SCB Minutes Archive - 2003
2 December 2003
1) movie night, next wednesday, G002, seven to nine p.m. bring a treat
to share if you like. the movie is going to be "Arctic Dance: the Mardy
Murie Story". Mardy Murie was a prominent conservation/wilderness
biologist who recently passed away at the age of 101 several months back.
some details for this need to be ironed out and i'll be sending out
another e-mail about it later this week. and it will be open to all, not
just scbers, so bring any friends you like!
2) predator friendly beef: we are going to discuss this extensively next
week either before or after the movie. thus far, the DNR guy is good to
go, and we're waiting to hear from the others.
11 November 2003
1) Nate came close to riding a deer this one time...perhaps you had to be
there.
2) Predator friendly beef: we need to get a working definition of the
whole concept and in order to do this we plan to bring together a local
beef distributor, a DNR officer, interested sellers (e.g. Jim's), and
local ranchers. Members volunteered to contact these people to attempt to
see if they are interested and willing to meet; hence the project is up
and rolling.
3) We're thinking a movie night between Thanksgiving and Christmas
breaks, we'll keep you posted.
4) Brainstorm for winter events: snowshoeing, anyone??
5) Next meeting the Tuesday after Thanksgiving break at 6:00 p.m. in the
forestry atrium.
28 October 2003
It's been a while but we had a meeting tonight and it was terrific! We
had some guests in the forms of Dr. John and Leah Vucetich, who came to
present an idea to the club which we feel is very valuable and we're going
to do our best to make it happen.
The Vucetich's are concerned with wolf populations and ranchers in that
naturally wolves and ranchers have antagonistic interests and often
ranchers choose to remove wolves by lethal methods, both illegally and
legally. Out West this is an issue as well (often with coyotes) and a
recent development has been the concept of "predator-friendly beef."
Predator-friendly beef is beef that is sold with a certification that the
rancher has not dealt with natural predators in any lethal ways. It's a
certification similar to milk produced without growth hormones or
organically-certified foods grown without unnatural pesticides/herbicides.
Wolves have been reintroduced into the UP and WI within the last 15 years
but only continue to exist due to people's acceptance. With the idea of
predator-friendly beef, we would be attempting to reduce human-wolf
conflicts and hopefully work towards self-sustaining, healthy wolf
populations. In order to achieve such a standard, the Vucetich's
presented us with a logical course of action that we are planning to
undertake involving cooperatives between ranchers, green consumers, and
the MI DNR. We would be attempting to appeal to a public sector that is
interested in protecting wolves and buying locally and to ranchers that
would be interested in making a living by certifying their beef as
predator-friendly for a higher price but with a guaranteed market.
In other SCB news, in a hard-fought election, I, Lindsey Moritz, was
unanimously named to be the new publicity officer (hey, guess what, no one
else stepped up to bat so it was a little by default action going on). I
pledge to make pretty posters, get us some press when appropriate, and
attempt to get meeting numbers back up. Speaking of, we're talking about
switching meeting times to facilitate attendance. Anyone on the list,
E-MAIL US A TIME YOU LIKE!!! We're thinking even over the noon hour if
some of you stay on campus all day. Just e-mail the list saying what
works for you and we'll take majority. Especially with this exciting new
project brewing, we need you guys!!
30 September 2003
First off, what's the deal everyone, attendance is down!!! Hey, it's the
middle of the semester, we all have our stuff to do and I understand that.
But if we're doing something wrong or there's something you'd like to see
more of, just let us know and we'd be more than willing to accomodate!!
That said, here's the lowdown from this evening:
1) Invasive removal is looking bleak for two reasons: number one is
chipper issues...we need a chipper or else the hugest bonfire ever because
the cuttings will vegetatively reproduce otherwise. number two issue is
weather-wise we may be running out of time (as evident by this morning's
snowfall). Unless we can get a chipper going in the next week, we're
going to take a temporary hiatus on this project until spring. As it
turns out, this will be the most effective eradication technique according
to the life histories of the invasives to begin with, so don't lose heart!
2) On Wednesday, Oct 8th, we're going to be having our first movie night
in G002. On the agenda is "Fern Gully" (blast from our childhood pasts).
Estimated starting time will be 6:30pm and bring snacks to share!!
3) As for the Nalgene fundraiser, we're going to investigate some
potential cheaper options with local businesses.
16 September 2003
The meeting this week was short and sweet and for all of you who weren't
there, here's the run down:
1) We're going to push the invasive removal back tentatively now to the
second weekend in October (the 11th). We were having conflicts with
members being able to attend and the issue of the chipper is still up in
the air. This is plenty of notice, so put this in your datebooks that you
are going to take a stand against the invasives of the Keweenaw!!
