[MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] 250 senior living homes

[Hal Wright]

Good to hear from you Michelle, Thyra and Jim.

So this dialogue has brought focus onto a big problem (development  
pressure) and one solution (activism directed at local government).

It's been suggested, I think by Walt, that the best sort of local  
government activism is to be a member of the governing body. For  
those of us who do not live near the trail, and for many who do,  
that's not a realistic possibility. So we are forever in reaction  
mode, flooding public meetings when the issue is important and hoping  
our voices, or some serendipitous outside force, will turn the tide  
in our favor.

Reaction-based activism from the outside looking in is difficult to  
sustain, particularly at a distance. For example, when the Alpine  
Rose development issue was at the early stages, I joined the BMPA. I  
made the two hour drive up to Eldred Township once or twice a month  
to attend meetings. It made for a late night, and it became  
impossible to keep up with my on-the-job responsibilities. The  
township residents, while appreciative, knew I wasn't from around  
there. Most mistook me for a reporter at first. Not being from the  
township, my opinion meant little in any event.

If we are to be proactive rather than reactive, my sense is that  
media tools will help those of us who don't enjoy proximity and don't  
know the local players. A spiffily-produced Power Point and a short  
video presentation with the official ATC logo, general enough to be  
used at any public gathering and on-point with the "curb the  
development" message, would be a good tool. Any one of us could then  
present, and all of the presentations would be unified. It would lend  
credibility and cohesion to our message, and make it possible for any  
RPC member to get on the agenda of any relevant public meeting.

Google-Earth and TerraServer photos of the trail corridor, as well as  
close-ups of maintainers, hikers, and impressive natural sights,  
would make a good combination.

I also think a component of our organized message should be the  
damage being done to the environment by inappropriate trail use.  
Every time a member of one of our clubs cleans up a bunch of beer  
cans or other garbage, he or she should take a photo of the before  
and after, and email it to a central account with the date and  
location. Every time we see ATV tracks, take a picture and email it.  
Every time a car window gets smashed at the trail head, take a  
picture and email it. This evidence can be accumulated, and a map of  
trouble spots established based on empirical data. This would make  
for an impactful presentation, and give us much data to present to  
enforcement in an effort to convince them that a problem exists.

I would be happy to help with these efforts, and I do have some media  
tools at my disposal. The issue has always been motivating individual  
club members to supply content. Maybe with the RPC, we can get some  
of that accomplished. For a start, I can set up an email account  
where maintenance pictures might be forwarded. Longer term, I think  
this should be automated with an online database, and possibly a  
mapping function via GPS.

What do you think?



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