAC membership at the 1993 Business Meeting.

e. The current status and involvement of the Executive Director in the Great Plains Initiative involving the Western Governors Association, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency was reviewed. The report summarized the two major thrusts to date: the Great Plains Initiative focusing on identification of habitat of wildlife species on the decline and the Conservation of Great Plains Ecosystems Conference held in April, 1993 in Kansas City. The Great Plains Ecosystems Conference resulted in a broader

perspective of environmental problems in the Great Plains. The two related activities may evolve into a major effort focusing on environmental problems in the Great Plains.

There is a possibility that CARD, ISU may be involved with coordinating a future program focusing on environmental protection in the Great Plains. If this occurs, they have approached the GP AC to explore possible cooperative arrangements with the Council and its organizations. If funding for these environmental studies looks likely, a committee will be formed to recommend linkages between the GPAC and CARD. That committee would include: Darnell Lundstrom, John Miranowski, Barry Flinchbaugh and Melvin Skold. Skold will call on these committee members as the situation evolves.

5. Regarding solicitation of GP AC membership on the Joint Council for Food and Agriculture, it was decided to wait until the USDA reorganization is complete, Assistant Secretaries are appointed and the future role of the Joint Council is better known. John Miranowski will continue to monitor this for the GP AC.

6. The Executive Committee was updated on implementation of the plan to change the annual meeting rotation. The Chairman Elect of the Executive Committee will be from New Mexico, who will plan the program for the 1994 meeting in Bismarck and host the 1995 meeting.

7. The Nominating Committee consisting of Mylo Hellickson (Chair), John Vance (ES) and Charles Laughlin (CO) will nominate for membership on the Executive Committee:

Bill Rietveld, FS, USDA Milton Ericksen, ERS, USDA.

Lynn Robbins, Associate Dean, New Mexico State University has been identified by that institution to serve as Chairman Elect.

8. To fill the vacancies of Council Liaison and Council Representatives to Standing Committees, the following appointments were made:

Council Representative, Crops and Soils Committee - George Ham (KS) Council Representative, Economics Committee - Dudley Smith (TX) Council Liaison, Forestry Committee - Denver Burns (FS)

Council Liaison, Water Committee - Pat Murphy (KS).

9. Frank Dickson presented a report of the task force analyzing the status of the GPAC. The task force is planning to use a survey to obtain input from administrators and personnel from GP AC member agencies regarding their perceptions of the organization. The Executive Committee advised that a mail survey to administrators not be attempted

but that a telephone survey of a representative sample would suffice. Dickson will make a final report at the fall meeting of the Executive Committee.

It was decided that the Executive Director should be more explicitly involved in this task force and that Jim Welsh, ARS, should be asked to replace John Lee on the task force.

10. Reports were received from each of the six GPAC Standing Committees and the At Large Task Forces. In addition, a special report to the Executive Committee was presented by the Riparian Area Management Task Force of the Forestry Committee. a. Sustainable A~riculture Task Force. Skold reported for Administrative

Advisor Hellickson. The task force plans to have its final report, a white paper prepared for the Executive Committee by its fall, 1993 meeting. The report will address each of the task force objectives except Objective 2. The NCR-157 regional committee directly addressed Objective 2 and their report "Criteria for Evaluating Sustainable Agricultural Systems" will be included with the final report of the GPAC Sustainable Agriculture Task Force.

The Executive Committee approved sending a letter to Secretary Espy and other relevant administrators addressing the need for a sustainable agriculture training center in the Great Plains. The Executive Director was instructed to proceed with sending the letter, as drafted.

The Executive Committee also expressed that it would be desirable for someone from the GPAC task force to attend the June 8-10, 1993 meeting of the National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council in Omaha. Skold will contact John Havlin (KS), task force chairman, to see if he can attend.

b. Water Quality and Confined Livestock Task Force. Skold reported for D. Nelson who had transportation scheduling difficulties in getting to the meeting. The report described the task force's plans to hold a two-and-one-half-day symposium in the summer of 1994. Proceedings for the symposium will be prepared in advance. The Executive Committee favorably received all aspects of the task force report.

c. Wildlife Committee. Skold presented the report in the absence of Council Liaison, Jim Miller. The report described the recently held Wildlife Damage Control Workshop. It also discussed plans for the Endangered Species Task Force Conference to be held August 16-19 in Logan, UT. This is a major activity of the GPAC Wildlife Committee's Endangered Species Task Force. Progress was also reported on the update of the book on the "Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage"; an initial printing of 5,000 copies is expected.

d. Forestry Committee. Council Liaison, Bill Rietveld, presented the report. Actions taken were to receive and approve the Executive Summary to the "Biological Control of Forest Pests in the Great Plains: Status, Needs and Issues." This report will be distributed as requested by the Forestry Committee. The Executive Committee also favorably received three resolutions from the Forestry Committee. Resolution one is in support of increased support for taxonomic research. The second resolution was to encourage research on the biological control of forest pests. Resolution three encourages the Center for Semiarid Agroforestry to take leadership in the development and dissemination of biological control agents. These resolutions will be distributed to the GPAC membership.

