As I am preparing this message my printer is putting out some additional email messages from people who want to attend the show and have requested registration packets. This is great! Get your requests to me by email, telephone, U. S. (snail) mail or by carrier pigeon. I don’t care how I get it. We just want you to come to Nashville in July to attend the joint AFMS/SFMS convention and show. When I get your requests then a packet will be mailed. I usually do in batches so I can print the labels easier. Please return the registration forms as quickly as possible. We need to know how many displays we will have of each type, how many registrants for the seminars so we can prepare hand outs, how many will be attending the meals and the convention meetings, etc. Help us help you by getting your reservations in early.

The plans for the show and conventions are progressing well. We have a number of people who have reserved motel rooms and, for this, you should not wait. The rooms are being booked and I would hate for you not to be able to stay in the convention hotel. Go ahead and reserve a room, if necessary you can cancel if some emergency arises.

The Editors Seminar looks like it is really shaping up. We are hoping to have some Website information for the Editors as well. The society Editors often work closely with the Webmasters in the production and posting of their newsletters on the society websites. It will be beneficial for Editors and Webmasters alike to attend the Editors Seminar and see what they can gain from the great experience of the persons who will be presenting the seminar.

The SFMS Second Vice President is hard at work on a State Directors Seminar. This is meant for any person who works with other clubs such as state directors, regional directors or vice presidents, etc. Everyone is invited to attend and to contribute to the success of this seminar. The purpose is to increase communication between the Regional Federations and the member societies.

Duane McIntyre, Chairman of the AFMS Insurance Committee plans to have a meeting of the committee during the show. He will be contacting the committee members to set a date and time. Any Regional Federation which has not yet appointed an Insurance Chairman for their federation needs to do so and let me know so they may be added to the committee. If the Committee Chairman is not going to be able to attend they should find someone who is going to attend who will attend the committee meeting in their place. We are attempting to put together a national program to provide better coverage at a lower cost to the societies.

The response to the mailing of packets of information to the AFMS Committee Chairs and Members has been rather slow. I have received a response from several persons but a large number have not yet responded. Please go over the information and provide corrections, updates, etc. so we can publish the corrections. We also want to get the listing on the AFMS Website and cannot do so without your response. The mailing also requested your suggestions for committee duties, projects, etc. I need this response to be able to get this to the Long Range Planning Committee for their action. This must be reviewed and placed in a format for consideration at our annual convention, if such action is required, or for other consideration if full Board approval is not required. Many of you have great ideas which will be of much benefit to the AFMS. Let’s hear your ideas, we want to know the direction in which you want this, your federation, to go in the future.

I have been requested to include some information on camping at the show site. The Fairgrounds Management has informed me that they now have over two hundred improved, full hookup sites available. No reservations needed. Just pull into the fairgrounds and you will find a spot. Pull in, begin setting up and a Security Guard will stop to assist you, collect your security deposit and give you a hookup pigtail so you can connect to the electric power. The sites are only a very short walk from the show building. We hope to have many of you who will take advantage of this opportunity. We understand the fee is $25.00 per night for hookup camping on the grounds.

Bill Luke is performing an admirable job as our AFMS Newsletter Editor. I would like for many of you to send him an email or note telling him how much you like what he is doing. He would like to know what you like, what you want to see and any other suggestions you may have. For all you Regional Vice Presidents, Bill needs some monthly reports to print in the newsletter. Lets keep him busy and give him what he desires. It only takes a short time to prepare an article if you think about it ahead of time. I will spend some twenty minutes writing my article this month. That is twenty minutes of typing but I have been thinking of what to say ever since I sent last months article by email to Bill last month.

At a prior AFMS convention a project was approved called the "China Project". Due to a variety of reasons we have not been able to pursue the project of donation of United States materials to China until now. Now, the time has come. In late August I will be leading a tour group on a fourteen day tour of China. We will visit four major cities in the country, jewelry manufacturers, mines, mineral dealers, etc. This is being put together by a firm in Seattle, Washington and by an association of Chinese businesses and organizations. If you are interested in going on the tour then send me an email or a letter and I will have information sent to you. The information will be provided by the Chinese Government and will only be mailed to those persons who express a desire for more information. The mailing of this to our entire membership would be a prohibitive expense and we would not give our mailing list out at any rate.

