[at-l] Centerline survey of AT

[Cosmo.A.Catalano@williams.edu (cosmo catalano, jr.)]

At 12:04 PM -0500 1/25/02, Josh Wilkins wrote:
>That makes me really happy when I hear of a person doing something this
>selfless. The world needs more people like this. I wish I could help with
>support. But I'm a college student in debt and live in Michigan. So I really
>cant help you with anything you need. But I will give you my total respect
>and a pat on the back.
JTW

	Don't give it to me, give it to Del Doc and the folks that 
will keep him on the Trail.

	Yes, it's this kind of volunteerism that got the AT built in 
the first place.  Sad to say that there seems to be less and less of 
it out there.  Now that the Trail is essentially complete and 
protected (at least legally), maintaining clubs are finding 
themselves being run by folks--like--me who are managers of one sort 
or another in their "real" lives, and who bring those skills to the 
Trail.  We tend to focus on getting things "organized" and being 
"efficient", which dovetails well with the efforts of the staff 
members of ATC, AMC etc.  So things do get done, and for the most 
part done well.

	However, more and more of it is being done by paid crews 
(Konorock, Long Trial Patrol, AMC Southern New England Trail Crew, 
etc).  I know that in the Mass AT Committee, I am constantly 
reminded--and rightly so--by the older folks among us that this trail 
was put here by volunteers, and as a club we need to remember to put 
them first, give them worthwhile projects to tackle and not squeeze 
them out of the picture because the job can be done more quickly or 
efficiently by experienced, competent and dedicated outsiders.

	There's an excellent article in the Fall issue of "The 
Register" by Stephen Clark of the MATC 
<http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about/pdfs/RGfall01.pdf> on this 
very topic.

	To go on at length here, I believe that a significant part of 
the problem is a growing lack of committed people in that big 
volunteer pool out there.  There are so many options and pressures on 
people to give of their time to many worthy causes, coupled with an 
increasing preference for activities connected to CRT's among young 
people.  We really have a problem getting new blood, and I've heard 
this from other leaders, so I don't think it's just a problem 
specific to the Berkshires.

	I believe there is plenty of Tril work for both our own 
volunteers and "professional" crews in Mass, and I'm working to keep 
both efforts going.  We are finding out that the post 9/11 world has 
less and less funding for these professional crews and paid staff, so 
ultimately it will depend on "just plain folks" to get the job done. 
Even if you can't get out here to put your hands in the dirt Josh, 
there is undoubtedly a trail near you that has a group of dedicated 
volunteers who would be honored to have your help even for one day. 
Go for it.

If anyone want's to keep this topic going, would you please CC: me, I 
can't quite keep up with the Digests this week.

Cosmo


Cosmo Catalano
AMC Berkshire Chapter
Massachusetts Appalachian Trail Committee