The view from the President's Column is a new and challenging one for me. Although I became a member of the WMC in 1986 and have been a Board member since 1992, it was always someone else's duty to lead this much-needed organization. But the Council is pretty much a do-it-yourself operation, so now it's my turn to charge on with our vision of "advancing the art and science of watershed management."
I have great expectations for the Watershed Management Council. It is the right organization in the right place at the right time. No other organization, that I am aware of, is providing neutral, regional forums to publicly discuss, debate, create,or validate the concepts of watershed managementa complex, interdisciplinary field which still lacks a professional journal devoted to the subject. WMC also has many of the ingredients required for organizational success: a dedicated and capable Board of Directors, a tradition of excellent programs (conferences, newsletters, field trips, proceedings), experienced support staff, and some money in the bank.
The usual biennial change of the Board of Directors has just occurred. Former WMC President Richard Harris left in October for sabbatical at the University of Hawaii and two other directors are also outgoing Board members. Many thanks to Richard, Karen Gaffney and Chris Knopp for their valuable contributions over the years. Recent Board elections allowed us to finally expand our membership to 11. Five enthusiastic new members were added: Bob Coats, John Cobourn, George Ice (a former Board member), Bob Nuzum, and Dennis Pendleton. (See the Board Election article below for more details.)
Charging outward...
The Board now has four western states representedCalifornia, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. WMC also has a new mailing address: @ UC Davis, instead of UC Berkeley. We enjoy continuing our university partnership, and greatly appreciate Dennis Pendleton's offer of his Public Service Research Program (PSRP) as a more permanent address. Also hopefully more permanent is our new Voice Mail at (510) 273-9066. Continuing as our part-time administrative consultant is Hannah Kerner of Oakland, California. Someone recently left a message on our Voice Mail that said, "I see you have an Oakland phone number, a Davis address, and an Arcata websitehow do you do it?" With a mostly volunteer operation and a low budget, we manage to stay flexible because we have to.
The 7th Biennial Conference in Boise was quite an achievement, thanks to Conference Coordinator Chuck Slaughter and a whole host of other volunteer coordinators (see article). WMC also has over 100 new members from Idahoadding to the geographic diversity we're seeking in our membership. To help serve our members better, a Questionnaire was sent out with the election ballots last fall. You can read about the results in the article by Polly Hays. The Board is trying to respond to your suggestions for improvement in many ways, including in the content of the Networker.
Changing inward...
Regular, quarterly newsletters of interest to a broader audience are anticipated in 1999 (see the schedule and themes). We also hope to have Book Reviews (non-fiction and fiction) as a regular featurewe always need volunteer reviewers. Polly Hays has contributed several before and now offers a new one on LUST! Letters to the Editor are always encouraged: comments on articles in the newsletter, on watershed management in general or in specific, on the role of the WMC, etc.. Please send to our trusty Managing Editor: furniss@watershed.org.
You can always (almost?) reach me at (530)467-5783 or e-mail: sari@sisqtel.net. Looking forward to serving my fellow watershedders over the next two years!
