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###### DRAFT MINUTES ######

Meeting of the Board Of Trustees of the
Foundation for Virginia's Natural Resources
Advisory Task Force

Minutes

March 7, 2007, 1:30 p.m.
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
Richmond, Virginia

Board of Trustees Members Present

Advisory Group Members Present

Recorder of the Minutes

Ann Regn, Facilitator to Develop Criteria and Operational Procedures

Ms. Regn welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced new attendees.

Minutes, comments and questions from note cards, and one-on-one questions/opinions from the February 9, 2007, meeting were previously emailed to Trustees and Advisors from Chair Gilliam. Also included in that email was a draft Memorandum of Understanding between FVNR and NAAEE for which Chair Gilliam asked for approval or suggestions for changes.

At the February 9 meeting, Ms. Regn asked the group to think about the questions that were generated. She asked today's group to consider the programmatic priorities (including collaboration with other agencies) and recommendations for the process (operational considerations).

A draft will be developed for presentation at the FVNR Board of Trustees meeting on April 6 to include:

  1. Program Description (includes summary of the application process)
  2. Application Form
  3. Scoring Criteria (how decisions get made)

Ms. Regn distributed a draft introductory/summary description of what would be found on the FVNR web site for everyone's review and asked for comments. Included in this summary are the following:

Ms. Regn asked the group to identify priorities for promoting stewardship for environmental education, pollution prevention and citizen monitoring.

Each area was reviewed and suggestions were made for changes. Chair Gilliam asked that a bullet be added as follows:

There was further discussion of whether to be specific or generalize the priorities under environmental education, pollution prevention and citizen monitoring. Comments were as follows:

Chair Gilliam expressed his opinion that a lot of environmental natural resource issues are going to be driven by the global warming controversy in the future. He suggested that funding opportunities be offered to schools or civic groups that want to conduct education on climate change issues since climate change is linked with conservation in general--energy, water, etc. Ms. Regn stated that, hopefully, this process would give that flexibility.

General Criteria

Ms. Regn led a discussion of the two levels of criteria:

  1. general areas and
  2. how to rank projects.
    Ms. Bell suggested prioritizing projects according to how many checkmarks they receive and what's being proposed.

Ms. Regn presented a tiered approach:

Mr. Stephens asked if metrics could be established to define tangible benefits such as (# acres, # larvae, etc.). He stressed the importance of investing in projects that are going to be successful; have a plan for achieving long-term program sustainability. Mr. Johnson stated that some projects would be short term and not all projects could be measured in this way. Ms. Regn asked the group to think about this, and she would return to this issue later.

Chair Gilliam stated that, when FVNR got started, Senator Hanger was particularly pleased and anxious to assist in the watershed planning process. He loved what the Pure Water Forum was doing in the Shenandoah and the success that they were having. He is supportive of FVNR promoting collaboration. The reason FVNR is set up with one board member from each river basin is that Senator Hanger and Dennis Treacy felt that this was a good way to work. So, whatever we end up with, hopefully, will promote and reflect supporting that concept.

Suggestions were that the criteria checkmark stating "provides an opportunity for cooperation among diverse groups" could be changed to "encourages an opportunity for collaboration between diverse groups implemented on a river basin basis." The checkmark stating "Utilizes existing resources and expertise from local businesses, public agencies, academic institutions, and community organizations" could be moved up in priority. Ms. Regn asked if checkmarks should be rated with a point system. It was agreed it would be hard to say one criterion was more important than another.

Catalog: Ms. Regn stated that the catalog approach was a good way to attract supporters. Mr. Stephens passed around a "Catalogue for Philanthropy" from the River Counties Community Foundation in the northern neck area of Virginia. This "Catalogue," which could be used as a sample, lists organizations that their Foundation supports. Discussion ensued regarding organizing the catalog in several ways (alphabetically by groups, by resource, by topic, by watershed); or if placed on-line, it could be a totally searchable database that would assist potential donors in choosing projects they wish to support.

Chair Gilliam described other potential sources of support for FVNR including memorials, illustrations, etc. Marketing will be tied in with operational procedures and criteria.

