BOISE VALLEY FLY FISHERMEN, INC
2007 ANNUAL REPORT
Approved by the Board of Directors 2/21/08

2007 OFFICERS:

President                                Monte McClendon
1^st V.P.                                     Clint Smith
2^nd V.P.                                    Jeremy Maxson
Treasurer                                Fae Riegert
Secretary                                 Clint Smith

BOARD OF DIRECTORS (end of 2007)

John Hofland
Tom Johnson
Jeremy Maxson
Ron Pugsley
John Shafer
Clint Smith
Doug Taylor
Gino White
Richard Frencer

SENIOR ADVISORS: 

Al Beatty
Jeff and Debbie Smith

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

BVFF continues to be a leader in fly fishing education and aquatic resources conservation.  Our 3^rd annual Expo/Banquet was a great success.  Not only did we provide a quality educational event, we earned funds that are used to further our mission of fly fishing education, aquatic resource conservation, and water safety.  Thanks to Jeff & Debbie Smith and Ben & Karalee Goodrich for the outstanding job of organizing the event.  I would like to extend a special “THANK YOU” to the Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) executives who support our Expo/banquet. BVFF is an affiliate of FFF and all BVFF members are encouraged to join FFF and get involved in their programs.

Our major conservation effort for 2007 was the Ken Magee Memorial Project.  The fund drive was very successful and BVFF contributed $13,000 to the U.S. Forest Service for construction of the Danskin Boat Ramp project on the South Fork Boise River.  The new double lane concrete ramp was completed in October and the new vault toilet was installed in November.  The new parking area can accommodate 26 vehicles.  The old ramp/parking site has been closed and rehabilitated to prevent the significant erosion problem that has plagued that site.  A dedication ceremony for the new facility is planned for April 30, 2008.

BVFF also provided funds to the Bureau of Land Management to pay for the trash collection service on the Owyhee River below Owyhee Dam.  This was the second year of this activity and the trash service has resulted in a dramatic decrease in litter along this popular fly fishing stream.  Additional projects are being investigated that will improve the angling experience for the public and conserve our aquatic resources. 

Jeremy Maxson, our education chair, did an outstanding job of instructing two fly tying classes during the year and organizing the fly casting clinic held at Ann Morrison Park.  These outreach events continue to provide the educational function that BVFF has sustained since 1971.  We also donated $1,000 to Casting for Recovery, an organization that teaches fly fishing to breast cancer survivors.

The strength of our non-profit organization is our volunteers and great sponsors.  Our organization has no paid staff and the volunteers who make things happen are simply wonderful.  We simply could not function without them.  Thanks to all those who commit their time to BVFF.  We have many activities planned for 2008 and your help would be greatly appreciated.  Many businesses support BVFF and their generous donations are greatly appreciated.  Please do business with these folks and be sure to thank them for their contributions to BVFF.

Members are encouraged to get involved with our organization.  Please contact one or more of our committee chairs or officers to help.  We have a great group of individuals who make BVFF the success it is.

Monte McClendon
President

OFFICER/COMMITTEE REPORTS

OFFICE OF THE TREASURER

BVFF maintains our general bank account at Farmers and Merchants Bank.  During 2007 we always operated with a positive bank balance and continued to maintain secure funding for organizational needs.  The 2007 annual budget was approved by the Board of Directors in December, 2006 and a few modifications were approved by the Board during the year.  We had $6,425.56 in the BVFF general checking account at the end of the calendar year and this does not include funds managed by the Expo Committee.  Debbie Smith reported an Expo Committee account balance of $4,495 on December 31.

Fae Riegert, CPA, Treasurer

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

The BVFF secretary maintains the official files for the organization.  We also provide the written letters and reports as requested by the Board of Directors and Committee chairs.  We take the minutes of the Board meetings and provide the agendas as assigned.  Members are requested to provide copies of photographs, documents and other items from BVFF events to help document our historical record.  Special thanks to Mr. Gino White who took great photographs at many of our events during the year.

Please notify the BVFF secretary whenever you make a contribution that you wish to deduct for income tax purposes.  We will provide you with the proper documentation.  You will need it for your records and we need it for our records as well.  Please note that we do not normally provide a dollar value for materials donated and we will not recognize any contributions when services or goods are provided to the donor.

Clint Smith, Secretary

CONSERVATION COMMITTEE

In the spring we started the Ken Magee Memorial Fund Drive.  Generous donations were collected.  These funds were supplemented by Expo/banquet profits and we paid $13,000 to the U.S. Forest Service as a partnership in the construction of the new Danskin Boat Launch facility on the South Fork of the Boise River.   The project reached two objectives:  (1) allowed for closing the old ramp/parking area to reduce the significant erosion into the river, and (2) to provide an expanded modern facility for anglers/boaters.  The new parking area was created in September, the two lane concrete ramp was constructed in October, and the new vault toilet was installed in November.  New picnic tables will be installed in the spring of 2008 and the dedication ceremony is planned for April 30, 2008.  Thanks to Bill Lloyd, Roger Cantlon and Clint Smith for their efforts to organize the dedication event.

BVFF paid the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Vale District, to maintain trash services on the Owyhee River below Owyhee Dam.  The BLM contracted with an Ontario, OR trash collection business to maintain two trash bin sites.  The pubic used these facilities very heavily and the amount of litter has decreased significantly along this stretch of the river.  A special thanks to Mr. Bill Lloyd for coordinating this activity with the BLM.

