2010 Year in Review

At the annual general membership meeting in February, Rod Walton presented the following "Year in Review" for FNA activities in 2010:

Fermilab Natural Areas made admirable progress during 2010, even though it may not have been as much or as fast as we’d like! During the year we took a significant step in communicating with the members by publishing a bi-monthly newsletter. Most of the credit for that accomplishment goes to Paula Lambertz, the volunteer editor. Many thanks to

Paula! If you are not receiving the newsletter and would like to, please let us know, and we will make sure that your email address is added to the list. And if you have ideas about the content of the newsletter or would like to become a contributor, be sure to tell us that as well.

Jolie Macier put together a paper calendar for 2011, featuring photographs of various natural areas at Fermilab and also made month by month computer desktop calendars available.  Many thanks to our photographer friends who provided the photos for these calendars.

During 2010 we were joined by Heather Williams, who has enthusiastically taken on the daunting challenge of grant-writing for FNA. So far, Heather has put together an impressive list of proposals, all of which are pending as this is written. Grant proposals for website upgrades, improvements and expansion of the Margaret Pearson Interpretive Trail, and restoration of the oak savanna in the main ring are being considered. During the year, we also received a grant of $6,000 from the Boeing Community Fund to finance the invasive weed control program during 2011. The Boeing grant was written by Ryan Campbell earlier in 2010.

We also supported the Robert F. Betz internship during the summer for the second year. Jessica Meyers spent the summer in the field assisting in seed collection, wildlife studies and invasive control among other things.

A committee of the Board of Directors, composed of Dick Untch, Mitch Adamus and Shawna Coronado continue to make progress on a brochure and self-guided tour of the natural areas at the Lab. We are fortunate to have Fermilab partner with us on this project.

Finally, we formalized the legal relationship with Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that defines how these two entities will cooperate for the betterment of the Laboratory.

As for the vision for 2011, we intend to make significant progress again; supporting the Betz Intern for the third year, doing a better job of organizing and recognizing volunteers, while expanding volunteer opportunities, seeking corporate sponsors for some of our activities, and continual improvement in communication with our membership.

Any questions?  Send us email at fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com.  Thanks for your support!