2) We have e-mail tag going in regards to high school conservation
mentoring. Keep your ears open for more news on that.
3) We're planning a movie night within the next month or so and any
ecological viewing suggestions would be appreciated! Current prospects
include Fern Gully (I'm a big advocate of that one :) and a humorous but
tragic tale of Prairie Dogs.
It's looking like we're going to take next week off from meeting, but keep
your eyes peeled for our next meeting date!
9 September 2003
1) We got offered a highway about one hour away but turned it down in
lieu of a closer one...in addition, there was another group just behind us
on the list who desperately wanted the highway, so we did the neighborly
thing and passed it down to them. We're still waiting, keep your fingers
crossed!
2) The heads-up on the pending invasive removal: we've got permission
from the ground supervisor and using Round-up (which will be most
effective to keep them from resprouting) is also acceptable. We're just
waiting to hear back on the chipper and then we'll set a date for it.
3) THIS WEEKEND: on Saturday, September 13th meet in the forestry
parking lot at 10 am and we'll go do some clean-up on the land owned by
Houghton County behind Wal-mart. It's about 300-400 acres and there's
lots of junk, so bring a friend! Extra incentive: BBQ at Laura Krueger's
after...and it's a potluck, so show off your mad cooking/baking skills!!
NOTE: trash bags will be provided, but bring your own gloves!
4) Don't forget that e-mail Jordan sent to the list about the lake
clean-up. You don't need a specific club thing to get out there and kick
some environmental degradation butt!
2 September 2003
we started off the year with a great meeting, complete with some new faces
and fantastic ideas. the meeting began with some friendly introductions
of the officers and all members and then we had an overview of our goals
(community service in conservation, preserving biodiversity, etc). as a
club, we are still recognized by the university (this was in doubt due to
low membership at one point) and hence elgible to receive funds from USG
in order to further our collective goals.
we had a wide array of projects presented. we are still on a waiting list
for adopt-a-highway in houghton county and it may take anywhere from a
month to a year to hear back on this. in the meantime, places everywhere
need clean-up! the group decided that our first acitivity will
tentatively be a group clean-up behind wal-mart at 10 a.m. on September
13th. there will be a festive barbecue/potluck to follow. mark your
calendars and as the finer details take shape, we'll keep you posted!!!
other items discussed included a possible weekend of invasive removal this
fall up at the tech trails (we want to kick those pesty exotic
honeysuckles and buckthorns out of there!) and the sale of those hip
little FRES nalgene bottles to make the club a little profit. we also are
in the process of getting into contact with the local high school to
mentor young, budding environmentally-aware teens.
other than that, check out our website (courtesy of Jordan).
1 May 2003
1) For those of you who were unable to attend the Cane Toad movie viewing, you missed a
side-splitting documentary full of witty narratives, clever little song ditties, and
lots of big toads (did you know they make a popping noise when they're run over by a car??)
2) At the last meeting of this school year not too much was covered. At the Earth Day
Fair a seventh grade teacher at Houghton Middle School expressed interest in our club
interacting with her students in conservation education so that's a plan in progress for next
year. As for this year, we're going to attempt to do some exotic species plant removal (what
better steady break could there be?) some time next year (Hey Jordan, you got to help us out
on this one, talk to Laura or Melody or Jen).
3) Brainstorm about possible activities and be on the look-out for any cool ideas for
the club you come across this summer.
15 April 2003
1) officer elections
President: Melody Ward
Vice-president: Nate Johnson
Treasurer: Jordan Marshall
Secretary: Lindsey Moritz
2) We were put on a waiting list for Adopt-a-Highway. We're second from the top and we'll keep you posted as to
when we get assigned our very own piece of asphalt to keep clean and pretty.
3) This week is Earth Week here at Tech. On Monday, April 21st (today), there is a free buffet dinner in addition
to an informational fair with table displays by local organizations from five until eight in MUB Ballroom A. SCB is going
to have a table with some visuals and flyers. Try to come down to the MUB and check it out! There's a yoga demonstration
that night too as a little extra incentive.....
4) Don't forget about the upcoming opportunity to volunteer within the Keweenaw community: This Thurs, Fri, and Sat
the Keweenaw Conservation District is looking for volunteers to help with a tree sale. Any ?'s can be e-mailed to
mkstoneb@mtu.edu (maria) or i could help out too lkmoritz@mtu.edu
5) Our next meeting is May 1st in the Forestry Atrium with a movie immediately following. Rumor is the video is a
comedy about Kane (sp?) toads courtesy of Laura Kruger and her connections down in the Biology Department. Be sure to tell
your friends about it and bring any potential new members!!