April 2009

You’ve heard the saying that, “If you don’t like the weather in Missouri just wait, it will change.” It is the same for MOAFS EXCOM except you don’t have to wait. MOAFS EXCOM changes every year after the Natural Resources Conference as the Chapter officers assume their new responsibilities. The newly elected officers are Darren Thornhill as President-Elect and John Calfee as the new Chapter Secretary. Mike Kruse is Past President and will chair the Awards Committee and of course I have the honor of serving as the President of the Chapter this year. There are two committees without chairs, but fortunately, Mark Zurbrick has decided to accept the challenge of heading the Legislative and Environmental Concerns Committee. This is a tough assignment as there are numerous bills to tract in the Missouri Legislature. Mark has already stepped up and is learning the inner workings of law-making. Hopefully he will have time in the future to share his insights with us. It is my hope too, that he will have ideas about how to get our membership more involved with the legislative process. The chair for the Continuing Education Committee is vacant and we will soon need someone new for the Membership Committee as Suzanne Femmer has requested to resign. Jen Girondo, Student Support Chair has stepped up to the task of working with the students. We have two new student subunits thanks to Jen’s efforts to encourage the students and shepherd them through the organizational process. Please make an effort to support the students of The University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and Missouri State University in Springfield and their new organizations as well as the Fisheries and Aquatic Science Students at Mizzou in Columbia. Last summer’s meeting of the Rivers and Streams meeting was exceptional. Ange Corson invited a number of speakers such as John Hoke from the Department of Natural Resources who spoke about recreational uses of Missouri streams. Laura Ruman and Melissa Scheperle from MODOT talked about stream mitigation MODOT is required to do and explained their 800 Better Bridges program. Joanne Grady from the Fish and Wildlife Service spoke about ALL the work she got done this year documenting low water crossings. Joanne benefited from the high river water by utilizing labor that would have gone to sturgeon sampling. The last speaker was Andy Turner. Andy presented his master’s thesis work about sediment sampling in streams and showed off the sediment sampler he had designed to gather his data. Ange Corson set the bar high for Chris Riggert. If you missed the last meeting, make sure you attend the next one. I am sure Chris is up for the challenge. Chris Riggert is the new chair of the Rivers and Streams Committee and Mary Litvan is the new Secretary. If you missed last year’s meeting you can put the date on your calendar now for the next one for August 11^th because Chris has already set the date for the next meeting.

I watched The Three Musketeers when I was young. They fought for what was right with lots of sword play and defeated armies of the Kings’ Men because they fought together and stood up for each other. I don’t listen to music much so I don’t get stuck on song lyrics, but I watch television so I get advertising phrases stuck in my head instead. When the military first came out with an Army of One, I really hated that one because it stuck and I couldn’t help but think of it. But now I like it because I have related it to the membership of MOAFS. The individuals who compose the Missouri’s Fishery Society are an Army of One (probably should be the Navy because of the aquatics). We each have our specialties and our expertise but the culmination is that each of us is dedicated as one as MOAFS members to the conservation, enhancement, and restoration of aquatic resources. Issues arise every day that might not be the wisest use of the state’s aquatic resources. Those issues are diverse and may come from an individual or an organization yet somewhere there is a MOAFS member who has the knowledge and experience to deal with the situation. There is a wealth of knowledge in our legion. I get questions about all kinds of things these days. I am not sure whether it is from the amount of information on the internet or from twenty-four hours of television a day. The responsibility of our membership is to facilitate the distribution of information regarding the aquatic sciences. I know however that when I don’t have the information that my caller seeks I can always rely on another member of our Fisheries Army to competently provide the answers. There is always more to do than there is time to do everything, so we must all prioritize what we choose to do. For me, MOAFS is a priority. It is something important in my life for which I will make time. I hope you do also.

Kenda Flores

2009 MOAFS President