REGION VI – DIRECTORS REPORT

 Quarterly Board Meeting Report – Chicago, IL – June 11, 2008

The June 11, 2008 AAPL Board Meeting was called to Order at 8:00 a.m. by President Craig Clark. The following AAPL business was discussed during the meeting:

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Craig shared highlights of his travel plans to the local associations during the past year. 

STAFF REPORT: Robin Forte reported the following:

               

          Summer NAPE 2008:   Over 350 booths have already been sold for Summer NAPE which will be August 27-28.   The deadline to register before the price increase is July 11; pre-registration ends August 15th. Keynote speaker for the Industry luncheon will be Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson.  

          NAPE 2009: Over 1120 booths have already been sold for NAPE 2009 which will be February 5-6, 2009.    The downtown room blocks are sold out; AAPL is adding blocks of rooms at hotels in the Galleria and Greenway Plaza areas and will provide transportation to and from the Convention Center. A listing of hotels with discounted rates available is on the website www.napeexpo.com.    Final numbers from NAPE 2008 – registration was up 9% with 15,727 in attendance and booths sold was up 11% with 1611 total.  

          Education: During the year AAPL has processed 55 CPL applications, 75 RPL application and 75 RL applications. 

          Membership: Membership as of 5/14/2008 was 10,978.   

          Publications: AAPL is currently working on the Summer NAPE Expo Show Guide & Exhibitor Directory, the 2008 Annual Report and the 2009 Landmen’s Directory & Guidebook in both printed and electronic format. For advertising opportunities, contact AAPL headquarters at (817) 847-7700. 

FINANCIAL REPORT: Curt Horne reported that as of April 30, Total Assets for AAPL is $11,795,453. Revenue was $4,943,155, with the majority attributable to NAPE and membership dues. Expenses reported were $2,264,590, with Salaries, benefits and G&A being the largest expenses. As of April 30, AAPL had $775,101 in short term investments and $7,934,186 in long term investments.     

BUSINESS ITEMS: The following topics were included on the agenda for this Quarterly Board Meeting.   Below is a summary of the discussion and/or action that was taken at the meeting.

          2008 Annual Meeting:     Steve Wentworth reported that more than 850 AAPL members plan to attend the Annual Meeting in Chicago with total registrants including spouses and guests being over 1350 making this year the highest total attendance since 1986.  

          New York Attorney General vs. Landmen Issue:      Arnie Schulberg reported that the committee has developed a four page informational brochure that will be provided to the local Farm Bureau. The committee has formalized a procedure for review of complaints against Landmen along with a complaint form that will be released to the area via joint press releases with the Farm Bureau. Arnie anticipated this will be his final report.

          West Virginia UPL Issue:   Arnie Schulberg reported that AAPL has hired a lobbyist regarding the unauthorized practice of law issue.   It appears this issue will be resolved. 

          Wyoming UPL Issue: Craig Young reported that the Wyoming Supreme Court is making final revisions and this issue will be resolved. 

          Licensing Task Force: Roger Soape reported that the committee plans to have a talking point memo for Director review prior to the next board meeting. After approval, the memo will be sent to AAPL membership for comments and suggestions.   The task force anticipates that licensing legislation will be forthcoming and we should have more information regarding a proposed timeline for the legislation prior to the next board meeting.

          New Application/Membership Data Request: Candy Robinson presented a motion for the Directors to approve the revised Membership Application form. The new form provides for a certified copy of a college transcript to be provided for Active Membership. The transcript is not required for Associate Membership. Additionally, for both Active and Associate membership, the application must now be signed by either the Region Director (myself) or the local association President (currently Mike Watanabe). The motion carried and the new application form was approved for use by the Board of Directors.    

 

          2008 – 2009 AAPL Election of Officers: Greg Zerkel reported results of the election for officers as follows:

President                           Marshall Lochausen, CPL

First Vice President              G. Rimmer Covington, CPL/ESA

Second Vice President          John “Jay” Brown, CPL

Third Vice President             Candace Robinson, CPL

Secretary                           Bob Hodge, CPL

Treasurer                            Bryan Hennigan, CPL

          Budget for FYE 6/30/2009: Marshall Lochausen presented the proposed 2008 – 2009 AAPL Budget to the Directors for approval.   After general discussion, the budget was approved by the Board of Directors.   The projected income for the 2008–2009 budget is $4,699,999. Income includes $450,000 anticipated from Annual Meeting, $900,000 anticipated from management fee of NAPE/Summer NAPE, $950,000 anticipated from annual dues and $2,200,000 anticipated from NAPE/Summer NAPE.     The projected expenses for the 2008–2009 budget is $2,730,000.    Expenses include $250,000 for legal expenses, $450,000 for Annual Meeting and $1,100,000 for Salaries (we have a full staff at headquarters and a very competitive job market in Fort Worth). Projected net income for the 2008–2009 budget is $1,969,000.  

