Agenda.2009.01.21


 * Agenda for Class Meeting 2009 Jan 21**

Notes will be added during and after the meeting.


 * Objectives**
 * Identify parts of the effort we wish to undertake
 * Possibilities: stream buffers (GIS), stream buffer breaches (field sampling), water quality, land cover (representative ecosystems, GIS), farm issues, forest (crop) issues, Temple Flat Rock ideas
 * Identify learning needs
 * Establish key milestones - see Project Milestones

12:30 **Assign Meeting Roles** We'll need to do this each meeting - Evan, Louise, and George will do it this time to demonstrate. See the [|meeting tips page] for more information.

george: Facilitator - keep us on time and on task Evan/Louise: Note-taker: keep track of what we're doing and ensure that notes are entered here (can be done live and afterwards) Person B: keep running list of unanswered questions / things to find out (on a side board)

12:35 **Do we understand the options? Nail down big picture. Questions. Discussion**


 * NOTES**

Discussion:
 * For many items, there is an inventory aspect (how much of something exists), as well as a condition aspect (how healthy / desirable something is)
 * Conducting multiple inventories / assessments through time constitutes monitoring. While the class can do an inventory, monitoring requires work across a longer time period.
 * Education is an objective of the TLC, and an important consideration when working with natural resources, but our class probably won't be able to make educational materials (like signs) for the TLC. However, creating a survey for visitors (asking what they want, what they like and dislike, and what their interests are) could be done if people are interested. Using surveys may be difficult in the winter, when visitor rates are low, but a survey could be drafted and a pilot test might be done.
 * Rather than performing outreach and education, the class might instead develop recommendations, like management prescriptions

13:00 **Which options shall we work on? What are the interests in the room?**


 * NOTES**

The list of ideas was edited as new ideas came in on top of previous ones. Below is the list as it was organized at the end of class:

Overlapping options (Ecological):
 * Tree and vegetation health
 * Forest management
 * Biological inventory-plants and animals
 * Inventorying species of interest (mussels, overcup oak, other plants and animals)
 * Exotic species control and inventory / assessment

Other Options:
 * Water quality
 * Rubric
 * Rapid Stream Assessment
 * Erosion on streambanks
 * Air quality
 * Farmland
 * Recreation
 * Amount
 * Quality
 * Visitor survey:
 * What they want / what their interests are
 * What they like and dislike

Eliminated Options:
 * Education / signs / community
 * Community Involvement and Outreach

Additionally, the following criteria were developed regarding how to choose options:
 * Ease of use / feasibility of tools used

The following tools / logistics were discussed to implement these options:
 * Volunteers
 * GIS
 * Property / regional assessment / report card
 * Sampling
 * Management prescriptions

13:30 **Can we make our objectives more specific?**


 * NOTES**

After brainstorming, the numerous objectives regarding plants and animals were grouped together to reflect the relationships between the different concepts. Education, as an objective in itself, was removed as discussed above. Some categories were not feasible as monitoring efforts, but the class could perform initial inventories.

=** List of ideas was condensed: **=
 * Inventory:
 * Stream Buffers- table or buffer vegetation; breaches
 * Recreation/ Parks/ Open Space- visitor surveys
 * Trails
 * *Farmland- crops, crop yield, etc.
 * *Vegetation
 * Animals


 * Condition/ Health:
 * *Water Quality
 * *Air Quality

13:50 **Break**

14:00 **Detail learning needs** Brainstorm - develop list of what we need to learn to move forward. Prioritize the list.How will this be accomplished?

What needs to be done?
 * Pick Topics/ Form Teams
 * Narrow Down/ Refine
 * Plan
 * Objective/ Goals
 * Procedures/ Design/ Methods
 * Timeline
 * Equipment Needed
 * Contacts/ Research
 * Product
 * Hypothesis
 * Do it!


 * NOTES**

Major learning needs, in order of priority, are


 * __Need__ || __Priority__ ||
 * || 1 ||
 * || 2 ||
 * || 3 ||
 * || 4 ||

14:30 **Establish key milestones** What can we add to the ProjectMilestonesNR300 page? What timeframes? Can we identify which steps depend on other steps and which can be done in parallel?


 * NOTES**

14:50 **Form Teams!** = **Teams Formed!!!!** =
 * ==Water Quality:==
 * ===Stream Buffers- Ashley, Wes, Siyao===
 * GIS/ RS
 * ===H2O Quality Report Card/ Existing Data- Kate, Kelly, Carra, Will===
 * DENR
 * ===Buffer Breaches- Kelley, Bennet===
 * Field Based, GIS


 * ==Farmland- Gina, Emily, Joseph==
 * Crops, Yields, CSA's, Economic Contributions


 * ==Vegetation- LeeAnna, Leanne, Johnathan, John, Liz==
 * Field Based, Exotic/ Invasives, Desired Vegetation, Trees


 * ==Land Cover- James, Joe==
 * GIS/ RS, Representative Ecosystem, National Heritage Program


 * ==GIS Team?==
 * LeeAnna, Leanne, Johnathan, Joe, Liz, Emily, Will, Wes

15:10 **Class ends**