This is a wonderful opportunity to have a chance to visit China on a tour which will be designed with our hobby in mind. An agenda is now being organized and will be ready for distribution within the next few week. I am requesting all Editors to place this, along with my address, in their newsletters to permit all of our members to learn of the opportunity.

A good example of the public being affected is the problem the owners of wetlands in Texas around Austin are having. See, "This Land Was Your Land" in the October, 1997 issue of the Reader's Digest, p 166.

How effective we can be with this approach is yet to be seen, so I think we need to work on a "Plan B". We need to develop an approach comparable to that of the Gold Prospectors Association of American. As I understand it, specified claims, either owned or leased by members and/or the association, are open to all members of GPAA for prospecting.

I would be interested in hearing from any rockhounds who are also members of the GPAA, to learn more about how that program works and how we might adapt it for use by rockhounds. Intially, the Federation could utilize all the expertise of our members in this area to outline a course of action.

As Fifth Vice President of the AFMS, I am responsible to see that the Club Publications and the Commemorative Stamps Committee are working toward their goals.

I talked to Kitty Starbuck, Club Publications Chair, just as she was leaving for the Midwest Show and Convention. She assured me that she is receiving letters and is active in getting ready for the Editors Awards Breakfast held in Nashville in July.

I thank Kitty and each Chairperson of each federation who work on this committee: Donna Mueller, CFMS; Barbara Fenstermacher, EFMLS; Judy Budnik MFMGS (thanks to Judy for her letter telling of her progress in Midwest Federation), Darlene Denton, NFMS; Pauline Price, RMFMS;Jean Wallace, SCFMS; Leo Morris, SFMS.

I also talked to 82 year old Lillian Turner, chair of the Commemorative Stamp Committee. She is recovering from open heart surgery, but is still going strong. She is not doing much letter writing but her phone bill is like the National Debt. She and Wendell Mohr from the Eastern Federation are working toward establishment of a set of Birthstone stamps as our next AFMS Commemorative Stamp offering. She tells me that it takes at least eight years to get a stamp set into circulations.

Courtesy Bulletins: I’m receiving many bulletins from clubs across the country. Many of them have a summary of, or list of items in, the AFMS Newsletter, and make the newsletter available to the club. That’s good! Thanks to the Editors who send to me. I may not be able to read everything in every one, but I enjoy scanning them all. I recommend you send to as many Federation officers as you can afford. That way, they will find out what is going on throughout their organization. Yes, you, the clubs, are the Federation.

Dear Editor;

The April Issue of the AFMS Newsletter arrived in my rural mailbox at noon today. It is in time to use in my up coming May Rockhound Roundup. I have read every item in the paper and am answering your editors column beginning at the bottom of page two and continued on page four. At this point you are talking about judging club bulletins based on how much AFMS and in my case, EFMLS regional information is carried across to the members!

First let me say that many months I would be happy to have anything to copy so I do not have to be "creative" to fill the three sheet sides that I normally print. However the feed back I get from members is that they are not interested in what the AFMS prints at all, or our own EFMLS very little. Most shows are too far away for us to attend. Most descriptions of meetings do not apply to them personally and are unimportant. What happens in the other five federations do not apply to our club!. Safety information only applies to a few lapidary cutters or field trips to places we cannot even get to.

The names and addresses of federation officers are not needed by most of the members. Since our EFMLS directory is only in the hands of two officers, the corrections are unimportant. The names and studies of the scholarship recipients means nothing as we do not "know" any of them. The winners of plaques or other awards never apply to our immediate area. We have never submitted a name for "Each one teach one " or Rockhound Hall of Fame; nothing here is of interest to our club.

I am certain that at times there are things that must be reprinted, but mostly I find that the general membership is not only not interested, but at times totally unhappy when I use space for what they consider a waste of reading time.

