**TRB TASK FORCE ADA40T** (formerly A5T55)

TRANSPORTATION NEEDS OF NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LANDS

**Task Force Conference Call**

# 

# 10 February 2004

**11-12 AM EST**

## MINUTES

**1.  Self-Introductions:**

     

Members present: Steve Albert, Deb Beighley, Jeff Bryan (alternate for
Gary Ritter), John Daigle, Jim Evans, Sean Furniss, Laura Loomis, Chuck
Manning, Carol Zimmerman.

Friends present: Susan Grosser, Chris Strong, Amy Van Doren

**2.  Approval of Minutes:**

a.  Minutes of the January 14 business meeting (drafted by Bill Withuhn)
were approved by acclamation by those on the call.

3.  **Research Statements:**

a\. Comments on two research statements that were discussed at the Jan.
14 meeting were to have been sent to Amy Van Doren or Gary Ritter, the
lead authors of the two statements. Since no revisions to Gary's
statement was available for the call today, the discussion focused on
the revised version that Amy submitted. Deb Beighley recommended adding
some new language to reflect the addendum to the 3039 study and will
send comments to Amy.

b\. Steve Albert posed the question about the process for making
revisions to the statements. The concern was that there needs to be
closure and that someone needs to make decisions when advice from Task
Force members is not consistent. Carol recommended that the process
needs to be handled by the research committee and that the final version
of the problem statement should rest with its authors.

c\. **ACTIONS:** The next steps will be to finalize the research
statements, circulate them among parties who can voice support during
the selection process (e.g. AAHSTO, FTA, etc.), and to submit the
statement to TRB by the due dates. The due date for TCRP is June 15 and
for NCHRP is September 15. Amy will take the lead on the transit
statement and will contact FTA. Carol recommended she get advice from
Task Force member Don Durkee of FTA.

**4.  Mid-year Meeting Plans**

a\. Carol recapped the discussion of Jan. 14 in which the Task Force
decided that it wanted a mid-year meeting that would focus on the needs
and interests of the Task Force rather than to try to plan to meet as
part of the TRB Mid-Year Joint-Committee Meeting.

b\. Michael Holm, the Superintendent of Glacier National Park, has
invited the Task Force to hold the meeting at Glacier and can provide
support for facilities and program. The offer was well-received by those
present on the call, as it appears to have the potential to satisfy a
number of research interests and field trip opportunities, such as
wildlife issues, the "Red Bus," interagency issues, rebuilding the
Highway to the Sun, etc. The site was also considered useful for the
interests of the federal agencies represented on the Task Force. Other
locations were discussed (i.e. Acadia or Great Smokey Mountains), but
Glacier was viewed as a more attractive alternative at the present time.

c\. **ACTIONS:** Next steps are for Steve and Chris to develop a short
(paragraph or two) write-up of the proposed meeting at Glacier that can
be circulated to the Task Force. Carol asked for the write-up by the end
of this week if possible and will forward it to the Task Force. Carol
will send Steve and Chris the agenda used for the meeting last year in
Portland, and Sean will send the agenda from the previous year that can
serve as models.

**5.  Reports of the Outreach and Communications Subcommittee:**

a\. Sean Furniss reported on plans of the Outreach Subcommittee. His
report is attached. A questionnaire will be e-mailed to Task Force
members and friends to identify key interest areas and to develop a list
of relevant organizations for outreach activities.

b\. **ACTIONS:** Task Force members should review their listings on the
Task Force website for accuracy. The website can be reached via the
committee listings on [www.trb.org](http://www.trb.org/) or
<http://refugedata.fws.gov/trb/members.html>. Carol will ask Wayne
Cottrell and Lewis Grimm to forward their annual meeting presentation to
Sean for posting on the website.

**Task Force Teleconference Notes**

**Outreach Subcommittee**

**10 February 2004**

1\. The 2004 TRB presentations and the January 2004 meeting minutes have
been posted on the web site at <http://refugedata.fws.gov/trb/>

2\. Copies of 2004 TRB Presentations Needed

> a\) Needs Revealed by the Federal Lands Alternative Transportation
> Systems Study - Lewis G. Grimm
>
> b\) Meeting Alternative Transportation Needs of National Parks and
> Public Lands: Beyond TEA-21\--Emerging Programs, Opportunities, and
> Challenges - Jacqueline Lowey, Wayne D. Cottrell

3\. Web pages have been changed to reflect the new TRB Task Force
number.

4\. Task Force members should review the membership list posted on the
web to be sure the member information is correct and to be sure that no
one has been overlooked. <http://refugedata.fws.gov/trb/members.html>

5\. Donna Nelson and Sean Furniss met on Feb 5 to talk about outreach
needs. We decided to develop a questionnaire for Task Force members and
friends in order to 1) identify key interest areas of Task Force members
that present significant opportunities for the Task Force, and 2) to
develop a resource list that maps the participation/affiliation of
members and friends on other TRB Committees and Task forces and their
participation with other organizations. We will be submitting a draft
copy to the members of the outreach subcommittee for comment and review
before we sent it out to the entire task force.

6\. Sean Furniss will be meeting with members of the National Invasive
Species Council to discuss their interest in being involved with a
proposal to showcase invasive species and transportation at TRB in
January 2005. We have a tentative meeting date set for March 10. The
Roadside Maintenance Committee Low Volume Roads Committee is already
intending to sponsor a session, and the new Ecology and Transportation
Task Force is also interested. Bonnie Harper-Lore (session coordinator
for the two committees), Joe Burns (program chair, Ecology and
Transportation Task Force) and John Bell (member and friend of the two
committees) are already involved in the meeting with the National
Invasive Species Council. If we can get this organized for TRB, it is
likely that we could get the North American Wildlife and Natural
Resources Conference to have a similar session at their March 2005
meeting.