[MA-RPC] January updates

Mon Jan 9 21:18:44 EST 2006

One day or two?
On Jan 9, 2006, at 8:33 PM, Kerry Snow wrote:

> I think it depends on the group.  Some forums get a lot of use.  I  
> think ours would permit more give-and-take than e-mail, but they  
> don't seem very popular, so we might be fighting a losing battle.
>
> The meeting is scheduled for March 11th.
>
>
>
> From: ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org [mailto:ma-rpc- 
> bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org] On Behalf Of Hal Wright
> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 8:05 PM
> To: MARPC list
> Subject: Re: [MA-RPC] January updates
>
> In my experience with hosting web sites, people much prefer email  
> lists. Who has time to make a special trip to all the web sites one  
> is involved with without a specific task to perform? I understand  
> the organizational advantages of the forum, but in practice, it's  
> just easier to get the email and respond to it, as I am doing now.
>
> For personal organization of emails, I use folders and subfolders.
>
>
> On Jan 9, 2006, at 7:54 PM, Walt Daniels wrote:
>
>> I have posted Don Owen's EA file on the web.
>>
>> The forums I set up have not been used, but there has been  
>> significant discussion of a few issues on this email list. Would  
>> people rather continue in the email list mode rather than using  
>> the forum where you get less repetition of stuff? Forums also tend  
>> to be better organized in terms of threads of subjects if people  
>> set up some reasonable topics as threads. You don't get the random  
>> subject lines.
>>
>> There is no place on the forum for these Chair letters of general  
>> updates but it could be started easily.
>>
>> Have we picked a date for the spring meeting? I have not seen  
>> anything definite.
>>
>> Great news on the resumption of the Register.
>>
>> From: ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org [mailto:ma-rpc- 
>> bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org] On Behalf Of Kerry Snow
>> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2006 7:58 PM
>> To: MA-RPC at commerce-02.cilia.org
>> Subject: [MA-RPC] January updates
>>
>> There's been some great discussion, over the past month or two,  
>> within our sub-committees about the role of the MARPC, the work of  
>> the sub-committees, and the relationships between the MARPC and  
>> its various "clients" (ATC, maintaining clubs, hiking public, AT  
>> neighbors, etc.).  I think we're making progress toward  
>> establishing clear goals for our group and for setting up  
>> procedures for getting our work done.   As we get closer to our  
>> Spring meeting, I think that work will pick up steam.  Some of the  
>> basic questions that should be discussed within the sub-committees  
>> are, in my opinion:
>> 1. what are the maintaining clubs currently doing, with respect to  
>> the particular issues of the sub-committee?
>> 2. what are our partner organizations doing (and how can we  
>> strengthen our relationships with those partners)? and
>> 3. what are the priorities for each sub-committee?
>> Answering these questions, I think, will help educate all of the  
>> MAPRC members about the activities in our region, will help  
>> eliminate redundancy of efforts, and will more clearly define the  
>> relationships that exist between AT managers, our partners and the  
>> community.
>>
>> Many of you responded, regarding my last request for preferences  
>> concerning our meeting schedule and options for 2-day meetings,  
>> "floating" locations, etc.  The consensus seemed to be that there  
>> was no clear objection to a 2-day meeting, if workload demanded.   
>> We also seemed to agree with our original plan to hold our annual  
>> one-day (MARPC-ATC-ATPO) meeting in Boiling Springs and to "float"  
>> the 2-day affair up and down the region to accommodate our members  
>> and our partners.  Finally, we all agreed that cost should be a  
>> serious consideration, when planning venues.
>>
>> I don't think there's any doubt that our workload will require a 2- 
>> day meeting once a year (at least).  I'd suggest that we plan that  
>> meeting in the Fall, in order to get a better idea about which  
>> partners will attend (and how convenient it will need to be, to  
>> attract attendance), and to continue our committee discussions  
>> about acceptable costs, etc.  We still have plenty to do in  
>> establishing our sub-committee structures and in encouraging the  
>> participation of all MARPC members, so our Spring meeting agenda  
>> will probably be busy enough, in any case.  Please let me know  
>> your opinions on this suggestion.
>>
>> Don Owen recently (November, actually) sent a list of projects  
>> currently undergoing environmental review by the ATPO.  I think  
>> many of you received the list, but I'll ask Walt to post it on the  
>> MARPC web page, in case you didn't     get a chance to review the  
>> projects.  Please remember that projects involving trail  
>> relocations or construction of side trails, shelters or bridges  
>> require legal environmental review by the Appalachian Trail Park  
>> Office before any work is begun.  The list is long and the staff  
>> is working hard, so please ask your maintaining clubs to plan early.
>>
>> Bob Proudman has announced the return of the Register.  This is  
>> great news for AT maintainers, since the publication was a  
>> reliable resource for techniques, tool suggestions, and training.   
>> The hope is that the Register will be     reborn in March of this  
>> year, probably as a web-based publication with e-mail notification  
>> to subscribers.  Certainly, all trail maintainers should  
>> subscribe, as well as volunteers who are involved in closely  
>> associated work (corridor monitors, environmental monitors,  
>> etc.).  In his announcement, Bob commented:
>>
>> "In resurrecting The Register, please keep in mind its MISSION  
>> STATEMENT: " The Register is published by the Appalachian Trail  
>> Conservancy for the volunteers who maintain the Appalachian Trail  
>> and/or manage its corridor, their federal and state agency  
>> partners, and others interested in the stewardship of the A.T."
>> We recognized the high-importance of the broader needs of our  
>> growing constituencies and scope, to include natural and cultural  
>> resource workers and monitors, boundary managers and monitors,  
>> longstanding interests among the A.T. Land Trust and partnering  
>> land trusts, our development staff and donors, and Rita’s cadre of  
>> educators in local outreach and community-driven programs. So our  
>> scope needs to be broadly conceived yet internally coherent."
>>
>> The MARPC can help in assembling a list of regional subscribers,  
>> if you'd like.  We can discuss this at our next meeting.
>>
>> Rita Hennessy has updated us concerning the education/outreach  
>> initiatives she discussed at our October meeting.  The program has  
>> received funding and the NPS/ATC are planning workshops to train  
>> leaders in "Place-based and Service-learning Journeys Along the  
>> Appalachian Trail."  This is very exciting work.  Our Education/ 
>> Outreach Chair, Paul Schubert has been in touch with Rita, and  
>> will keep us informed on the progress of this initiative.
>>
>> Best wishes to all for a happy and productive new year.
>>
>> Kerry
>>
>>
>>
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>
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