Now talking for myself, I know many of the names, places, and values of what is printed and personally enjoy reading both papers. Our club is now in it's 12th year, and has had only one show. (many years ago) . Our total treasury is under $700.00! The biggest problem is that those of us that are Gung Ho members are too old to do the physical work of either field trips or shows. Any one younger is insecure about taking an active lead in the club. I recommend that you try to find something to put into the paper that can be of use to a local club. I know that you are trying by your call for articles.

I hope that you do not think I am throwing cold water. On the contrary, I wish I could offer a better solution to the problem. I do feel that forcing the use of local and National Federation materials to qualify for points is not productive to entries in a bulletin competition. I have never entered as I do not have the time to fill out the forms, prepare the extra copies, and also I have no access to any copy machines other than this computer. Not a single item has been given me to print except for one year the president did send a copy for 8 of the 12 months issues. "Prez Sez"

1 have racked my brain to prepare a continuing educational column about understanding how minerals are formed and how to identify them. Almost any thing to fill out a small bulletin. To have something to copy can only be a blessing.

I did send some things to the contest this year, however it was not properly prepared due to lack of time and my physical problems. So I assume you will never see any of it. Thank you for taking on the thankless job of editing the AFMS Newsletter. Good luck at getting outside input that is useful to other editors.

Respectfully,
(signed)
William F. Grimes
Editor for the Smokey Mountain Mineral Soc. Inc. Rockhound Roundup

I have e-mailed Bill and received his permission to use this letter in the Editors’ Seminars and for a source to address each of these issues. I also invited (challenged) his members to send something "interesting". I will publish any article received in the next AFMS Newsletter!

Yes, Editors have to be "creative"! But – What to create?? Members who are not interested in what you have done nor the things being reported do create a problem.

First, I’ll defend, or explain, why the uninteresting Federation information is, and always will be, the first in importance of the content. The purpose of the AFMS Newsletter (and all Regional Newsletters and club bulletins) is to publish the "business" of the organization to its members. That’s what Editors get paid to do. I am kept very busy with inquiries about people in committee positions, their address, etc. Many involved members do need to know the correct information.

Secondly, regarding the various lists of names of winners of plaques and awards, this Editor will always put recognition at the top of the list of what should be in the AFMS Newsletter and the rockhound bulletins.

In my last column I reported that the 1999 Appropriations Bill for the Department of Interior directs:

The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with appropriate scientific, educational and commercial entities, should develop a report assessing the need for a unified federal policy on the collection, storage and preservation of these fossils... The committee encourages the Secretary to assess the need for standards that would maximize the availability of fossils for scientific study. The committee expects the Secretary to submit the report to Congress no later than February 1, 1999. In addition, the report should evaluate the effectiveness of current methods for storing and preserving fossils collected from public lands.

Forget the February 1, 1999 deadline. If you have already written your letter to Secretary Babbitt, you may have received a response from William Y. Brown, Science Advisor to the Secretary, advising you that "the Department of Interior will host a public meeting this Spring in Washington, D.C." On April 15, 1999 I telephoned Mr. Brown's office to inquire about the promised public meeting. I was advised that "if" such a meeting is to be held, it will be scheduled for sometime in June of this year.

If you have not yet done so please, please write: The Honorable Bruce Babbitt, United States Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240, to make your views on the subject a matter of public record. A sample letter was published at page 11 of the March 1999 issue of this newsletter. Please also send copies of your letter to Senators Thomas A. Daschle and Tim Johnson which may be addressed as follows:

            Senator ______________
            Senate Office Building
            Washington, D.C. 20510

Given the vast acreage of federal lands only the amateur community has sufficient manpower to save any significant portion of fossils as they are continuously exposed by weathering.

In my last column I also urged letters to the BLM regarding their "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" which would have "consolidated" rules regarding the collecting of fossils with rules governing the collection of petrified wood. I have been advised by BLM headquarters that they are no longer involved in the drafting of such rules and that responsibility for the matter has been assumed by the Department of Interior. I do not expect any movement with regard to the drafting of such rules until the mandated "Unified Federal Policy" statement has been completed (see above).

