[at-l] 2,000 Miler Report

[grey.owl at comcast.net]

I am not saying that the ATJ or the ATC is screwed up.  I am saying that they have 
dramatically changed their focus from hiking to conservation.  They have forgotten 
that the front line conservationists are the hiking clubs that maintain the trail.  There 
is a lot of pressure on the trail especially in northern Virginia and the state of 
Maryland, but that is also slowly changing with the collapse of the housing market 
and $4 gallon gas.  At the end of March and the first of April I was in Southwest 
Utah for a week of hiking and site seeing.  Those parks and wilderness areas are also 
under a lot of pressure also.  The success of these area have depended in part from 
the support of state and local organization along with the people that use these areas.  
So way does the ATC alienate the group most passionate about preserving the trail?

ALDHA speaks to alarge portion of the people hiking the AT.  They are not the only 
organization as there are a number of web resources, but they are the ones that have a 
semi-regular publication for its members and I really don't see a difficulty of them 
publishing the 2,000 milers.  I was under the impression, after talking to one 
individual who will remain anon, that the ATC wasthinking of phasing out the 
tracking of Thru hikers (those starting and those finishing).

It is time for me to shower and get off to work so I cannot finish my thoughts.  I 
would recommend that everyone dig up their old ATNs and read Robert Rubin's 
editorial in the November-December 2004 issue.

Peace

Bob Grey Owl Dudley


> ATJ is an all members magazine. ATC has about 33,000 members, only a small fraction of them 
> are thru-hikers or even section hikers like me. Fortunately many of them are only 
> casual/occasional users of the trail who still support the basic idea. If they all showed up on the 
> trail there would be no room for the active hikers. ATC does survey what the members want to 
> see in ATJ and that is what they provide. It is tough being in a minority.
> 
> Print media is having a hard time competing with the internet. Our real community is here on the 
> web. We can make it be what we want it to be. Operating in a pure mailing list format like AT-L 
> makes it hard to do some things like publishing a directory. Publishing a directory is hard work. It 
> is more than just gathering the names. You also need to take their privacy into account, hence 
> (probably) the reason ATC only published names without location data.
> 
> In what way is ATC management screwed up? Is it more screwed up than before the 
> reorganization? In what way? I was on the former Board of Managers for 6 years and my wife was 
> on for 6 years before that so we know what was broken then. I am now on the Stewardship 
> Council so I am still involved. In many ways the SC is similar to the old Board. We deal with the 
> day to day running of the trail and the volunteers. The Board deals with overall strategies which 
> have changed because now the trail is almost all protected but the corridor is not. Either we raise 
> the funds to protect more or lobby the government to provide more or do nothing and let 
> development destroy the marvelous resource we have worked so hard to protect. If you don´t like 
> it, get involved and work for what you want. This is now easier because much of the 
> responsibilities have been pushed out to the regions which are closer to where you live and 
> respond to regional differences. Believe me, dealing with a hundred bedroom communities in the 
> MidAtlantic is different that dealing with USFS.
> 
> Try raising enough money to support the organization, or alternately try cutting back the size to 
> live on a more limited budget. Both are difficult and maybe impossible tasks.
> 
> 
> 
> From: at-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:at-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of 
> Leslie Booher
> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 10:51 PM
> To: Linda Patton; at-L at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [at-l] 2,000 Miler Report
> 
> 
> Yes, I'm with you. The "AT Journeys" isn't about us anymore. It's all glossy and 
> slick and impersonal and really misses the point. Where are the real stories? 
> Where are the "here's what happened to me"? Where are the things I can relate 
> to? Where's Felix?Were I not a life member, I, too, might have un-subscribed. 
> The current form of "AT Journeys" takes out all the fun. I used to read every 
> issue cover to cover. Now, I rarely read more than one section. 
> 
> 
> 
> Of course, I haven't been pleased with The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 
> either. It wasn't broke, butsomebody had to mess with it. It's like they put in a 
> whole middle management group between us and the trail activities.The 
> magazine is just the outward and visible sign of the inward problems.To think 
> that they paid someone good money to screw the whole organization up. 
> 
> 
> 
> a'bear
> 
>