Oklahoma Grazing Lands Conservation Association

Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

February 21, 2006

 

The OGLCA met on February 21, 2006, at the Farm Bureau Office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

 

Attendance Included:

 

Steering Committee Members:                        Wally Olson,(SRM), VICE CHAIR

                                                            Larry Hensley, (OCA), Past-CHAIR

                                                            Walt Davis, (Producer At-Large)

                                                            Gary Read, (OGSP)

                                                            Janice Hensley, (OCWA) – by Proxy

                                                            Kim Barker, (OLSA) CHAIR – by Proxy   

 

Ex-Officio/Advisory Members:              Herman Mayeux, ARS, Ft. Reno

                                                            Marla Peek, OFB

                                                            Steve Glasgow, State GLCI Coordinator

 

Other Guests:                                       Mary Penick, Kerr Center

                                                            Charles Griffith, OLSA

                                                            Bob Drake, National GLCI Chair

 

I.                The meeting was called to order by Mr. Olson in the absence of Mr. Barker.  

 

II.              The agenda was adopted with 2 additions relating to the NCGL and Arkansas GLCI Meeting.

 

III.             The minutes of the December, 2005 meeting was reviewed.  Motion by Mr. Hensley to approve the minutes.  Second by Mr. Read.  All ayes, motion carried.

 

IV.           There was no Financial Statement since the Previous meeting was two months ago and no funds had been spent.

 

V.             Old Business

 

A)      Grants Updates and Status

Mr. Glasgow provided a handouts showing status of current grants

B)      Follow-up on Items from December Meeting

Mr. Glasgow provided a follow-up report on planning a meeting for invasive species discussions and demonstrations on wildfire areas.  Nothing more has happened with OSU on the invasive species issue.  He will follow-up with OSU to begin work on invitee lists and letter for a meeting.  He has made contact with Conservation Districts regarding demonstrations on wildfire sites.  This issue was related to a wildfire near Sayre.  The area was predominately CRP acres and absentee landowners, most of which was in old world bluestems.  Since the initial fire, there has not been much concern at the local level.  He will be making a trip to the sites to determine feasibly and interest of a demonstration project.

 

VI.           New Business

A)      Budget Update and 2006 planning (annual work plan)

Mr. Glasgow provided the committee with a summary of the 2005-06 budget and workplan. There were several items planned that did not get completed in 2005 and need to either be removed or re-scheduled.  Several were re-scheduled in 2006.  The workplan also contained items for 2007.  The overall budget is good and there is $13,278.00 currently un-obligated.  These are the funds that are used for the grants program and other future planned events.  Mr. Glasgow stressed the importance of updating the work plan to obligate funds to specific projects and work items.  The committee agreed and it was decided that at the June Meeting, an emphasis would be placed on planning for obligating funds.  One item discussed at the last meeting and carried over to this meeting was changing the way demonstration and education grants are handled.  Many of the requests for funds are educational workshops.  There is value in these educational activities and everyone agrees but recently many of the requests do not focus much on grazing lands, at least not for the amount of money requested.  There was discussions on making sure that OGLCA funds spent on projects are based on identified issues and concerns on grazing lands and that the results of such efforts truly have an impact.  A revised approach may be needed and the committee agreed that at the June meeting, this needed to be an item for further discussion.

There was concern that there are several issues facing grazing lands owners (i.e. Drought, wildfire, health and well being of the land, impacts on producers faced with these problems, etc.) that are not being addressed.  Who is available to address these issues?  What needs to be done to address them?  These were just some of the questions that came up.  Mr. Glasgow explained the role of the OGLCA and the Advisory Committee.  The OGLCA, made up of producers, producer organizations, agencies and others, was created to bring together all the groups with a common goal to work together to address issues and concerns on grazing lands.  Having all partners together around the table offers opportunities to work together and plan activities to address issues such as those mentioned.  If agencies and organizations don’t participate, then the efforts may be minimal outside of what those who participate can do.  It appears as though NRCS, ARS and OCC are the common members who participate, but there is work that can be done beyond what these groups can do.  Some questioned the role of Extension Service ad OSU.  They have representation for Cooperative Extension Service, Ag Experiment Stations and the university, but participation has been minimal for the last 4-5 years.  From these discussions it was determined that the OGLCA needs the involvement of CES, AES and OSU. It was suggested that the Chair should draft a letter to be sent to Dean Robert Whitson regarding the role of CES, AES and the university on the OGLCA and requesting their representation.  Mr. Glasgow will work with the Chair who was absent today and draft letter for review of other members.

 

B)      New Proposed Burn Bill (SB-1549)

Mr. Glasgow reviewed highlights of the proposed new burn bill.

 

C)      Local Burn Associations – What can OGLCA do to support

The group discussed the importance of the Associations and agreed that education was an important need for the Associations.  Educations should focus on fire behavior, responses after fire, what happens under long term burning, safety, laws, etc.  Mr. Glasgow informed the group he has conducted a two day training focusing on many of these items to the North Central Range Improvement Association in Nobel county and it was well received and attended by 20 people form the association.  He stated he will work with OSU and others to promote more education to the associations.

 

D)      Grant Applications

Only one request was received – Payne County CD for a women in Ag Conference.  There was much discussion on this request and what was being covered at the meeting.  Finally, after review and discussions, Mr. Davis made a motion to approve the grant for $835.00.  Second by Mr. Read.  Four votes to approve, two votes against, motion carried and Grant was approved.

 

E)      FFA Award

This year they have changed how th award will be presented.  Sponsors are invited to a breakfast but will not need to present the awards.  No-one from the committee desired to attend the breakfast.

 

F)      Speakers at NCGL

Mr. Mayeux provided an update on the 3rd National Conference on Grazing Lands to be in St. Louis this December.  They are looking for speakers and invited speakers.  Mr. Davis is planning to submit an abstract to be a speaker.  Mr. Olson may also.

 

G)     Regional GLCI Meeting in Arkansas

Those from the OGLCA who plan to attend include: Larry and Janice Hensley.  Mr. Mayeux and Mr. Glasgow will also be attending.  Mr. Glasgow will inform the Arkansas GLCI group of attendees.

 

VII.         Reports

NRCS:  Mr. Glasgow reported fro Mr. Dominick on the status of the NRCS Budget in Oklahoma.  He stated NRCS has an extremely tough budget and are positioning themselves to probably not be in the watershed program delivery system business much longer.  These programs have been declining for years.  They are also looking at field office restructuring to see if there are cost savings possible and they are going to get the staff numbers down and not replace people.  This will be done at this point thru attrition.  This can impact our grazing lands efforts.

 

ARS:

 

 

 

 

 

VIII.       Motion made by Mr. Hensley to adjourn.  Second by Mr. Read.  All ayes, motion carried.

 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent with the planning committee for the 5th Annual Grazing Lands Conference.