In a recent telephone conversation with the manager of a local quarry he informed me that his initial experience with a club trip to his quarry was a "disaster" and, as a consequence, he will no longer allow clubs to collect in the quarry. He described the club members as being "uncontrollable", an apparent reference to their refusal to heed his warnings to stay away from the quarry walls. I am familiar with the quarry and I can attest to the fact that there are, indeed, some very dangerous walls in that quarry. The quarry owner is a kindly gentlemen who was predisposed to cooperation with collectors. But for his unfortunate experience with one club, other clubs might have enjoyed access to his quarry.

"Stay away from the walls" is an instruction almost universally given by local quarry operators in briefing collectors prior to entry into their quarries. If quarry personnel, your field trip leader or his designate ask you to leave an area because of what they perceive to be a danger, don't pause to contemplate the unfairness of life or for one last effort to pry loose that cantleaverite, MOVE!

Please learn and obey the AFMS Code of Ethics. In particular, remember to fill in all excavation holes.

Much has been written in this column and elsewhere regarding the "18-month moratorium" on road construction adopted by the U.S. Forest Service. Part and parcel of this policy is the obliteration of countless existing roads. I recently received an e-mail from Bob Cranston of ALAA which informed me that a group by the name of "Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics" had recently sent e-mail messages to all 34,191 Forest Service employees urging them to support establishment of new "roadless" areas within our National Forests which would lock-up additional millions of acres. As requested by Bob I wrote Mr. Michael Dombeck, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service requesting equal access to Forest Service employees. In response, I received a letter from Clyde Thompson, Deputy Chief for Business Operations, advising me that their "Office of Communication" has been advised to post information received from me on the Forest Service Intranet. Of course, any information submitted for posting will be screened to determine compliance with the Hatch Act, etc. If anyone wishes to communicate with U.S. Forest Service employees by their agency Intranet, please provide me with a brief statement of the information you wish to have posted and I will forward it to the U.S. Forest Service Office of Communication.

Bob Cranston, Jon Spunaugle and others in ALAA continue to amaze me with the high energy level they bring to our efforts. Every serious rockhound should be a member of ALAA.

Efforts in Congress to change the 1872 Mining Law remain at an impasse. However, efforts by the Clinton administration and environmentalists to attain their policy goals through the rule-making process, thereby making an end run around Congress, are accelerating.

On one front, the Department of Interior has published draft regulations governing the surface mining of hard rock minerals. This action was taken notwithstanding legislation forbidding revision of existing mining regulations for one year pending completion of a study of federal and state regulations by the National Academy of Sciences. It is the position of the DOI/BLM that the legislative prohibition does not forbid the writing of draft rules and the taking of comments, so as to be in a position to issue final rules when the moratorium ends.

Most of us cruise through life expecting no major health problems and getting none. But, fate has a way of surprising us. Accidents happen, strokes come, heart attacks come, sudden changes happen, snakes bite. And then we go or are taken to an emergency room to get help. When you get there, are you ready? Ready? How? Well, there are some things you should carry at all times. Otherwise, the emergency treatment may hurt you rather than help. What should you carry?

1. A list of all the medicines you take. This should include everything. Your regular prescriptions, of course are part. List the medicine, it's strength, and the frequency you take it. Over the counter stuff should be listed, too. What vitamins do you take? What herbals? Anything you take regularly should be listed - name, strength and frequency. Then there is the occasional stuff. Over the counter pain killers, cold medicines, cough medicines, allergy pills, etc. should all be listed.

2. A short health summary. List whatever problem you might have. Sinus, heart, diabetes, allergies, asthma - whatever. Remember, you may not be in shape to tell the doctors.

3. A list of who to contact if you are taken ill or hurt. Some hospitals either cannot or are reluctant to treat you without your family being aware of what's going on. Names, addresses, phone numbers, and relationships should be listed.

4. Your identification. Frequently, joggers and the like go out without identification. When they are stricken, no one knows who they are or who to tell.