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

[Hal Wright]

Thanks Michelle!

I think the theme of the presentation needs to dovetail with the  
philosophy of the reorganized AT: to amplify the message that the  
trail corridor is inherently valuable for cultural, historical,  
environmental, and recreational reasons. I see it being perhaps an  
amalgam of the presentation you describe, some newer material (if it  
exists) that echoes some of the themes we heard about in Tennessee  
and in the last few Journeys issues, and some home-grown imagery of  
our local sections, including satellite imagery to emphasis (among  
other things) the vulnerability of the corridor to encroachment.

The Highlands Coalition (Paul Zeph I think) had a nice presentation  
along these lines, but I found their party line to be a bit too  
conciliatory. (Compromise with ATV users my eye!)

Video with Power Point has more impact than Power Point alone, so  
long as the video is short (less than 15 minutes).

For an example of what I think is a really good video done by one of  
my other affiliates, check out this site. Go there, and get a cup of  
coffee while the video loads, it's supposed to stream but it doesn't  
and I need to fix that.

http://www.churchvillenaturecenter.org/about.html

Of course, our message would be different, but the way the  
environmental / historical message is interwoven with practical  
information is compelling and worthy of emulation.

We can do this sort of thing on the cheap with home equipment that  
would be fine for web streaming and showing at a meeting. Most of it  
can be based on stills that we can pan. Where I would need help is  
with pictures and verbiage.



On Feb 28, 2006, at 11:50 AM, Michele Miller wrote:

> Hal/Jim,
>
>
>
> I think both ideas—having a canned “A.T.” presentation to present  
> at town meetings and using zip codes to identify/reach out to  
> township residents—are good ideas.  Hal, we do have a canned Power  
> Point presentation that was created a few years ago.  I haven’t  
> looked at it in awhile, but I think it’s mostly geared toward A.T.  
> history and management.  Perhaps this could be tweaked or parts of  
> it used to create what you are looking for.  Jim, I wasn’t sure if  
> providing zip codes was something ATC could do, but Karen said that  
> we probably could.  I’ll check with the membership folks at HQ.
>
>
>
> One other thought…Even if we don’t currently have volunteers in  
> each township in the mid-Atlantic, clubs might be able to gain new  
> members from, or create partnerships with, other conservation- 
> minded groups that reside in the various townships.  For example,  
> Paul Schubert and Dave Scheid of PTC (as well as the AHC) have made  
> a very good connection with the Wildlife Information Center in  
> Palmerton.
>
>
>
> Michele
>
>
>
> From: ma-rpc-bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org [mailto:ma-rpc- 
> bounces at commerce-02.cilia.org] On Behalf Of James Hooper
> Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 2:29 PM
> To: Hal Wright
> Cc: MARPC list
> Subject: Re: [MA-RPC] FW: [at-l] 250 senior living homes
>
>
>
> I have another thought. My experience says that the township boards  
> listen better to local voters.
>
>
>
> Could the ATC sort the PA members by zip code and then we could  
> look at the zip codes along the trail and try to locate members  
> that are in the various townships?
>
> On Feb 27, 2006, at 12:43 PM, Hal Wright wrote:
>
>
>
>
> 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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