Chair Gilliam suggested a structured annual review/re-evaluation of criteria to make any changes necessary. This would allow flexibility for improvement and is a fundamental element of the process.

Mr. Stephens suggested that a part of one of the quarterly BOT meetings could be used to focus on the grant criteria.

Operations

Ms. Regn stated that many of the note card questions generated from the February meeting had to do with the process. Others dealt with funding guidelines (i.e., a proposal from the catalog could be negotiated with the funder and project committee). Other questions were informational in nature regarding evaluating projects.

Ms. Regn asked the group to discuss creating an on-line catalog and how it would work after applications are received. Chair Gilliam stated that the Board had approved a process in keeping with their mission and goals; and if a project is approved for the catalog, donations would actively and passively be sought to fund the project. Ms. Regn suggested that there is a need for a non-Board member contact person or liaison person to tweak and negotiate the project (an advocate, a technical expert).

Mr. Johnson suggested that a list of contact people be developed for each agency depending upon the nature of the project. This would be someone to contact for an opinion. When projects are submitted, there could be a sub-committee of the Board to review applications. The sub-committee could make comments/questions and send back projects that are not ready for consideration. The sub-committee would also recommend an agency mentor that could be contacted to answer questions and improve their application. The sub-committee would determine the strongest applications to present to the Board for consideration.

Ms. Powell asked how agency liaisons would be chosen or appointed in respect to the draw on staff time. Agency buy-in would be necessary.

Chair Gilliam stated that a local roundtable person (within the river basin of the proposed project) could act as a shepherd for projects. FVNR could, in turn, potentially provide resources for salary, office expenses and meeting costs of the roundtable. A documentation of effectiveness or report would be effective to say, "Here's what you got for your dollars." And it would benefit them to help because the project is in their region.

Ms. Regn stressed the importance of also having an agency contact for communication purposes.

Ms. Regn discussed trouble-shooting issues. Mr. Stephens recommended a process that parallels with the General Assembly process in evaluating applications.

Chair Gilliam raised the idea of asking each of the roundtables of Virginia to submit five potential projects (with budgets) based on the Foundation's criteria for environmental education, pollution prevention and citizen monitoring. This would promote collaboration and would provide projects to begin development of the catalog.

Discussion followed regarding a schedule for project submittals and Board approvals for updates to the catalog. Potential funders could be notified when updates are made to the catalog.

Various protocols for receiving projects were discussed as follows:

Comments:

Chair Gilliam expressed hopefulness for when he makes contacts with potential donors in partnership with NAAEE, that he can sell FVNR for possible endowments.

After discussion of FVNR's funding of state agency projects, Chair Gilliam suggested that one of the criteria should be, "Does it advance the goals of the state agencies within the Secretariats of Natural Resources and Agriculture and Forestry?" Mr. Stephens cautioned that FVNR should not involve itself with the state's regulatory mode. Only non-regulatory projects should be supported (i.e., educate farmers and public on why best management practices are necessary). Chair Gilliam suggested that FVNR's web site should refer to Article 11.

After much discussion, the group agreed to the following:

Other ideas:

The next meeting of the Advisory Task Force will be held on Wednesday, March 28, 2007, from 12:00 Noon - 3:00 p.m. at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Richmond. At this meeting, the Advisory Task Force will refine and wordsmith an initial set of principles that will then be sent to the Board of Trustees for their review before the BOT meeting on April 6. An on-line application and metrics score sheet will also be developed for review. A sample online Application for Funding Assistance was distributed for use as homework. Advisors are asked to focus on what is really important to each of them. Ms. Regn is developing a document which includes broad categories of programmatic priorities which she will send to the Advisory Group before the March 28 meeting. Chair Gilliam and Mr. Stephens will present an overview to the Board of Trustees at the April 6 meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.

NOTE: Tapes of Board of Trustees and Advisory Task Force meetings are on file in the Department of Forestry Central Office.

Last modified: Friday, 07-Mar-2008 14:13:44 EST