The January 21, 1998, meeting of the Land Committee was called to order by its Co-Chairman, Dr. Joe Jeffrey, at 7:13 p.m. Attendance was recorded by a sign-in sheet, the original of which was kept by the Secretary of the meeting. The Chairman informed the body that the Secretary of the Committee was unable to attend and Jim Doyle would be appointed Acting Secretary.

The next order of business was the approval of the minutes for the December 17, 1997, meeting of the Land Committee. The December 17, 1997, minutes were read by the Secretary and were approved as read.

The next item before the body was the report by the chairman of the Education Subcommittee, Paul Tebbel. Paul Tebbel presented the program that would be presented to the public and to subsequent Land Committee attendees who are unfamiliar with the Cooperative Agreement and the proposed program. Mr. Tebbel reported no work had been done on the letter to potentially affected landowners concerning the Land Committee's activity.

The next matter before the body was a report from Mark Czaplewski on the activity and time schedule for the Land Subcommittee.

The next matter before the body was a report from Don Batie, Chairman of the Habitat Criteria Subcommittee. Mr. Batie gave a report and distributed a five page document entitled "Draft Recommendations Regarding Criteria for Program Habitat Conservation, Habitat Criteria Subcommittee, Land Committee, dated January 21, 1998.

The next matter before the body was a report by Mark Peyton on the activities of the Mapping Subcommittee. Mark Peyton distributed a two page report entitled "Mapping Subcommittee Report

to the Land Committee" concerning a January 10, 1998, meeting of the Subcommittee in Kearney, Nebraska. At the conclusion of Mark Peyton's report, it was moved by Gary Lindstrom and seconded by Paul Tibbel that the Land Committee accept the 16 layer GIS relational data sets as the beginning of the mapping activities. The motion was voted on and passed.

The next matter before the body was consideration of the establishment of a third party economic and other impact subcommittee. It was moved by Don Batie and seconded by Larry Wells that a subcommittee be established and a chairman selected to establish and appoint the membership of a committee to assess and study third party economic and other impacts. The motion was voted on and passed. Co-Chairman Jim Lundgren advised the body that the chairman for the third party impact subcommittee would be Mr. Roger Bauer of Dawson County.

Next followed a discussion by the body of the establishment of a subcommittee to research the development of an entity for the acquisition of land interests and to determine landowner sentiments. It was moved by Don Batie and seconded by Judy Zauha that a subcommittee be formed to research the formation of a land ownership foundation to hold habitat land interests. The motion was voted on and passed. Co-Chairman Jim Lundgren appointed Paul Matson as chairman of this subcommittee.

Then followed a discussion concerning the budget. Mr. Jim Lutey advised the Land Committee that a budget will be required to present to the Governance Committee. In the interim, small administrative costs such as mailings, costs of meeting rooms, etc., can be paid for by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. Bob McCue stated that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will bear some of the smaller expenses for administrative matters such as mailings and meeting room rental. At the conclusion of this discussion it was moved by Larry Reynolds to direct the Chairman to prepare a budget for submission to the Governance Committee. The motion did not receive a second. Co-Chairman Jim Lundgren then directed the subcommittee chairmen to submit budget information to the Co-Chairmen of the Land Committee by February 6, 1998.

Upcoming events were discussed, including the following meetings. The next Land Committee meeting will be on February 17, 1998, at 7:00 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. The March meeting will be on March 19, 1998, 7:00 p.m. at Central Platte Natural Resources District's board room in Grand Island, Nebraska. On April 15, 1998, 7:00 p.m. the Land Committee will meet in Lexington at Kirk's Restaurant at 1-80 and Highway 283.

There being no further or other business before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned by the Co-Chairman.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Doyle, Acting Secretary