Cleanups along rivers and lakes occurred during most of the BVFF outings in 2007.  Thanks to all who participated.  During the winter, members helped the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in the collection of sagebrush seed to aid in the rehabilitation of wildfires that occurred in the region. 

Richard Frencer, Conservation Committee Chair

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

We held two fly tying classes during 2007 at Sportsmen’s Warehouse.  The class held in January-February had 14 students and the November-December class had 10.  During April we held a fly casting clinic at Ann Morrison Park.  Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the classes.  We also had fly tying demonstrations before each regular BVFF general meeting and had members demonstrate fly tying at Cabela’s events in March, August and September.

During September 5-7 some BVFF members volunteered to help at the annual Salmon and Steelhead days where about 2,100 5^th grade students from southwest Idaho participated in activities to learn about salmon and steelhead biology.

To further fly fishing education, we donated $1,000 to Casting for Recovery, a non-profit organization that teaches fly fishing to breast cancer survivors.  They provided an educational retreat in New Meadows, Idaho.

Our organization maintains a collection of fly tying tools and materials for instruction classes that are open to the public.  We always need more equipment and fly tying materials.  Please let me know if you want to donate items.

Jeremy Maxson, Education Committee Chair

EVENTS COMMITTEE

BVFF had functions throughout the year.  Thanks to those who helped organize these events and make them successful.  The following are the events held:

January:        Fly Tying Session/Pot Luck at Al and Gretchen Beatty’s Home
February:       Whitefish Derby (Winner Chad Higbee, 2^nd place Roger Phillips)
March:            Expo and Banquet
April:               Fly Casting Clinic at Ann Morrison Park
May:                Bruneau Dunes Outing
June:              Mountain View Reservoir Outing/Cleanup, Float/Fish at Swan Falls
July:                Summer Picnic
August:          none
September:   Salmon and Steelhead Days
October:         BBQ and Fish out – Veteran Park/Boise River
November:    Fish/cleanup – Crane Falls Lake
December:    Christmas Party

Monte McClendon, Events Chairman

EXPO/BANQUET COMMITTEE

The 2007 Expo/Banquet was held on March 31 at the DoubleTree Riverside Hotel and was a great success.  We had approximately 45 expert fly tyers from throughout the west and 30+ vendors.  Peterson Dodge Stampede and Sportsmen’s Warehouse were major sponsors.  Mr. Bruce Staples was our featured speaker for the event.  We had 4 programs given during the day and approximately 600 enthusiastic anglers paid $5 each to attend.  The evening banquet was attended by approximately 250 people.  Approximately $14,000 profit was raised during the day.  A highlight of the event was when Jeff and Debbie Smith were awarded the Ken Magee Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Expo/Banquet is a huge undertaking and many people are responsible for making it a success.  Thanks to all the people working on the committee and the volunteers that worked the day of the event.

Jeff & Debbie Smith and Ben & Karalee Goodrich
2007 Expo/Banquet Chairs

LIBRARY COMMITTEE

The BVFF library continues to be an outstanding source of fly fishing educational materials that are enjoyed by members and the general public.  We have over 300 books and videos that can be checked out at no charge.  We anticipate expanding our library in 2008 and moving our videos to more DVD formats as we discontinue older VHS tapes.  Please review your books/videos that are checked out and return them promptly so they can be enjoyed by others.

Benny Racz, Library Committee Chair

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

BVFF membership grew in 2006: 

MEMBERSHIP TYPE         2006   2007
Regular                                     94     109
Family                                       26     35
Senior                                       46     51
Life                                            26     29

Vendor *                                   38     61
Total                                        230   285

* Vendor membership includes businesses that get complimentary newsletters.

Judy McClendon, Membership Chair

NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

Our monthly newsletter (The Hackle Bender) continues to be our primary information source to members and affiliate organizations.  Information is always due the 3rd Tuesday of each month.  Companies that pay for Sponsor Memberships get free advertising spaces (2” x 3”) in the newsletter.  Capital Print and Copy is the company that does our printing.  Members are encouraged to submit and/or make suggestions for news articles.  Anyone submitting an article for the newsletter must first get approval from a BVFF officer or appropriate committee chair.  All submitted articles are subject to editing.

Tom Kazakoff, Newsletter Chair

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

BVFF monthly meetings were held on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month, except July (picnic), August and December (Christmas party).  General meetings were held at the Maple Grove Grange, 11692 President Drive, Boise, Idaho.  Each meeting began at 6:30 with an hour of fly tying demonstrations followed by an educational program.  All programs were open to the public and were announced in the Idaho Statesman newspaper.  Expenses for the committee included $600 for renting the room at the Grange.  Please contact me if you desire a special program to be presented at a general meeting.

John Hofland, Program Committee Chair

WEBSITE COMMITTEE

Our BVFF web site, www.bvff.com, is a popular internet site that provides information on BVFF programs, upcoming activities and fishing news.  It also provides links to affiliate organizations that promote fly fishing, conservation, and water safety.  We pay godaddy.com to maintain our web site.  Anyone wanting to provide information on our web site should send it to me at bvff@bvff.com. 

Tom Knight, Webmaster