[at-l] AT Trail System

[rhymworm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert Rubin)]

Actually, this is a great time to be talking about stuff like this, and, sp=
eaking as the guy who reads the letters and e-mails when the come in, I can=
 tell you that ATN will happily consider  any letters on the subject. We li=
ke to publish thoughtful discussions of points like this, from all points o=
f view, though flames and invective are a pretty good way to make certain t=
hat what you say won't get published or heard. Bear in mind that you're wri=
ting to the conference's 35,000 members, not just me or the AT-L.

The reason it's a particularly good time is that ATC's volunteer board of m=
anagers recently hired some consultants to help them, the Conference staff,=
 and the Park Service step back and take a good, careful look at what it is=
 that ATC does, how it works with the feds, the clubs, and other partners, =
and decide, in the words of one board member, "what we want to be when we g=
row up." All this spring they're going to be gathering information and opin=
ions from people with a stake in the Trail, and then this fall will try to =
come up with some plans about what to do about what they learn. There are a=
 whole series of working meetings, "summits," and other internal discussion=
s going on, and everybody is paying attention.

Maybe nothing will come of all this, and nothing will change, and everyone =
will decide that we like it fine the way it is. But, at least for now, EVER=
YTHING is on the table. Look at the chairman's column in the current ATN (v=
iewable online at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about/pubs/atn/archive/AT=
N02Nov.pdf), for the official line. The board could decide to completely ch=
ange ATC's focus and structure, getting out of the Trail-maintaining busine=
ss entirely and leaving that to the clubs and the feds. Or it could decide =
to ONLY worry about Trail-maintaining and working with the feds, and give t=
he job of looking out for and supporting A.T. hikers to organizations like =
American Hiking Society or ALDHA. Or it could decide to recast itself as a =
more activist environmental organization. Or it could decide to turn into a=
n educational organization like Leave No Trace. Should ATC run a visitor ce=
nter? Should ATC sell books and publish guidebooks and maps? Should ATC be =
fighting telephone towers and windmills? Should ATC be working to protect m=
ore land? Should ATC be awarding 2,000-miler patches and publishing the lis=
t in the magazine? Etc. Etc. It's all on the table.

This could amount to nothing, or it could be the start of the biggest chang=
e in the organization since Myron Avery pushed Benton MacKaye out of the pi=
cture back in 1936. None of us on the inside really knows where it's going =
to go.

Obviously, when the board comes to conclusions about all of this, it will t=
ake them to the membership for discussion and approval, but at that stage i=
t will already be formulated in a plan. Right now, there's a "Strategic Pla=
n" that the board has worked on for most of a decade, but that is mostly ju=
st words on paper, with very little effect on what the staff and volunteers=
 do. That may change. The board and the leaders of the A.T. park office hav=
e taken a big step in agreeing to step back and take a look at who ATC is a=
nd what it does, and what it should do, and what sort of plan is needed.

The upshot of this is that if you want your voice to be heard in these disc=
ussions, it can happen. Just be smart and thoughtful, take it seriously, an=
d don't get up on a soapbox and vent just to hear your head go off. Get inv=
olved. Make your voice heard. The chiefs, as well as the Indians like me, a=
re all listening.

--Rhymin' Worm
(I read the list on digest, and won't see responses to this until tomorrow,=
 unless you cc me separately from the list. If you want to correspond with =
me "officially," my ATC e-mail address is "editor@appalachiantrail.org")


-------Original Message-------

From: Slyatpct@aol.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2003 14:16:32 EST
Subject: Re: [at-l] AT Trail System
To: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

Perhaps the best approach to an Appalachian Trail System would be for anoth=
er
organization besides the ATC to propose and manage it.  A seperate entity.
 A grassroots orginazation such as ALDHA comes to mind.

Just thinking out load, but if anyone does propose the ATS to the ATC, I'd
like to see the letter in the ATN.   That way it will be open to public
opinion.  That is, if the ATN publishes it!

Rhymin'?

Sly