About Allegheny SAF

	Council Corner VII Council Report By Mary J. Coulombe, CF, SAF District VII

		The SAF Headquarters property sale continues to move forward. The the county on zoning and other issues. The relocation task group, headed by John Moser, reported that the group had met a number of times to consider options for the new location of the national office. Based on the criteria that Council had provided, the task force recommended that the office be located in the Washington DC area (including D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia). Council approved this recommendation. Work will now proceed with a commercial firm to look at suitable properties in this area. Insurance: Michael Goergen reported on the work with our Insurance agent related to supplemental insurance for chapter, state, division, and national meeting field trips, and other activities. It is very important that all SAF units identify and plan activities, not included in the national blanket policy, as far ahead as possible. Given some units experiences, coverage can be low or even at no additional cost with adequate pre-planning and communications with the agent. One example is Oregon SAF, which you may want to contact for more information. The national office will develop a check list for units to use to facilitate work with the agent. At this time, SAF will not buy a national supplemental insurance policy for field trips. Fellows Awards: I know that there have been some concerns over the recognition of Fellows. Council agreed local units will be notified of elected Fellows and certificates for awards provided to those units so that there will be proper recognition of the new Fellows by their local unit. In addition, there will be a Fellows Breakfast at the 2008 Reno convention for those Fellows that can make it to the convention. This is a new activity and we hope that it provides a special event for our Fellows. Standard Minimum By-Laws: Council approved the revisions to the standard minimum by-laws for SAF units. Units can adopt these minimums as they make changes to their by-laws. The biggest change is the addition of the option for electronic voting. The document can be found at the website link http://www.safnet.org/members/member-pw/leadertools.cfm CFE requirements: We heard that there has been confusion and concerns about the new CFE process. Louise Murgia said there will be an article in the April “Forestry Source” on the new requirements for the award of CFE credits which should answer questions for those who provide activities eligible for credits. Federal Employee Participation in Leadership Positions in SAF: Michael Goergen reported on a letter sent to the Office of Government Ethics, signed by a number of professional societies and a meeting that was held with people from the office. The bottom line is that there are different interpretations by federal agencies of the applications of the law, but the Office of Governmental Ethics cannot influence those opinions at the Departmental level. They said that the solution will have to lie with at change in the underlying statute. Michael Goergen will work with the other professional societies to try to develop a strategy for new legislation. National Convention—November 5-9, 2008: The theme is “Forestry in a Climate of Change” and it looks like it will be a terrific opportunity for SAF members to learn, network, and expand your professional knowledge and experiences. Please put it on your calendar. Registration is available now on the SAF website. That’s it for now. As always, feel free to contact me at: mary.j.coulombe@usace.army.mil or via telephone 202-761-1228 (work) or 703-352-4460 (home).