[at-l] red, white and blue

[ellen at clinic.net (ellen)]

"Weary suggests that an Internet campaign could raise money for the 
> protection of the AT, citing that Howard Dean raised hundreds of 
> millions 
> of dollars.
> 
> Actually, Dean burned thru only $40 before crashing. I'm one of those 
> Deaniacs that contributed. The organization he created was very 
> sophisticated and expensive.
> 
> We have an organization that accepts donations and frequently solicits 
> us 
> for those. The ATC is pretty good at this. I suspect they have a higher 
> 
> profile and more experience in dealing with land acquisition. I'm far 
> more 
> likely to give to an organization with a proven track record, rather 
> than 
> watching another meteor light up the skies before disappearing into the 
> 
> darkness," thinks OrangeBug.

Just a couple of clarifications.

OB is right about Dean's $40 million. But Kerry and others carried on the Dean fundraising system and made Democrats competitive with Republicans, at least in fund raising, for the first time in modern times.

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust was started with the active cooperation of what is wrongly called the ATC land trust. The so called ATC land trust has but one employee. That employee came to Maine twice to help us get organized. The ATC "land trust" used to have two positions. The second position was eliminated a few years ago when the organization had budget problems. That is the problem with having a land trust, that is just a minor part of an organization with other major responsibilities. Land Trust efforts must take a back seat to the major responsibilities. ATC's prime job is the management of the Appalachian Trail. It's so called "land trust" was never more than one or two staff people.

To be successful, preserving land needs to be the only responsbility of a land trust. ATC recognizes this. That's why they gave us the money that it had already raised for the purchase of 2,500 acres on Saddleback and Abraham. We protected these critical Saddleback and Abraham areas with $400,000 previously raised by ATC and $200,000 we borrowed.

ATC is currently undergoing a major reorganization. I hope that reorganization includes a genuine land trust program. There is some thinking in ATC that the Maine pattern is the direction in which to go, i.e. create new land trusts or cooperate with existing land trusts in each region, each having their own directors and fundraising ability, and knowledge of local AT land needs and opportunities.

You can learn more from our website.  

http://www.matlt.org/

Weary