Supporting VAFP

 Membership

info@virginiaparks.org

Our host Friends Groups were the Friends of Lake Anna State Park (Jo Finch, President) and the Friends of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Parks (Steve Stanley, President). Our host parks were Lake Anna State Park (Doug Graham, Manager), Spotsylvania Courthouse National Military Park and the Fredericksburg National Military Park (Russ Smith, Superintendent).

Friday's (November 7) activities began with a guided tour of Spotsylvania Courthouse National Military Park. The tour was guided by John Hennessy, Chief Historian, Fredericksburg Area Battlefields. John is a great tour guide and made the history come alive for us.

Next came a complimentary lunch provided by the Friends of Lake Anna State Park. The weather was good and lunch was served on the Snack Bar deck affording us a super view of Lake Anna.

Following lunch, we enjoyed a two-part training program. First, a Department of Game and Inland Fisheries representative gave a presentation on the Department's fishing education program and how that program could become a part of a state park's activities. Next, Department of Conservation and Recreation representatives gave a presentation on grant writing tips.

After the training components, Doug Graham, Lake Anna State Park Manager gave us a guided tour of the Park and explained the gold mining operation that was once conducted on what is now Park property. We also saw the construction activity underway for the first ten cabins being built at the Park.

From Lake Anna State Park, we traveled to Fredericksburg National Military Park where we were met by John Hennessy. John gave us information about plans for this Park and we viewed the new documentary film narrated by James Earl Jones.

Our dinner speaker was Delegate Jim Dillard (Fairfax), a long term and ardent supporter of the State Park System. Also attending the dinner and giving brief comments were Joe Maroon, Director, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Sandy Rives, the key National Parks Service person in Virginia. Following Delegate Dillard's comments, we surprised him with the first of its kind "Virginia Association For Parks Legislator of the Year Award".

Our business meeting on Saturday, November 8, began with a complimentary breakfast provided by the Friends of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Parks.

Joe Elton, Virginia State Park System Director, spoke for about an hour and covered several topics. He expressed appreciation to VAFP for our advocacy effort that resulted in restoring almost $1.5 million of budget cuts. He also gave us a rundown on the damage done to the state parks by Hurricane Isabel - the latest estimate is better than $10 million in damages. As did the Friday night speakers, Joe also talked about the dismal budget outlook for the coming year. He then took questions from the floor.

Helen Tansey-Lang, Nature Conservancy Senior Policy Representative, gave a presentation on the effort underway by The Nature Conservancy working with other interested parties to develop a long term strategy (three to five years) for increasing the general fund appropriations for Virginia's natural resources. A Nature Conservancy Action Fund Steering Committee has been established to guide the effort and VAFP is represented on that Committee by Johnny Finch. A center-piece of the strategy is to educate the legislators and the general public about the need to increase the funding. This will be done through meetings, speaking engagements, op/ed pieces, letters to the editor, etc. Johnny has agreed to write an op/ed piece that The Nature Conservancy will feed through selected media outlets. Everyone is encouraged to write or contact his/her legislator regarding the funding issue.

Following the Secretary's report of the Spring Conference minutes and the Treasurer's report, Johnny gave the Co-Chair reports for both State and National Parks. Basically, he outlined the actions that had been completed for each of the action items identified at the Spring Conference. He mentioned that in addition to his representation on the Nature Conservancy Action Fund Steering Committee, he is also representing VAFP on the Governor's Outdoor Resources Tourism Advisory Committee and the Governor's Natural Resources Partnership Committee. He also said that he had arranged for VAFP to get pro bono legal assistance from the University of Virginia Law School and that work was underway researching the pros and cons of VAFP serving as the 501(c)(3) umbrella so that new Friends Groups would not have to pursue tax exempt status on a case by case basis.

The attendees then got right down to business. Some examples of the accomplishments during the meeting follow:

• The Nominating Committee chaired by Roy Allan Dudley proposed a change to the by-laws to create the position of President and eliminate the Member-at-large position. Following member approval of this change to the Executive Committee structure, the Nominating Committee proposed a slate of officers to fill the seven member Executive Committee positions. The membership approved the proposed slate.

• The Communications Team reported its results since being formed at the Spring Conference in May and outlined the steps it proposes to take in completing its effort. The attendees applauded the Team's results and approved the proposed steps.

• The Grants Research Team reported its results since being formed at the Spring Conference in May. It identified 30 potential grantors that seem aligned with VAFP's mission and recommended four of the 30 to be the targets of our first grant writing efforts. The attendees accepted the Team's recommendations and formed a smaller team charged with the responsibility to narrow down the four to one and to then organize the writing effort.

• A decision was made to encourage all paid members to sign up for the eGroup to better facilitate our internal communication and networking ability via email. Related responsibilities were assigned.

• A decision was made to stay abreast of and intervene as necessary on the final decision regarding the New River Power Plant. Related responsibilities were assigned.

• A decision was made to hold a State Park System advocacy day and have VAFP members meet with key legislators during the upcoming General Assembly session. Related responsibilities were assigned.

• A decision was made and responsibilities assigned for creating a computer screen saver comprised of a montage of scenes from Virginia State Parks and for providing this screen saver to key legislators.

• A decision was made and responsibility assigned for gathering the requisite data and writing an advocacy letter to the Virginia Congressional Delegation about the need for better funding of the National Parks located in Virginia.

• Decisions were made and responsibility assigned for keeping the VAFP website more current.

• The first venue to be considered for the 2004 Spring Conference will be Douthat State Park.