e. Riparian Area Manaeement Task Force. Vern Quam, Task Force Chairman, presented the report. The White Paper was received pending revision to clarify the language in several places.

f. Economics Committee. Milton Ericksen, Council Liaison, presented the report with the assistance of Dennis Fisher, Chairman of the Government Expenditures Task Force. Ericksen reported on the topics discussed at the annual meeting of the GP AC Economics Committee. The progress of the Integrated Resource Management Task F rce was also discussed. The Task Force plans to prepare some "fact sheets" on various IRM concepts and procedures prior to its next meeting. The next meeting is scheduled in conjunction with the Ranch Management Symposium in Cheyenne, December 6-8. At that meeting further plans for an IRM symposium will be made.

g.

Dennis Fisher presented a detailed proposal from the Government Expenditures Task Force. The task force has interpreted its assignment to plan and conduct a symposium on "the impact of changing government expenditures on the Great Plains region." The symposium seeks to involve public and private agency personnel from the various levels of government and sizes of community in the region. The proposal identified the needs for financial support.

The Executive Committee gave the idea and the concept of the proposal a strong endorsement. However, the up-front financial support from GPAC institutions could not be supported. Fisher and his task force were asked to review their proposal to see if ( 1) the effort can be scaled back to more realistic levels for financial support, (2) partitioned into separate activities, (3) utilize more in-kind support from GPAC member agencies, and (4) see if foundation support can be secured for activities which cannot be supported in-kind by GPAC agencies. Crops and Soils Committee. Council Liaison, B. A. Stewart, reported on the Crops and Soils Committee discussion of issues relative to their subject matter area. Rather than prioritizing, as in previous years, the committee views the

•

issues as dominant concerns. The 1993 meeting focus was on sewage sludge applications to agricultural lands. The 1994 meeting will focus on the future role of public plant breeding.

Progress of the Russian Wheat Aphid and Leafy Spurge Task Forces was also reported. It was noted that each of these task forces are in their final year of authorization. Skold will continue to work with Lundstrom to identify an Administrative Advisor for the final year of the Russian Wheat Aphid Task Force.

The Residue Management Task Force is planning to organize and hold a symposium in Amarillo, TX, August of 1994. Summarization and distilling of recommendations are planned by the task force following the symposium. h. Water Committee. Council Liaison, Hyde Jacobs, reported the Water

Committee's completion of the Groundwater Primer. The 1993 program focused on computer applications in support of the Computer Applications Task Force.

i.

In 1994, the Water Committee will give attention to water quantity issues including water reallocations and transfers. Attention will also be given to the management of fertilizer in irrigation water. The Executive Committee was encouraged by the subcommittee structure being implemented by the Water Committee.

Range and Livestock Committee. Dennis Lamm, Council Liaison, reported on the technical session of the Range and Livestock Committee meeting involving various perspectives of grazing and riparian zone management. Also discussed were several animal health concerns associated with the introduction of "exotic animals" and/or spread of diseases from domestic animals in other countries. Presentations were made to the committee on the ecological role of the grazing animal and on the impact of livestock grazing on water quality. Issues emerging from discussions of these presentations focused on (1) the environment, (2) the acceptance and safety of red meat, (3) animal well-being, and (4) the influence of outside groups on agricultural production practices and resource use.

The proposal to establish a task force on management of grazing systems in riparian areas was approved. The Executive Committee advised that the focus of the task force be narrowed as much as possible, perhaps to focus exclusively on managing grazing livestock in riparian areas to protect water quality. S. Waller (NE) will be asked to serve as Administrative Advisor.

J.

k

.

Future Use of CRP Lands Task Force. Administrative Advisor, Don Butz, reported on the progress of the various task groups of the task force. The task force will present its preliminary report during the technical session of the 1993 annual meeting. Plans are for the task force to complete its task and prepare a summary report with recommendations by early 1994.

Computer Applications in Water Manaeement Task Force. Duane Johnson, Administrative Advisor, gave a report from the recently conducted initial meeting. The task force is planning a workshop involving "hands-on" computer use in early 1995. The workshop will feature use and demonstration of modeling and computer information systems for four areas, differing in level of application. Potential model and computer systems application sites include Rapid Creek, SD (system with multiple uses); Platte Valley of Nebraska (on farm); South Platte Valley in Colorado (system wide); and hydrological unit areas in Texas.

The task force's request for an additional year (from two years to three) was approved.

MJNUTES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE :MEETING GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

November 18, 1993 Denver, CO

Attending: Darnell Lundstrom, Mylo Hellickson, Lynn Robbins, James Welsh (for Tom Army), Milton Ericksen, and Bill Rietveld. Frank Dickson and Dudley Smith were present to present a committee report.

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Darnell Lundstrom.

2. The minutes to the June 1-2, 1993 meeting were reviewed. A correction was made on item 10.g., Forestry Committee report. Added to the June 1-2 minutes: "The Executive Committee agreed to write a letter to the appropriate parties in support of the Biological Control Initiative". It was decided that the appropriate parties include: NASULGC, Administrators of ARS, CSRS, FS, and the USDA interagency

committee on the Biological Control Initiative (if any). Upon correction, the minutes were approved.

