PIGEON RIVER COUNTRY ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING JULY 6, 2008


APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of July 8, 2007 Annual Meeting approved unanimously.


Treasurer's Report - Rick Kropf

Total net revenue down $1597.49 from 2007. There were significant new expenses
this past year, primarily for printing the new map (almost $5000), purchasing
copies of Dale Franz's updated edition of Pigeon River Country for resale
($1247), and funding for a summer intern after a two year hiatus ($3500).
Book and particularly map sales have been going well, by mail order, web, and retail
outlets.
Membership dues are down, but this may be a regular fluctuation,
since they typically spike after the annual meeting.


DNR Forest Manager Report - Laurie Marzolo

The Pigeon River Country Management Unit manager's position has been posted and
is expected to be filled by September 2008 or soon thereafter. Laurie will
return full time to her position as manager of the adjacent Atlanta Management
Unit.
Pickerel Lake Campground will be closed for upgrades from shortly after Labor
Day until approximately July 2009.
Darren Swan, the 2008 MSU summer intern funded by the PRCA, was introduced. He
reported on his work marking and GPS'ing the revised open horse trails in the
new Concept of Management (COM) for the forest, as well as other pathway work,
particularly taking over many campground duties for a DNR employee who had a
family illness.
Joe Jarecki reported on the state of two footbridges on the High Country
pathway. Both have detiorated to an unsafe condition. The bridge over the Black
River is likely to be repaired since it needs less work. The bridge over the
Pigeon (near Pine Grove campground) needs more extensive work and funding will
need to be found to repair it.


Report on Advisory Committee for Concept of Management - Eugene Horan

Eugene Horan, PRCA representative to the Pigeon River Country Advisory Council
(PRCAC), served on the Recreation workgoup of the PRCAC advising the DNR on
the proposed revisions to the Concept of Management for the forest. He
emphasized that they weren't making recommendations, per se, but rather
presenting the ideas and positions of various groups to the DNR director.
The consensus view of the workgroup was to revise the COM to allow mountain
bikes on the Shingle Mill & Pickerel Lake loop pathways, but not on closed
roads.
There was not as much consensus in the workgroup on the tighter restrictions
on equestrian campgrounds and open trails. It's likely that these restrictions
will be adopted in the COM, and reviewed in a few years to judge their effects.
Representatives of equestrian groups at the annual meeting voiced strenous
opposition to these proposed rules.
There was some discussion over requirements of the federal Pitman-Robinson law
requiring hunting and fishing uses being given priority over other uses on
lands purchased with at least some federal funds.


Song of the Morning Dam

Laurie Marzolo, acting Unit Manager, relayed a brief report from Tim Cwalinski,
one of the DNR's investigators into the silt spill from the dam at the
Song of the Morning ranch the previous weekend. This report stated that the
investigation was continuing, the DEQ was the lead agency in the case, and that
fish populations upstream of the dam seemed lower than normal compared to
50 years of previous surveys. At the time of his report, he'd been unable to
survey downstream of the dam due to excessive silt clouding the stream.
Several board and other members from Song of the Morning, including the
general manager, spoke of their regret at the spill and their willingness to
co-operate in preventing future spills. They cited both cost concerns and a
desire to keep the existing pond as some of their priorities.
There was a great deal of heated discussion about what to do with the dam
- modify it, remove it, dredge the pond periodically, etc. It was pointed
out that this was the third major spill in 51 years, although the first in 1957
was a different dam in the same place under different ownership.
Joe Jarecki motioned, seconded by Rudi Edel, to authorize the PRCA board to
commit at least $1000 to help resolve the dam situaton as the board sees fit.
Options discussed ranged from donations to Headwaters Trout Unlimited in case of
any lawsuit, to contributing to costs Song of the Morning may incur in correcting
the dam to prevent future spills. The resolution, approved unanimously, left
discretion on directing the funds up to the board.


Elections

By a rather quick voice vote, most of the current slate of officers was retained.
The exception is Eugene Horan, who is resigning the position of PRCA
representative to the PRCAC after five exemplary years due to other commitments,
effective late this year.
Mike Brown and Judy Jarecki, two long time forest advocates, have been proposed
as replacements. Due to Mike's unavailabilty to attend the meeting, no vote was
taken to fill this position, and again a unanimous vote approved the board
choosing a representative at a later date.