The New Forest Society, Inc.
Minutes
Saturday, November 17, 2001

Mrs. Prongas called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. Also present: Caryl Austrian, Sister Carol Durkin, Marcy Watters, Charles Stouter, Karen Dosch, Mike Souders.

The minutes of the March 2 meeting were accepted as read.

Treasurer's Report: A Philadelphia woman has donated $200 to The New Forest Society and $100 has been donated by Robert Balgac, a student from Yugoslavia at Mount Saint Mary's College. Mr. Balgac intends to donate to The New Forest Society 1% of the profits from a business he intends to establish following graduation.

Mrs. Prongas reported that NFS membership cards have been printed.

Attorney Marcy Watters:

Noted that election of the Board of Directors should take place at today's meeting. Mrs. Prongas will continue as president, Sam Castleman has agreed to stay on as vice president; Caryl Austrian has agreed to continue as secretary.. Marcy noted that the officers do not have to be Board members. At present, there are no other members except board members. All current directors (Elizabeth Prongas, Sr. Durkin, Don Briggs, Karen Kuhn, Mike Souders and Charles Stouter) have agreed to continue in the same positions. A formal meeting to elect new board members for next year will immediately follow this meeting.

Reported that nothing has been received from the IRS regarding the NFS's 501(c)(3) application. The 120-day deadline just passed. She will call and check on its status. She has tried to reach the IRS on the phone to no avail.

Clarified that we already have non-profit status. We are asking the IRS to exempt us from paying income tax (i.e., on donations, grants, etc.) The application was originally filed in July and we had asked for an extension.

Mike Souders:

Reported on status of NFS website, currently included in his domain name: htttp://threeleaps.com/newforest. In the future, we may want our own domain name, but cannot use "new forest" as there already is one in the Midwest and one in England.

Mike will continue to host our site, but is looking into finding hosting for less than the $240 he is currently paying. One company under consideration costs $99/year.

The site includes our mission statement, the list of directors and a printable application form. Our membership card is a duplicate, except for the wording, of the one used by the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown.

The projects page is open - we need to develop some information for that page.

A password [chestnut] is needed to access the members-only page, where one can read the latest minutes. Changes to the minutes should be sent to Mike in ASCII.

Also included: the articles of incorporation, the by-laws, and links to other sites such as the University of Maryland riparian buffers; Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Ducks Unlimited and Thorpewood.

To be added: www.naturalresources, UMD.edu, John Blake is contact.

Also discussed:

Current and possible future projects involving NFS: Catoctin Mountain Explorer Project (NFS will work with Sam Castleman), MDNR and Conservation Fund (looking for partners), ThorpeWood, Community Commons, Community Forest Buffer Guide issued by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (encourages micronurseries), Going Native program (NFS members collected walnuts, seeds, etc.; state uses to grow trees, etc.) [see newspaper article in archival notebook maintained by secretary]; Bridging the Monocacy, tributaries programs, The Big Sweep (trash, including large items, removed from streams); possible future programs for children (e.g.,, to grow their own seedlings) and seniors, emphasizing the importance of trees .

Fund-raising: NFS funds will derive from memberships and grants. Mrs. Prongas reported that she has met twice with Karen Kuhn regarding grants and that Ann Brown of the grant office at Winchester Hall has given us a lot of information. American Rivers, for example, has new grants available.

Mike has photos of the Gettysburg Battlefield where trees have been removed.

Mr. Stouter:

Reported on the 500-acre farm adjoining his property which belongs to the state and is being administered by the Catoctin Land Trust. Much of the property is wetland, but it is being farmed and is washing away; trees need to be planted there. Although Mr. Stouter lost many trees planted on his property under the CREP program, he has not replanted due to the ongoing drought. Mrs. Prongas reported losing 40% of her (CREP) trees to drought and voles. She noted that replacements have to be hand-planted, that is, not by machines like the original plantings.

Sister Carol:

Reported on their project to replant potted Christmas trees. Also, she noted, they are looking for space to display their Care of the Earth Committee project. MFS membership cards could be included in the display. She attended Genesis Farm, a 3-week live-in experience about organic farming; she hopes to share her knowledge with the sisters and schoolchildren. Also, Forester Mike Kay checked the 4200 trees planted 3 years ago and noted that some of the shelters should come off. Earthcamp for Teenagers is a possible program. Mother Seton School collected acorns as part of the Going Native program and the children planted them. Perhaps some semi-retired sisters can help with grant-writing.

Mrs. Prongas suggested a memorial tree program, perhaps in conjunction with the new Emmitsburg library.

The meeting adjourned at 10 a.m. and reopened for the Board of Directors meeting to elect officers for next year. A motion passed to retain the same officers as follows: Elizabeth Prongas, chairman; Sam Castleman, vice chairman; Caryl Austrian, Secretary; and Libby Briggs, Treasurer.