3. Executive Director's report. Skold reported on the responses received from potential new members regarding the intentions to join the GPAC. To date, Stessman, BOR indicated that it is likely they will join. No communication has been received from the BLM. Negative responses were received from Susan Gordon (EPA) and Bob Green (FWS). From discussions with FWS personnel destined for the emerging National Biological Survey (NBS), Skold was urged to contact the NBS regarding their interest in joining the GPAC. He will proceed to follow-up with the NBS once its organization is defined. Skold will also proceed with a formal contact with the USGS.

It was also noted at Texas Tech has responded favorably to the GPAC's invitation to join. They will begin paying dues with FY1995. Since they do not have an extension component, their dues will be one half of the amount assessed other universities, currently $1,700.

Skold reported on his meeting with member USDA agency administrators in October. ERS will stand by its-previous communication to withdraw its support for the GPAC. The pending reorganization poses some uncertainty among other member agencies. It is proposed that ARS, CSRS and ES will be merged into one agency .

. While it is recognized that the separable functions will continue for missions of each of there agencies, whether the reorganization will result in one member agency or three remains to be determined. AMS and APHIS see the GPAC as holding potential to help fulfill the administration's expectation that USDA agencies will cooperate with

each other and with universities. The SCS continues it's strong support. The Forest Service (research) has expressed its continued support and reaffirmed its earlier communication that future support will come from the field rather than Washington. The Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station will be the GPAC contact administrative unit.

With this background, discussion of the financial problems facing the GPAC were_ discussed. A deficit of $18,484 exists in the salary account for the Executive Director. This is the result of the Forest Service's failure to meet its FY1993 commitment of $9,172 and the Economic Research Services' withdrawal from the GPAC as of FY1994, leaving an additional $9,312 shortfall. It was apparent from the financial status reports that the GPAC could handle one of the losses of federal agency support, but not both. Since the Forest Service plans to continue as a member of the GPAC, it was decided that we should ask them to fulfill their FY1993

obligations.

a. It was moved and passed that Skold should follow up on his discussion with Jerry Sesco, Deputy Chief, Research, FS that Sesco and Burns would discuss how the FS would handle the FS obligation for FY1993 to the GPAC. A short-fall of $9,172 was created by the loss of the FS contribution to the cooperative agreement support for the salary of the Executive Director.

b.

If

support for FY1993 obligations of the FS are not forthcoming, upon motion it was decided to ask each of the seven USDA members to contribute an additional $1,310 to off-set the deficit.

c. It was moved and passed to invite two sets of state agencies to become members of the GPAC. Upon recommendation from the GPAC

Forestry Committee, an invitation to join the GPAC will be extended to the State Foresters. Further, an invitation of membership will be extended to State Agricultural Commissioners/Directors.· Each of these state agencies will be invited to become involved immediately and to begin financial support with FY1995. Dues for these state agencies will be set equal to the dues of the state Agricultural Experiment

Stations and Cooperative Extension Services, currently $1,700 per year. d. It was decided that the annual dues from the new state agencies would

be directed initially into a contingency fund to be allocated at the discretion of the Executive Committee. The contingency fund is

needed because of uncertainties regarding federal agency reorganization and the potential abrupt withdrawal of support from member

e. It was also decided to reduce the Executive Director's draw on the operating account by setting the registration fee for the annual meeting sufficient to defray his travel and per diem costs to that meeting.

f. Skold discussed progress on the Great Plains Initiative, an activity of the Western Governors Association. The WGA is planning to develop a Memorandum of Understanding with cooperating Federal and State agencies to recognize joint efforts on six pilot sites. It was agreed that the GPAC was not the appropriate unit to sign any such MOU. Since each of the pilot areas are different, involving different sets of

agencies, it was agreed that the WGA be advised to seek MOUs within the states with State SCS offices, Cooperative Extension Services and State Natural Resource agencies such as State Foresters and Fish and Game.

4. Report of the committee to evaluate the status of the GPAC. The special committee was chaired by Frank Dickson who reported to the Executive Committee. Also reporting was Dudley Smith, who conducted much of the analysis included in the report. Through Smith's initiative, special assistance was received from Alex

McIntosh (T AMU) for the design of a survey questionnaire. Others participating on the special committee included John Lee, John Owens, Alvin Gale, B.A. Stewart and Lynn Robbins.

The report of the special committee is attached as an appendix to these minutes. By motion, the report was accepted by the committee and special

commendation given to Frank Dickson and Dudley Smith and to those assisting them for their thorough report. It was decided that the report be distributed to all GPAC members and that a time be set on the agenda of the 1994 GPAC Business meeting for an oral presentation of the report.

