Flag Salute & Invocation by Steve Swan
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: None
Announcements
District 5050 Conference is April 11-14 at Tulip Resort. It will be a very interesting and educational program.
2019 Brewers by the Bay: will be on Saturday, June 8th, 6-8pm. TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE. Set-up time that Saturday afternoon is compressed (4:30pm-6pm) so we will need as much extra volunteer help as possible, contact Brad at brad.c@rmcarchitects.com.
Mt. Baker Spring Skiing Fellowship Day: was scheduled for this weekend but Inga Drechsel says the weather forecast is not good, so let’s tentatively postpone and see how the weather looks next weekend. This would be a family-oriented event so spouses, kids, friends are welcome.
2019-2020 Slate of Officers
This year's nominating committee is pleased to present the following Slate of Officers for consideration:
Past President - Tresha Dutton
President - Brad Cornwell
President Elect - Mike Bates
Program Chair/VP - Lance Calloway
Treasurer - Henry Lee
Secretary - Tony Freeland
Director - Anna Williams (2nd year of 2-year term)
Director - Carlye Gillespie (2nd year of 2-year term)
Director - Sean Stimac (1st year of 2-year term)
Director - Steve Beringer (1st year of 2-year term)
Director - Ian McCurdy (1st year of 2-year term)
Bucks in the Bay
- Tresha back from New Orleans had a great time, glad to be home;
- Curtis Dye kudos to Eddie & Bill and the Docks for Kids team for the front page Herald article today;
- Bill Geyer says WECU donated $5K to the Docks project;
- Pete Rittmueller with grandkid news;
- Steve Swan says Virginia mens team going to FINAL FOUR, so Steve will be going out to see them, kudos to coach Tony Bennett;
- Chuck Walter was in AZ for conference, then a disappointing Disney cruise;
- Wendy up from Texas, fantastic weekend in Whistler;
- Mark Turner with house infrastructure upgrade news - very happy;
- Jeff Hill daughter 3rd birthday;
- Inga Drechsel great spring skiing weekend at Sun Peaks;
- John Purdie glad Michigan State men are in the Final Four, also invites us all to attend the MBT 92nd birthday party - see John for details;
- Brad Cornwell birthday bucks, and reminded us that the U of Oregon ladies basketball team in the FINAL FOUR;
Sergeant at Arms by Tony Freeland
Fines for misc. trivia.
Program
Brad Cornwell introduced Tom Smith, a 31 year veteran of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. DNR’s mission: Manage, sustain, and protect the health and productivity of Washington’s lands and waters to meet the needs of present and future generations. Tom is responsible for fire program management and suspension operations in western Whatcom and Skagit counties. He hires, supervises and maintains 5 engine crews, and serves as a state-wide instructor. He also oversees fire prevention outreach with partners such as local fire districts, the county and federal agencies.
Tom gave us some insight into wildfires, how they spread, and how to manage them.
Fire is just super fast chemical oxidation process that includes three elements: oxidizing agent (oxygen) + fuel (carbon in this case) + heat = fire
Recent tendencies for wild fires with climate change:
-they start earlier in the Spring and end later in the Fall;
-they are occurring closer and closer to populated residential areas;
-we are experiencing multiple concurrent fires more often.
Is forest thinning effective? In Eastern WA, thinning of the “forest under-canopy” can sometime be effective, because the forest landscape is now denser than it was historically with more dry fuel (underbrush) under the forest pine canopy, so fires are more pronounced now. However, in Western WA the forests are naturally denser and wetter, so thinning does no good, and may even make the situation worse.
Respectfully submitted,
Stowe Talbot