Task Force on Office of State Lands Trust Programs

Task Force Meeting Information

November 9, 2005

Herschler Building, Room 1299

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Legislative Members Present

Senator Gerald E. Geis, Co-Chairman
Representative James C. Hageman, Co-Chairman
Senator Bill Vasey
Representative Ann Robinson

Other Task Force Members Present

Governor Dave Freudenthal and Susan Anderson

Joe Meyer, Secretary of State
Cynthia Lummis, State Treasurer

Max Maxfield, State Auditor

Jim McBride, Superintendent of Public Instruction
Marguerite Herman, Parent Organizations Representative

Les Henderson, Public Recreation User Representative

Brice Carpenter, Mineral Lessee Representative

Jim Neiman, Forest Product Industry Representative

Joel Ohman, Ag Lessee Representative

OSLI Staff Present

Lynne Boomgaarden, Director

John Glode, Deputy Director

Harold Kemp, Assistant Director – Mineral/Royalty Management

Jim Whalen, Assistant Director - Real Estate Management

Jeanne Norman, Assistant Director – Fiscal/Administrative Services

Ken Flack, Assistant Director – Information Technology

Bill Crapser, State Forester

Susan Child, Planning and Policy Coordinator

Amanda Sewell, Financial Reporting Manager

Sandy Quinlan, Executive Assistant

Task Force Members Absent

John Reisland, School Districts Representative

Legislative Service Office Staff Present

Maxine Weaver, Staff Attorney

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Task Force Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

Call To Order

Chairman Geis called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.  The order of the meeting generally followed the prepared agenda (Appendix 2).

The five elected officials expressed their thoughts on the purpose of the task force in reviewing the trust responsibilities and funding for the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI).  The task force is required to submit a report to the legislature by June 1, 2006, including detailed findings and recommendations as to whether any change in the manner or source of funding for the OSLI is warranted.

The other task force members discussed their ideas on the purpose of the task force and what they would like the task force to achieve. 

Director Boomgaarden explained the notebook materials and provided background information on how the OSLI got to where they are today, including past legislative and board direction, current natural resource development activity, landowner perspective, constituent feedback/expectations; resource conditions; enforcement; access; OSLI responsiveness and staff input; prioritization of workload and allocation of resources.  (Appendix 3).

Ken Hamilton, Wyoming Farm Bureau offered the agriculture community as an asset to help this task force in any way possible and he urged caution in purchasing lands.

Scott Zimmerman, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union spoke in agreement with Mr. Hamilton and also volunteered to help the task force in any way possible.

Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Association, felt the purpose of the task force is to make recommendations on funding sources and funding for the Office of State Lands and Investments and how that should relate to the various programs. 

Peter Culp, Project Manager, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Sonoran Institute, stressed the importance of total asset management as a way of evaluating and structuring trust management throughout the west.  Mr. Culp stated Wyoming is one of the first states to embrace total asset management as a policy objective.  He stated they are very interested in this task force and are willing to help answer how to match institutional resources with total asset management objectives.  Mr. Culp further stated they are interested in doing an independent institutional capacity assessment for OSLI to assist in evaluating the capacity of OSLI to meet its strategic goals.  Sonoran Institute will be funding the study and has chosen Maximus Inc. to be its consultant under an MOU with OSLI.

Ken Murray and David Eisenlohr, Maximus Inc., provided the task force with a summary of what the study will look like.  The study should be completed by the time of the second task force meeting and the results will be presented at that time.

Senator Vasey requested that at a future meeting Mr. Culp review the report that was provided in the task force notebook.  Mr. Culp said he would happy to come to a future meeting and go over the Sonoran Institute report. 

Director Boomgaarden asked the task force members if they would be interested in having Kevin Carter and Margaret Bird from Utah come speak at the next task force meeting.  Max Maxfield moved to have Mr. Carter and Ms. Bird come to the next meeting.  Marguerite Herman seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Representative Hageman moved to hold all future meetings in Cheyenne.  Joel Ohman seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Representative Hageman moved to hold the next task force meeting on November 9, 2005.  Joel Ohman seconded the motion.  The motion passed. 

Their being no further business the meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.  

Respectfully submitted,

Gerald Geis, Co-Chairman