          IPAA Membership Offering: The Board of Directors were each offered a complementary membership with the Independent Petroleum Association.     I will attempt to keep the TAPL website updated with information throughout the year that I receive from IPAA.  

Contribution to Landman Scholarship Trust/Education Foundation:  Craig Clark advised that AAPL will gift $100,000 to the Landman Scholarship Trust.  He also noted that outside contributions have been down somewhat.   In an effort to encourage more giving, AAPL has agreed to match any donation received between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009, provided that the maximum matching gift from AAPL shall not exceed an additional $100,000.  If you work for a company that matches contributions, this would be an opportunity for you to get even more bang for your buck!   

Public Lands Advocacy:  Craig Clark advised that AAPL has made a $2000 donation to Public Lands Advocacy whose focus is to improve opportunities to explore for and develop oil and natural gas resources on public lands.   www.publiclandsadvocacy.org

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Committee Reports presented included the following:

          The American Oil & Gas Historical Society (AOGHS):          Arnie Schulberg advised that AOGHS is planning its 3rd annual Energy Education Conference and Field Trip November 12 – 14 in Houston, Texas.

          Landman Scholarship Trust: Jack Richards advised that a total of $47,500 was provided in scholarship support to students attending the University of Oklahoma, University of Tulsa, Texas Tech, Western State College of Colorado, University of Calgary. Michael Bishop was selected as the University of Oklahoma Outstanding Graduate.

Legislative/Regulatory:   Jack Richards advised this committee has been very active watching legislative issues in Kansas, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Utah. 

Public Lands:   The Roan Plateau is expected to be included in the next Colorado BLM oil and gas lease sale. The committee mentioned that recently the leasing came to a halt in Utah with Utah stating that 10 TCF of reserves would not be impactful enough to warrant development…obviously there is some work to be done in Utah!

IPAA Land Access Advisory Committee:   Bill Rex advised that the 10th Annual IPAA/API Land Access Strategy meeting will be held in Jackson Hole, WY on Aug 20 – 22. 

Publications Committee:   Steve Hines reported that AAPL had over 150 entries for the photo contest that was recently completed and solicited new articles to be published in The Landman.

Education:  Lester Zitkus mentioned that the University of Texas is trying to reestablish its Energy Land Management program. The curriculum is being fully developed and they are planning for a Fall 2008 start to the program.   He also mentioned the Land Workshop held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting reached capacity.  

Certification:   Bernie Ulincy advised that AAPL is in the process of making it possible for members to check their certification credits online. Also, no immediate revisions are planned for the Certification Program, but Bernie made it clear that this issue will resurface in the future. But for now, CPL certification stays on the 5 year schedule. 

Native Lands:   Knute Lee mentioned AAPL is still looking for someone to spearhead this committee.

Other – CAPL Issue:  The Board did discuss the recent memo from Craig regarding the status of the Canadian landman’s association.  This had been an item on the agenda, but the agenda was modified at the start of the Board Meeting. Regarding any local association, Article XV Section 3 of the AAPL Bylaws states “No local association shall be eligible for initial affiliation with AAPL unless it:

 A. Is a formally organized group of Land Professionals; and,

B. Has acceptable Bylaws; and

C. Of it Land Professional membership at least fifty percent (50%) are Active Members of AAPL. 

            The AAPL Board of Directors may choose to withdraw affiliation from any local association which fails to maintain the eligibility standards.”

Please take note that the fifty percent membership requirement applies only to local associations during their initial affiliation. Once a local association is affiliated with AAPL it does not automatically lose that affiliation if its AAPL membership drops below fifty percent; it would require a vote by the AAPL Board of Directors. 

Other – 2009 Annual Meeting:   The 2009 Annual Meeting will be held June 17th thru June 20th at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida.   

The next AAPL Board Meeting will be held September 14th. If you have any issues for me to bring forward on behalf of TAPL please let me know.   Should you have any questions regarding the information included in this report or if you would like to get copies of any individual committee reports, please feel free to drop me an email @ mables@samson.com  or call @ 918-591-1819 (off) or 918-645-8154 (cell).   Thanks!

                                                                                                                Mona D. Ables

                                                                                                                AAPL Director