1. 1. 2025 Annual Meeting Location - TEXAS Parks and Wildlife would like to host it in Athens at the newly remodeled Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.  We will work with them on list dates available and then let the steering committee pick the best date.
2. ACE Act Re-authorization - President Biden signed the act on Dec 23rd. A Powerpoint PDF is attached with details, but points of particular interest are:
   1. Two new board seats were created with one for the BLM and another for Fishery Management Councils.
   2. The 1:1 match requirement is now at the Partnership level.  So projects can be funded that fall short if we have overmatch.  Also, we can use the Bass Pro Shop donations as Partnership match.  The group discussed this change and instructed the Coordintor to send out an update on our RFP letting partners know that if they are having difficulty finding match that they can submit a proposal anyway.  If we have overmatch, we will consider match challenged proposals.
   3. There were changes to the Congressional Designation process for each of the 20 Partnerhips.  Now, Congress must act within 90 days of submission.  If no action is taken the designations are automatically accepted.  The designation packege will be submitted Feb 1st. Our application for designation has been approved.  Rebecca played a big roll in helping me prepare ours.  Thanks again Rebecca.  I was told our complete document will be a part of the package along with 19 other Partnerships.
   4. Our Operations Grant no longer requires a 1:1 match and will no longer be an annual application for funding. Partnership federal funding will be a budgeted line item. This is great news for us as match was always too high for us to fully attain.
   5. The total appropriations stayed the same at $7.2 million.
3. Update on the eight Bass Pro Shop funded projects - Award letters have been sent and paperwork is rapidly being completed.  Ben Page said the FJ Sayers project is starting within the week.  No known delays have occurred, so other projects should be moving ahead quickly as well.
4. In-Fisherman Article on Reservoirs - There is an article by Dr. Hal Schramm on reservoir habitat issues that features assessment work done by Rebecca and Steve Miranda as well an insert specifically on our Partnership.   We really appreciate the exposure and will release the article once In-Fisherman gives us the go ahead to distribute.
5. Income and Expsense Report Completeed for calendar year 2024.  The report is now complete and will be distributed to Steering Committee members soon.  The report is used for our non-profit tax filing as well as internal use and federal grant reporting.  We ended 2024 with $36,868.  We made the federal draw for our operation grant for $85K so the balance is currently around $119,000 and we can operate as normal this calendar year.  Money is yet to be approved by the Dept of the Interior for our 2025 federally funded projects though.
6. Steering Committee member and MAFWA rep Scott Hale has resigned and has retired from the Ohio DNR.  Scott had recommended that we replace him with Rich Zweifel also of the Ohio DNR.  I am reaching out to the MAFWA recommending that they pick Rich to fill the position.  Scott will be missed as he was a big contributor to our success by not only representing the MAFWA but our entire Partnership for events such as the recent Harsha Lake Project ribbon cutting ceremony in Indiana.
7. NFHP Storymap Project - Storymaps use geospatial data with narratives for outreach efforts.  NFHP received a Multi-State AFWA grant to undertake a Storymap effort.  They have a list of Partnerships that indicated an interest in developing Storymaps and will be selecting "stories" for development.  Rebecca indicated that we are in a great position to do this with our new and improved ESRI database (Rebecca's creation).  If selected, we may develop a Storymap for our Partnership or join in a regional Storymap with other Partnerships.  We are waiting to hear a decision on our offer to contribute.
8. Streamlined Federal Application Process - We reviewed the "fillable pdf form binder" technique used for the new small grant procedure (grants under $200K).  It eliminates the need to go through Grant Solutions when applying for grant award funds.  We used it for our recent Operations Grant and it was a big improvement.  It will allow our partners an easier path for federal paperwork compliance going forward.  FWS's Trevor Luna will help us with this new improvement and will also assist with navigating SAMS and ASAP as well.  Trevor has been great for our Partnership and we appreciate the FWS support.
9. We discussed the proposed May meeting regarding review and revision of our internal workings.  The discussion started with the WAFWA report that was discussed in Phoenix.  There will be a review of the items already identified and any needed pre-meeting preparation will be completed so we can have a productive brainstorming session in May.

The meeting adjourned at 11pm Central.