Some recommendations in the report were discussed at length. It was recommended that the GPAC consider "sunet provisions" for each of its standing committees. Approximately, every five years each standing committee would be reviewed for its activity and contribution to GPAC programs with provision for (i) renewal, (ii) revision, or (iii) termination. The reviews could be phased so that only one or two committees would be reviewed each year. Discussion included who should conduct the reviews, whether to include only Executive Committee members or other administrators familiar with the GPAC. It was recommended by the Special Committee, and the Executive Committee concurred, that the Council

Liaisons/Representatives should not be responsible for the reviews.

Discussion also included the value of the proceedings, getting the GPAC and its reports visible beyond the GPAC membership, expansion of GPAC membership,

and contingency planning. Actions were taken on several of these items as reported elsewhere in these minutes.

The summarized results of the survey were also studied. In general, the report reflected that (a) successive GPAC Executive Committees should be commended for implementing the organization and plan set forth by the Moore report, (b) there is a general level of satisfaction with the GPAC by its members, but that (c) there are a number of areas where refinement and improvement are needed if the GPAC is to continue.

Further discussion will continue at subsequent meetings of the Executive Committee.

5. Report of the Committee on Integration of New Members into the GPAC. The committee included Walter Woods (CSRS), Tom Army (ARS), Richard Wootton (KS) and Melvin Skold (GPAC). Skold reported for the committee. The recommendations were:

a. The GPAC should develop a memorandum of agreement between all participating Federal agencies and the member universities (Extension and Experiment Station).

b. The structure of the Executive Committee should be changed to include one member from each Federal agency and one member from each university. The Bylaws should be changed to reflect this change. Officers of the Executive Committee would continue to be identified from the three subregion format.

c. The financing of the GPAC should continue as practiced. The federal agencies would continue to support the salary and benefits of the

Executive Director and universities provide the operating budget for the Executive Director.

d. There should be no initiation fee for new federal agencies. They would become full voting members upon statement of intent to join the GPAC and upon meeting the financial obligations recommended in item c. Given the decision to invite other Federal and State agencies to join the

GPAC, it was concurred that it would be premature to take action on a Memorandum of Agreement at this time. Items c and d were accepted as recommended. The Executive Committee did not concur with the recommendation to expand the Executive Committee membership to include one person from each Federal agency and one from each university. Especially, given the possibility of more Federal and state agency members, it was felt that the Executive Committee would be too large to

function effectively. Rather, it was decided that the Executive Committee would recommend to the GPAC membership that:

(i) the Executive Committee would be expanded by two to include one more Federal agency member and one more state member.

(ii) terms for members of Executive Committee would change from two years to three years,

(iii) Federal agency membership on the Executive Committee would be

rotated among the member Federal agencies. The term of an Executive Committee Member would be extended from two years to three years. Terms would be staggered to minimize the year-to-year turnover among Executive Committee members.

It was decided that changes in the Bylaws would not be made until the composition of GPAC membership is better known.

6. Policies on financially inactive members -- Institutions which fail to meet their financial obligations to the GPAC are considered to be non-members. By motion, it was agreed that individuals from non-member agencies and institutions will not be eligible for membership on GPAC committees, and appointments to task forces will not be solicited from administrators of non-member agencies and institutions. GPAC Standing Committees and Task Forces may invite individuals from non-member agencies and institutions to participate in their activities but their employing agencies and institutions will not be given credit for participation.

It was decided that individuals from non-member agencies could continue to participate through FY1994. Beyond FY1994, continued participation will be by invitation from the respective Standing Committee or Task Force.

It was decided that the Chairman Lundstrom will send a letter to the Economic Research Service expressing regret for their withdrawal from GPAC membership. 7. Reports from Standing Committees and Task Forces.

a. It was reported that the Grazing Management in Riparian Areas Task Force is being formed. It will likely hold its initial meeting during the week of

February 13, 1994 in conjunction with the Society for Range Management meetings in Colorado Springs.

b. The Executive Committee was alerted to the planned schedule for the Future Use of CRP Lands Task Force. Their final report is planned to be completed in early January 1994. Skold will distribute the report to the Executive

Committee for their review and acceptance. Acceptance will be sought by January 28, 1994. The Task Force is scheduled to present their report at the national conference on the Future of the CRP Program sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation Society, February 10, 1994 in Washington, D.C. c. By motion the report from the Sustainable Agricultural Task Force was

received. The recommendation to form a Standing Committee to focus on sustainable agriculture was discussed. From the discussion it was decided that there continues to be a number of GPAC task forces addressing issues in sustainable agriculture. For example, Residue Management, Integrated Resource Management, and Water Quality and Confined Livestock are working on specific problems regarding sustainability. Thus, the need for another committee was not agreed to by the Executive Committee.

