 |
RE: [RC] who are we to" align" with? - David LeBlancIt really boils down to playing the political game correctly. Either we're losing trails because we're wrong and horses shouldn't be out there, or we're losing trails because we're not playing politics well enough. I think it is because we?re not playing politics well enough. One of the most important things about politics is taking people that used to oppose you and turning them into advocates. It's done by finding common ground and education. I have a friend who started a software company. He doesn't know how to run a company, can't program worth a damn - he did have some good ideas. If he'd had any sense, he'd have known that he would never get anywhere. One thing he did have was an unrelenting optimism. When faced with a problem, he always asks - "What _can_ we do? Can we start there, and figure out some of the rest later?" This kid (I think he's still in his 20's - might be barely 30 now) is worth about $100 million now. The guy is a lot younger than I am, but he taught me a fair bit. If we're going to solve this problem, we need to do it by getting real research that shows what effects we really have. If there are myths, we need to debunk them - with science. We need to turn some of our powerful opponents into friends, and we need to get more in tune with the political process. My father used to be a lobbyist. No bill that he opposed ever passed. He worked in every branch of the government, except judicial. I learned a lot about how politics works from watching him work. We had senators and representatives over for dinner regularly. I may indeed be naïve about many things, but I (perhaps arrogantly) think that politics is not one of them. -----Original Message----- From: Cindy Collins [mailto:ccollins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 8:57 AM To: David LeBlanc Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] who are we to" align" with? Hi, David. We will probably have to agree, to disagree. I, too, have been involved politically on trail use issues for many years. I was very active while in CA. I watched my friends who were responsible 4 wheel enthusiasts, dirt bikers, hunters, etc. lose thousands of acres of access while most horse people turned their noses up and said, "That will never happen to us. We're better than those people." There were exceptions. Jackie Bumgardner has always worked hard with all multiple users and also served on many land use committees. I know there are others out there, also, I just don't know all of their names. So, when they started coming after our horse trails, many "multiple users" thought we deserved it. Once again, there were exceptions. The Blue Ribbon Coalition continues to advocate for equestrian use and many of the off road riders that worked with Jackie on the high desert came to bat for us, writing letters of support, etc. So, our experiences do differ in various parts of the country. I do not mean to be disrespectful of your opinion, but I do think it's naive and somewhat arrogant (unintentionally, I believe). Thanks for listening. Cindy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|