Dear fellow members of Friends of the Huachuca Mountains (FOHM).:
This is to bring you up to date on the past year, which closed September 30.
The Forest Service has been and is very supportive of the Friends, among other things taking over maintenance of Carr House.
The government shutdown has forced us to cancel our annual meeting, and delay our election of the Board of Directors for the coming year until sometime in November. We will send out ballots for Board election in November.
We need several new Board members. Angel Rutherford, who planned and established the wonderful garden in front of Carr House, is stepping down. Board member Mary Beth Sutor is also stepping down, after doing terrific work as Carr House volunteer liaison. We will miss each of them. Please email me if you are interested in serving on our Board. Qualifications are that one be a member of FOHM, and be willing to meet monthly for an hour or so to provide direction and decisions for the ongoing activities and finances of FOHM. Preparation for Board meetings will consume a varied amount of time; an hour to review materials distributed in advance, and as much time as you may require if you are preparing recommendations for the rest of the Board.
Our Carr House programs, organized by Judy Phillips and Jane Chambers, were very well attended this year, and you can expect an equally worthwhile series in 2014.
We hosted, thanks to Judy Phillips, educational field trips for several schools and for the Boys and Girls Club. The youngsters were enthusiastic, and the programs will continue.
Our website, www.huachucamountains.org is a treasure trove of good information, including links to other conservation organizations and videos.
Mike Foster did a fine job in his second season with FOHM. In addition to serving as site host on weekends, he installed our new large screen monitor, with excellent videos of local flora and fauna.
Both Hike with Mike and History Walks with Rosemary Snapp have been well attended and well received. Check out our website to stay abreast of these and other events in the coming year.
We teamed with other conservation organizations for several events, among them the annual Southwest Wings Festival. We also participated in the Advisory Team established by the Forest Service, to recommend how to ameliorate the noise and danger of shooters in the Canyons. The Forest Service will respond to our recommendations in November. We expect that, subject to budget limitations, our recommendations will be largely accepted and built into the Forest Services plans for 2014 and beyond.
Thank you for your continued support as a member. I would welcome any comments you care to make.
Sincerely,Ludwig G. “Lou” Kuttner
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