We

will

continue to monitor the development of regional training centers for sustainable agriculture and encourage opportunities for such a center in the Great Plains.

d. Plans from the Confined Livestock and Water Quality Task Force to hold a symposium were presented. The Task Force is expecting to receive financial support for the symposium from non GP AC members.

e. The Executive Committee accepted Denver Burns (FS) letter of resignation as Council Liaison to the Forestry Committee. Following Burns'

recommendation, Gerald Bratton (FS) was appointed to serve as Council Liaison to the Forestry Committee.

f. It was announced that B.A. Stewart (ARS) had resigned from the USDA and

from his appointment as Council Liaison to the Crops and Soils Committee. After conferring, Lundstrom and Skold had asked Jim Welsh (ARS) to assume

the appoin_tment of Council Liaison to the Crops and -Soils Committee.

g. A report was received from the Forestry Committee. A request from the Committee to invite State Foresters to become members of the GPAC had been decided earlier (item 3.c); State Foresters will be invited to become members of the GPAC. The Forestry Committee's request was denied that the Executive Committee survey those states and agencies with inactive members to determine reasons for their inactivity. The Executive Committee did not think it appropriate for them to become involved with the composition of Committees. Rather, they urged the Executive Director, Council Liaison on Committee Chairman to make such inquiries of inactive members and

A proposal to form a task force to Plan and Inventory of Existing and Future Agroforestry Resources in the Great Plains was not approved.

Concerns expressed that the Forestry Committee had planned a task which is too ambitious, the proposal lacked an explanation of a time-table for its

proposed activities and procedures, and the need for the task force needs to be evaluated in relation to activities being planned in the emerging National Biological Survey. The Forestry Committee will be asked to submit a proposal which provides more detail on its recommended approach and how the proposed task force activity relates to other related activities.

8. The 1994 annual meeting. Darnell Lundstrom affirmed that the meeting will be held in Bismarck, June 7-9, 1994. The Holiday Inn (downtown) will serve as the venue.

Lynn Robbins presented a number of ideas for the annual program. Among those presented were:

--Reports from the Biological Control Task Force

--Reports from the Task Force on Pesticide Use and Endangered Species --A set of papers from the Government Expenditures Task Force

--A report from the Sustainable Agriculture Task Force

It was expressed that reports from task forces were viewed as an important communications link between the task forces and the GPAC. Other suggestions included: NAFTA, the 1995 Farm Bill and a broader theme (in addition to the GPAC task force) on sustainable agriculture.

9. An Executive session was held to evaluate the performance of the Executive Director. 10. The meeting was adjourned approximately 3:45 P.M.

Executive Director Department of .-\gricultural and Resource Economics Colorado Scace University Fort Collins. Colorado 80523 (303) 491-i3i0

GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

DATE: January 28, 1994

TO: Executive Committee

FROM: Melvin D. S k o l ~?-0__,_}).)#/f SUBJECT: Conference Call of 1/27 /94

During the conference call of 1/27/94, the following decisions were reached. At the beginning, Skold briefed the Executive Committee on the budget situation (see material for the November 18, 1993 meeting) and the present outlook. Based on information received

from Bill Rietveld, the FS will not participate in the GPAC beyond FY 1994. Tom Army

expressed concern at an earlier date about the USDA reorganization, agricultural research

appropriations and the ability of ARS and other USDA agencies to continue. With this background, the actions were taken:

1. Laughlin and Gray offered to pay the salary of the secretary serving the GP AC Executive Director for the remainder of FY 1994 (through 6/30/94) this will amount to a salary of SS,871.94. This salary savings along with the $4,904.15 (current balance) in our savings account will enable us to get through FY 1994 in the black.

2. A letter will be sent to all current GPAC members as well as prospective

members who have not responded negatively. The letter will ask them to respond by May 15, 1994 (or earlier, if possible) what their intentions are vis-a-vis GP AC participation in FY 1995 and beyond. Skold will prepare the letter to go out under Lundstrom' s signature.

3. Lundstrom and Hellickson will contact Don Anderson and Ray Moore,

respectively regarding their interest in serving as the GP AC Executive Director on a part-time basis. This strategy would move the GPAC to a more flexible financial commitment, which may be necessary during the uncertainties of reorganization within the USDA.

4. Lundstrom will discuss the potential for financial support of the GPAC with

Page 2

Executive Committee

5

.

Skold will proceed to contact the emerging National Biological Survey and the USGS about their interest in becoming members of the GPAC. He will also keep the Executive Committee informed of responses received from State Departments of Agriculture and the State Foresters.

AGENDA

Executive Committee Meeting Great Plains Agricultural Council

Bismarck, ·North Dakota June 6-7, 1994

Monday. June 6

1. 10:00 A.M. Call to order, Chairman Lundstrom 2. Adoption of the agenda

3. Approval of minutes to November 18, 1993 and of the conference telephone call of January 27, 1994 (Attachment A)

4. Report on information obtained from query of members regarding their continued support of the GP AC - Lundstrom

Report on potential new members - Skold

V~n

~ v Pr leffeY

,f/,

tik

lllAlti

/

Executive Director's report:

a. Financial status reports and approval of the operating budget (Attachment B)

b. Towards a packet of information for new members of the Executive Committee (Attachment C)

c. Proposal for reduced time commitment to Executive Director (Attachment D)

7. Unfinished business from the November 18, 1993 meeting:

a. Recommendation to initiate a "sunset" provision for standing committees (Attachment E)

b. Proposal to expand membership of the Executive Committee -- should the issue be recommended to the GPAC at the Business Meeting? c. Proposal to change the length of term of GP AC Executive Committee

members

8. Report from Nominating Committee

9. Plan for 1995 meeting in Albuquerque - Robbins Location of 1996 meeting

Appointments of Council Liaisons, Council Representatives and Administrative Advisors

11. Standing Committee and Task Force reports (Attachment F); scheduled as: 3:30- 4:00 P.M. 4:00- 4:30 P.M. 4:30-5:00 P.M. 5:00 P.M. Tuesday. June 7 8:00- 8:30 A.M. 8:30- 9:00 A.M.

