Iowa Trappers Assn., Inc. Directors Fall Meeting
September 14, 2007
Call to Order
President Spencer Hill called the fall director’s meeting to order at 1:09 pm at the Clarke County Fair Grounds in Osceola, IA.
Roll Call
Roll call was answered by 4 officers, 14 directors, 4 directors at large, 1 proxy representative, FTA director Dean Mitchell and NTA director George Scalf.
New Directors
· Districts 1,6,8,16,24 are open. Dean Mitchell turned in his letter of resignation as FTA Director.
· Dwayne Kay nominated Gene Purdy to be the new FTA director. Seconded by Dean Mitchell. Carried.
· Tom Walters called for nominations to cease. Seconded by Ryan Kilburg. Carried.
· Gene Purdy accepted the nomination. He will now be the FTA director for the Iowa Trappers Association.
Approve Agenda
· Motion by Tom Walters to approve the agenda. Seconded by Ryan Kilburg. Carried.
Minutes - Executive Council
· Executive Council found insurance for the ITA trailer for one year for $252 with a $250 deductible.
· Motion by Gene Purdy to go into closed session. Seconded by Tom Gilman. Carried.
· Motion made by Tom Walters to go into open session. Seconded by Dean Hoffman. Carried.
· Motion by Dean Hoffman to accept the Executive Council and Secretary report. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried.
Secretary Report
· Dita Mallon reported that current membership is at 1556 and lifetime membership is up to 291. We have received 16 new lifetime members in the course of one year.
· Dita Mallon reported that the credit card has received a lot of interest.
· The ITA web site has a new look.
· Dita reported that we have only 9 lifetime membership cards left. We will need to reorder. Since we have changed our ITA logo, Dita Mallon presented a design for the lifetime card.
· Motion made by Jeff Kempf to change the lifetime card and order 100 more. Seconded by Randy Mitchell. Carried.
Treasurer Report
· Chris Grillot presented the 2nd quarter totals and balance sheet as of August 31, 2007
· The accountant prepared the taxes for a cost of $300.
· Chris ordered member t-shirts. Prices have increased. Chris presented suggested price increase to help defer the price increase.
· Motion by Randy Mitchell to raise the price on shirts from $10 for sizes L & XL to $15 and from $10 for XXL & XXXL to $20. Seconded by Jeff Kempf. Carried.
· Chris recommend selling the 2007 convention patch for $5.00 each
· Motion by Jeff Kempf to sell the 2007 convention patch for $5.00 each. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried.
· Chris recommended leaving the price for the ITA Member hats the same.
· Chris stated that we have a large quantity of old ITA patches and ITA Belt buckles.
· Motion by Gene Purdy to sell the old convention patches which are priced for $2.00 or more be reduced to $2.00 each, ITA Belt buckles be sold for $5.00 each, the 30th Anniversary Belt buckle be put on the auction and the Lifetime decals sell for $1.00 each. Seconded by Jeff Kempf.
· Motion by Jeff Kempf to amend the motion to lower the patches to a $1.00. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried.
· The Amended Motion by Gene Purdy to sell old convention patches for a $1.00, ITA Belt buckles to be sold for $5.00 each, the 30th Anniversary Belt buckle shall be put on the auction and the Lifetime decals be sold for $1.00 each. Seconded by Jeff Kempf. Carried
Correspondence
· Chris Grillot received a letter that someone would like to have an ITA lifetime patch. It was decided not to give an ITA lifetime patch. The only way to receive a lifetime patch is to purchase a lifetime membership.
· Spencer Hill stated that the Mason City has grants available to give to the ITA for the cost of hosting the NTA Convention.
District Director Report
None
FTA Report
· Dean Mitchell reported that Dave Hastings editor of the Fur Taker magazine was invited to give a presentation on new traps at the Midwest Furbearer Conference.
· At the FTA Convention in Barnum, Minn. NAFA presented the FTA with a check for $1000 and Chapter 8 N.E., Ohio gave $1000.
· The FTA continues to work with the USSA on the API lawsuits in Minnesota and Maine. The FTA has donated $5000 to the USSA and $2000 to the USSA’s trailblazer program. The FTA continues to support Traps 4 Kids by making another donation of $500 to them.
· This year all officers and 5 governing board members are up for election.
· The 2008 FTA Convention will be in Columbia, MO. June 19-22 and the 2009 FTA Convention will be in Mena, Arkansas.
NTA Report
· George Scalf reported on the NTA Board of Directors meeting held in Goshen, Indiana on July 31 – August 1, 2007
· George Scalf recommended Jim Obradovich as a lobbyist for the Iowa Trappers Association.
· Motion by Dean Hoffman to have George talk with Jim Obradovich to see what he would charge to be a lobbyist for the ITA. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried.
· Jenny 2 in the NTA office is the new convention coordinator.
· George Scalf reported on the 2007 NTA Awards and Auction sales.
· George and Anna Marie Scalf were inducted into the NTA 2007 Hall of Fame.
· The NTA President is Kraig Kaatz and General Organizer is Todd Roggenkamp.
· George reported on the death of Stephen Boynton.
TIP Report
· Jeff Kempf expressed interest in being a TIP Representative for the ITA.
