[at-l] My Vote

[DaRedhead@aol.com (DaRedhead@aol.com)]

In a message dated 4/4/02 12:18:39 AM US Eastern Standard Time, 
cballs@mindspring.com writes:


> Trail advocacy is what made the AT possible in the first place. It's what 
> got it built, it's what maintains it and it is what keeps it growing.  Why 
> would you want to segregate voices advocating for its care and expansion 
> from a hiking list?  

Just throwing something out here.  In getting the HATT hike together, we've 
discovered that finding out about all the clubs that maintain the Trail and 
getting info on them is difficult, because although they all do the same 
thing - maintain our Trail thru volunteerism, for the most part - they are 
all separate and communication between them is - sparse, I guess is a good 
word.

The thing is - this isn't a trail advocacy list, and nowhere can we find a 
focal point for trail (and wilderness in general) issues.  There *are* 
certain organizations that advocate for the wilderness, but that is a broad, 
general term.  The idea behind a list for such trail/wilderness advocacy was 
the idea that a central meeting place, a central place to find information on 
the issues and what you can do about them, would be a good thing, and a thing 
that doesn't exist at this point in time.  Maybe a "list" isn't the ideal, 
maybe a website would be better.  I don't know.  But if, as we've been told, 
WF could make a difference w/ a website, and he no longer wishes to do that - 
maybe we can form something that will make a difference that focuses on those 
issues.  Sure, we here don't mind hearing about the latest "issue" - and we 
all (or everyone I know, anyway) do our part to help along whatever issue is 
at hand.  But people plugging in "conservation issue debate information 
trail" in google.com aren't going to come up with our list - nor should they. 
 This list is a group of people who love the AT . . . or long distance hiking 
in general.  We come here for all the reasons we've stated before.  It's nice 
that we hear about the issues and run off and do our thing.  But wouldn't it 
be nicer if thousands instead of the 700 plus (yes, membership has picked up 
lately) who are on the list heard about them?  This isn't a "splintering" of 
the list.  It was an idea that maybe since there isn't one, there SHOULD be a 
central place to find out what is happening in the world of politics 
regarding our natural resources, and our Trail, and other trails.  

I read a "to the editor" letter in the Johnson City Press the other day (this 
past week).  In it, the person wanted to know why they got 7 postcards in the 
mail inviting them to enjoy the Tennessee parks when most had been closed due 
to lack of funding.  The person rightly wondered who the hell was spending 
the money to mail these postcards inviting people to go to a place that is 
closed.  They also rightly figured out it was the people who lived here, that 
were spending the money for invitations in the mail to places that no longer 
want or accept people.

I wouldn't have posted that on the list, normally.  But if there were a place 
dedicated to such things, I certainly would have forwarded all the stuff I 
see in our local papers on a weekly basis about those things.

I would post to this list if I needed a piece of gear and wanted advice from 
people with firsthand experience.  I would post to this list if I were 
starting a thru.  I would post to this list if Shannon joined the Airforce, 
or married Felix.  I would (and did) post to this list when I got divorced.  
I would (and did) post to this list when Mom died (I figure that even if she 
hadn't been an AT-L'er I would have posted that).  I wouldn't post a local 
story about things that might possibly affect the Trail, unless I could tell 
people how to help.  TVA does a lot of things that probably might merit 
mentioning - but this list isn't ABOUT that.  Better to have a central place 
to voice all of our concerns on those issues - better to have a central point 
for information that doesn't get lost in the list - because THIS list *is* 
about hikers, and the people they are - but it doesn't focus on Trail 
Advocacy, and much as I hate to agree w/ RnR, especially in public ;), there 
*is* a need for a concerted effort.  So - why not move it to a place where we 
might get a whole lot more "hits" and therefore a much larger "audience" that 
cares? Which will ultimately help the Trail, and the environment and other 
long trails, as a bonus!

This isn't a move to get RnR or anyone else off this list.  It was a sincere 
question about a REAL need in the Trail community as a whole, and 
conservation efforts specifically.  Don't read more into that isn't there - 
and don't see less than what is possible if we chose to do it.

Red









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