Economics Committee -- Milton Ericksen Crops and Soils Committee --James Welsh Computer Applications -- Duane Johnson Adjourn for the day ·

Forestry Committee -- Gerald Bratton

10:00-10:30 A.M. 10:30-11:00 a.m. 11 :00-12:00 Noon 12:00 Noon

Wildlife Committee -- Jim Miller

Confined Livestock and Water Quality -- Dale Vanderholm

Unfinished business; act on task force recommendations,

etc.

Executive Director Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Colorado State University

Fort Collins. Colorado 80523

(303) 491-7370

GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

DATE: July 27, 1994

TO: Members of recently completed task forces

FROM: Melvin D.

S k o ~

i)

~

SUBJECT: Resolution from the GPAC

The enclosed resolution was adopted at the recent meeting of the Great Plains Agricultural Council. At its 1993 meeting and again in 1994, reports from task forces formed a substantial part of the program of the meeting. You have impressed the Executive

Committee and they, in turn, posed this resolution to the GPAC membership. It was adopted

by unanimous acclamation.

WHEREAS, WHEREAS, WHEREAS, WHEREAS, RESOLVED, RESOLVED,

GREAT PLAI S AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

Resolution re: Completed Task Forces

the purpose of GPAC is to provide an organization for effective

cooperation and coordination in responding to current and emerging issues of importance to Great Plains agriculture and natural resources;

and

task forces are a key mechanism the Council utilizes to involve its federal and state member agencies to promote cooperation and idea exchange in assessing agricultural and natural resource problems; and

GPAC's task forces have been instrumental in defining problems,

assembling state-of-the-art knowledge, evaluating alternative actions,

recommending needs and actions, and heightening awareness; which

has led to the development of improved management methods and

policies; and

the accomplishments and success of the Council would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of its task force members and the high quality products they provide; NOW THEREFORE BE IT that the members of the Great Plains Agricultural Council here

assembled at its 1994 meeting in Bismarck, North Dakota, express appreciation to the recently completed task forces on:

Sustainable Agriculture Leafy Spurge

Biological Control of Tree Pests

Endangered Species and Pesticide Protection

Russian Wheat Aphid

Management of Riparian Areas Future Use of CRP Lands

and acknowledge their outstanding contributions to GPAC and the improvement of Great Plains agriculture and natural resources management; and BE IT FURTHER

that a copy of this resolution will be recorded in the proceedings of this meeting.

Bismarck, North Dakota June 8, 1994

Executive Director Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Colorado Scace University Fort Collins. Colorado 80523 (303) 491-7370

GREAT PLAI>IS AG RI CULTURAL COU CIL

August 10, 1994

John Havlin

Department of Agronomy Kansas State University Manhattan, KS 66506-5501 Dear John:

On behalf of the Great Plains Agricultural Council, thank you for your participation on the program of our recent meeting. I received a number of favorable comments from individuals impressed with what our task forces have been doing. Your contribution was important to making that positive impression.

I have received your paper and will get the proceedings out once all papers are received. Thanks also for your prompt response.

~J-~

Melvin D. Skold Executive Director

Executive Director Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Colorado State University Fore Collins. Colorado 80523 (303) 491-7370

GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COU CIL

August 10, 1994

Gary L. Hein

Panhandle Research and Extension Center 4502 Ave. I

Scottsbluff, NE 69361-4939 Dear Gary:

On behalf of the Great Plains Agricultural Council, thank you for your participation on the program of our recent meeting. I received a number of favorable comments from individuals impressed with what our task forces have been doing. Your contribution was important to making that positive impression.

I have received your paper and will get the proceedings out once all papers are received.

Thanks also for your prompt response. Sincerely,

~JJ.)Mf

Melvin D. Skold Executive Director MDS:sab

Salaries: Secretary Workstudy Travel Postage Telephone

Printing and duplication

Supplies and Materials

Equipment purchase & repair

Annual receipts

Operating Budget

Great Plains Agricultural Council Executive Director FY94 FY94 Budgeted Expended 5/1/93- 5/1/93-4/30/94 4/30/94 $ 8,2641 $13,150 10,017b 500 234 7,000 5,360 1,200 1,973 325 327 2,500 2,695 250 330c 50 $24,955 $29,200 $29,268 1

Salary and benefits, Executive Director

FY95 Budgeted 5/1/94-4/30/95 $ 9,313c 12,580b 500 6,000 2,000 325 2,750 300 50 $33,818 $31,632d _{2-8.J bl <i>}

d$3,449 of GPAC's Secretary Salary and Benefits paid by Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University ($2,350 pd. in 5-6/94)

cExcluded are expenditures of $764 which were reimbursed by task forces

dlncludes Texas Tech Univ. and $3,066 each from NM and WY; $3,400 from other states

G

United Statoa Depertment of Agriculture u

a

fillR

1994

Extension Ser\llCt

Or. Darnell R. Lundstrom, Chair Great Plains Agr,outtural

councll

Extension Ag/Natural Resources

NOSU

Extension Service

P.O.