REAP Report
None
Legislative Report
None
Fur Coat
· Tom Walters commented on the fur coat. Miss Iowa will be at our convention on Saturday from 1-5pm.
Ron Andrews – DNR Report
· Updates on season: Beaver trapping season shortened from April 15 to April 1. This would protect a few more otters that may have already had young but still allow the spring season to occur to have primer beaver pelts. Also still allows at least some reduction of beaver damage complaints by letting the trappers take more of the problem beaver while season it still open.
· Iowa’s First Ever River Otter Harvest Season results 2006: The state quota of 400 otters was reached in 10 days plus the grace period of 72 hours gave a total of 469 river otters harvested in 2006. Nothing unusual about the sex ratio with an even breakdown of males and females. 59 trappers took 469 otters for an average bag of 1.28 otters per trapper. 110 trappers caught their season bag limit of 2 otters. Records show that there was only16 household where trappers tagging otters had the same household address but only 9 of those 16 households fill everyone’s limit. The DNR stresses that we still need to collect carcasses of trapped river otters as that information is critical to the continuation and approval of the Fish and Wildlife service giving the Iowa DNR approval for future seasons. The 2007-2008 otter trapping season will be a duplicate of 2006 with a state quota of 400 animals and 2 per licensed fur harvester but only a 48 hour grace period.
· Iowa first ever Bobcat Harvest Season: A Hunting and Trapping Season in the southern 2 tiers of counties (21 counties) opening up the first Saturday of November (Novembers 3 this year) with an open zoned quota of 150 bobcats and only 1 per licensed fur harvester. All hunters will be required to have a fur harvester license as well as the usual habitat fee. All legal means and methods of hunting may be used. Bobcat carcass collections are very critical to maintaining and perhaps liberalizing future bobcat seasons. We need as much cooperation as possible from all bobcat harvesters to maintain the bobcat season. Like river otters, all bobcats harvested will need to have a CITES tag on the animals before it is skinned. Arrangements need to be made with the local officer or DNR designee within 24 hours of taking a bobcat. Fur harvesters can keep abreast of the status of the bobcat and river otter season quotas by calling 515-281-5918 and that number will also tell fur harvesters when either of those 2 seasons end. Otters and bobcats taken after the season closes and bobcats taken outside the closed zone must be turned over to the Iowa DNR.
· Mt Lions, Ron reported that he still receives an average of or 4 reported Mt. Lion Sightings a week. It has been nearly 3 years since we have actually validated such a sighting with hard evidence such as the carcass, track, legitimate photo, scat or dropping or DNA material.
· Muskrats still seem to be in very short supply nationwide .The reason could relate to habitat deterioration and poor water quality.
2007 Fall Convention – Southwest
· Craig Sweet thanked all of those who helped clean up the buildings at the fair grounds, which were left in complete disorder.
· Spencer Hill commented that the Fair board needs to be made aware of the mess that was left in the buildings.
· The Fair board was asking for $5.00 per hookup which was not in the contract
· Motion by Jeff Kempf to stay with the contract. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried
· Spencer Hill stated that Presidential candidate Senator Dodd phoned that he was interested in having a booth at the ITA and introduce him at the General membership meeting.
· Craig Sweet stated we have 3 guns to give away.
· Motion by Randy Mitchell to sell 2 decks for cards for the 2 larger guns at $10.00 per card. Seconded by Dan Reich.
· Amendment to the motion to sell 2 decks of cards for the larger guns, choice, to be drawn at the end of the general membership meeting. Seconded by Tom Walters. Carried
· Spencer Hill reported that at he was approached to give Dennis Johnson an outstanding trapper award.
· Motion by Gene Purdy to award Dennis Johnson the Outstanding Trapper Award. Seconded by Dan Reich. Carried.
2008 NTA Convention
· Spencer Hill reported that he is working on convention committees. He is asking for people to help and get involved.
2009 Fall Convention – Northeast
· Dan Reich suggested Delaware or Fayette County for the 2009 fall convention.
Election – Vice President, Secretary and Executive Council
· Jeff Kempf has accepted the nomination for Vice President.
· Dita Mallon has accepted the nomination for Secretary.
· Nominations will be open until the General Membership meeting.
· Gene Purdy’s position is up for executive council.
· Motion by Dean Mitchell to nominate Gene Purdy for Executive Council. Seconded by Jeff Kempf. Carried.
· Motion by Randy Porch for nominations cease. Seconded by Tom Gilman. Carried.
· Gene Purdy will serve another 3year term on the Executive Council.
Unfinished Business
· Spencer Hill stated that he paid for the 2006 President awards. He asked if the ITA should pay for the awards or should the ITA President pay for the awards.
· Motion by Tom Walters that the ITA pays for the President awards. Seconded by Dennis Johnson. Carried.
New Business
· Dwayne Kay stated that more workers are needed for the booth at the Pheasant Fest in Minneapolis, Minn.
· Spencer Hill recommended the following dates for the Directors meetings:
o Winter meeting the last Sunday in January.
o Spring meeting the first part of April.
o Summer meeting the last Sunday in June.
Adjourn
Motion by Tom Walters to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ed Clouse. Carried
Adjourned at 3:12
Fall 2007 Minutes 2