Box

5437

North Dakota State University

Fargo,

ND

5810545437

Dear Darnell:

Office of the Administrator Washington, DC 20250-0900

RECEIVED

APR 1 5 1994

NOSU

f){T

.

.

'lG

This is

in response

to

your request for Input to plan for the Mure of the Great

Plains

_ Agrlculturel

Council

(GPAC).

As

you are aware,

we have

been providing

financial

support as well as having staff serve on

several of

your task

forces and committees.

lt is

our plan

to

continua

providing support,

both

financial and personnel.

Pending

availability

of funds, we will

program $9,000 toward support of GPAC

ln

Fiscal

Year

1995

.

We suggest

that

programmatic

questions

be addressed

to

Dr. Vivan

Jennings,

Deputy

Administrator,

Agriculture,

Extension Seivice-U.S.

Department of Agriculture,

AG BOX

0910, Washington, DC 20250-0910. His telephone number ls (202) 720-5623.

We look forward to

a

continued,

mutually rewarding agenda. Sincerely,

A

The 1=11ten6ion Service is .an epency ol the

United Sta1eG Department ot Agrlcuttute and

CSU Operating Account Key Bank Accounts:

Executive Director Forestry

Crops and Soils Wildlife

Water

Account Balances

Great Plains Agricultural Council

5/1/93 $10,511 6,018 4,672 2,448 1,510 ** 4/30/94 $12,767* 5,935 5,504 1,512 530 816

*$1,225 from the RWA Task Force; $558 expended and $182 from the Confined Livestock and Water Quality Task Force; $206 expended. Thus, $667 yet to be claimed by the RWA group.

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AGENDA

Executive Committee Meeting

Great Plains Agricultural Council October 18, 1994

Denver, CO

I. 9:00 A.M. Meeting begins -- Robbins

II. Approval of minutes to June 6-7, 1994 meeting (Attachment A) -- Robbins III. Status of membership -- latest responses from federal agencies who had not

pledged support for FY95 (see Attachment B) -- Robbins and Skold

IV. Policy toward uncommitted members -- Robbins

V. Agency to handle the cooperative agreement with CSU for FY95

VI. Progress toward new agency members -- Skold

VII. Approval of fi al report from the Endangered Species Task For e (Attachment C) -- Robbins

VIII. Implementation of the review of Standing Committees; proposal from the

subcommittee (Attachment D). Appoint pilot review team -- Skold IX. Status of Task Forces

-Inventory and Valuation of Agroforestry Resources -- Rietveld -Sustainable Animal Systems -- Lundstrom

-Policy Monitoring and Evaluation -- Robbins

-Update on other task forces -- Skold _ Ler,.fy 7

P"'"5<

- Cv-w-y Ai''(' IV\ v.Jt,.A

X. Appointment of Council Representatives to the Forestry and Wildlife

Committees. At the June meeting we failed to identify administrators to fill

these Executive ·Committee appointments. In each case a university

administrator is needed.

XI. Preliminary financial report from the 1994 annual meeting (Attachment E).

XII. Pla::1s for the 1995 Annual Meeting Program -- McHugh

MINUTES

EXECUTIVE COM1\lllTTEE :MEETING GREAT PLAINS AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL

June 6-7, 1994 Bismarck, North Dakota

Attending: Thomas Army, Milton Ericksen, Mylo Hellickson, Darnell Lundstrom, Helen McHugh, Bill Rietveld: Lynn Robbins, Richard Wootton.

1. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 A.M. by Chairman Lundstrom. Lundstrom recognized Helen McHugh as a new Executive Committee member, identified by Colorado State University to replace Charles Laughlin as the Host Institution representative to the Executive Committee.

2. The proposed agenda was adopted as distributed.

3. Minutes to the meeting of November 18, 1993 and the conference telephone call January 27, 1994 were approved as distributed.

4. GPAC financial status. Lundstrom reported on the responses received to the letter be

distributed to the GPAC membership inquiring about their plans for continued

financial support in FY1995 and beyond.

Each of the GPAC member universities reported they planned to continue their commitments through FY1995. Most had responded in writing; two gave a verbal response with an indication of intention to follow up with a letter. Several expressed contingencies and conditions on their continuation.

Of the member USDA agencies, expressions of commitment for continued support were received from the Agricultural Research Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Extension Service. The Cooperative State Research Service and the Soil Conservation Service indicated they were unable to commit at this time. The Agricultural Marketing Service had not responded. Through Milton

Ericksen, the Economic Research Service indicated no change from the previous communication of intent to discontinue support as of FY1994.

Bill Rietveld indicated that the Forest Service is still troubled by the language

of P.L. 102-393. Unless the Forest Service receives a written statement from the

Office of General Council that P.L. 102-393 does not apply to their participation in

the GPAC, they will not continue. Rietveld did indicate that they may be able to prov_ide equivalent support to the GPAC through a contract for a specific product or service.

Skold ~eported on contacts with potential new members from state and federal

agencies. Of the contacts with the state Department of Agriculture, only two .

responses were received (MT, WY), both negative. Inquiries to the State Foresters resulted in no responses. The Executive Committee expressed disappointment that responses were not offered.

Skold also informed the Executive Committee of the forthcoming proposal, from two USDI agencies; the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of

Reclamation are proposing an Associate Membership in the GP AC at 1/2 the financial rate of the member USDA agencies.

5. Commitment to the Executive Director. Based on this information, the Executive Committee decided to adopt one of several reduced commitment plans presented by Skold. Skold will continue as a 3/4-time Executive Director through September 30, 1994. Beginning October 1, 1994 he will reduce his time to a 1/2-time commitment to the GPAC. Associated with the reduction in time, the Executive Director will reduce his activities by:

a. Limiting his involvement in planning the annual meeting. He will not be involved with contacting potential speakers, securing papers to be included in the proceedings, getting the proceedings printed and distributed or working with the host institution about details for the annual meeting. Similarly, the GPAC secretary will not be involved with distributing pre-meeting notices, mailing pre-registration materials, preparation of the annual meeting brochure, correspondence with speakers (pre- and post-meeting), and assembly of the proceedings. Her time will be reduced from 0.4 time to 0.33 time.

b. Skold will limit his participation in ongoing task forces with well structured agenda. For example, the activities of the Leafy Spurge and Russian Wheat Aphid Task Forces tend to center around conference~ and workshops and have minimal need for Executive Director

involvement.

c. Similarly, Executive Director's involvement will be limited in those Standing Committees which routinely have workshops or conferences associated with their annual meeting or for which the timing of their meeting does not result in direct communication to the Executive Committee. The Executive Director contributes less to these Standing Committees than those which engage in interactive discussions of identified topics and issues.

6. Executive Directors report:

a. As requested by the Executive Committee from its evaluation of the performance of the Executive Director, Skold distributed a working document on "Responsibilities of the Executive Committee, Great Plains Agricultural Council". This statement will be considered a working document to be revised upon input from Executive Committee members. It will be used immediately to inform new Executive

Committee members of the responsibilities of their office. A copy of the report is appended to these minutes.

b. As stated above, Skold presented "A Flexible Plan for the GPAC Executive Director". That report is also appended to these minutes. After discussion, the Executive Committee opted for reduced funding options 1-3 (see report). This results in an estimated salary and

benefits savings of $26,000 for the Executive Director and an estimated reduction in operating expenses of $5,200. Operating budget savings come primarily from reducing the Executive Director's secretary from 0.4 to 0.33 time and from a reduction in travel for the Executive Director.

c. Given the changes above, the 5/ 1/94 to 4/30/95 Operating Budget for

the Executive Director was approved at $28,618. The budget is:

Salaries and Benefits: Executive Director Secretary Workstudy Travel Postage Telephone

Printing and duplication Supplies and materials

Equipment purchase and repair TOTAL Full-funding FY95 Budgeted 5/ 1/94-4/30/95 $ 9,313 12,580 500 6,000 2,000 325 2,750 300 50 $33,818 Reduced FY95 Budgeted 5/1/94-4/30/95 $ 9,313 10,380 500 3,000 2,000 325 2,750 300 50 $28,618

d. As stated in the "Flexible Plan ... ", Colorado State University will employ the

Executive Director as an Extension Public Policy Specialist for the time

reduced from the Executive Director responsibilities. Consequently his

services will not be available to the GPAC beyond the 1/2-time commitment.

e. In discussing the options for a reduced time commitment to the Executive

Director, it was decided that the GPAC Newsletter should be retained.

Discussion about use of electronic mail in place of the Newsletter was not

acted upon. Since the GPAC Newsletter performs an outreach function,

electronic mail would not serve well for this function.

f. It was also suggested that the statement of responsibilities for

Administrative Advisers be augmented to include more operating policies of

the GPAC. This will facilitate certain Task Forces to operate more

independently from the Executive Director. Further, the Executive Director

was instructed to revise the instructions for Administrative Advisers to task

forces so that the task forces are expected to include the GPAC logo and a statement of GPAC sponsorship on the front cover of all announcements, newsletters, proceedings, etc. of GPAC sponsored activities.

g. The question was discussed of which USDA agency will handle the

Cooperative Agreement with CSU for the salary support of the Executive Director. Since ERS is no longer a member; the CSRS was approached to

provide this service. However, given the uncertainty about CSRS participation

in FY1995, they stated they would not assume responsibility for the

Cooperative Agreement. Thomas Army, ARS, indicated that the ARS could

fill the role on a temporary basis, if necessary.