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  • Supporting Foundations & Organizations

    Hey All,

    In reading on the thread about Earth Day and money, and paying for outdoor recreation other than fishing and hunting, it made me think about charitable giving and funding organizations and foundations that help to protect and maintain the places we love to recreate in.

    Currently living in Texas, I am pretty ignorant of the various organizations and foundations out there that do these sort of things in the ADKs, other than the AMC. Since moving from NY, I have continued to subscribe to The Conservationist magazine, which is a great read, but also does a small part to raise awareness about environmental issues throughout NY and I imagine helps to protect and maintain some recreational areas.

    All this to say, the question I have is, if I was looking to make a charitable donation to a foundation or organization that works in preservation and maintenance of the ADKs which ones would you recommend and what do they do specifically? Which ones do you think do the most good or are the most effective? Not looking to put down any group that is seeking in these efforts, but I was just kinda curious of people's thoughts on this topic.

    Dayjon

  • #2
    One obvious choice is the foundation that runs these forums: http://www.adkhighpeaksfoundation.org/adkhpf/main.html

    You can also get a trail supporter patch online (or in person at any location that sells hunting and fishing licenses). The patch is mailed to you at a later date (I think they do a few mailings per year) but the money goes directly into funding trail maintenance: https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/36016.html

    There's also a ton of clubs that are involved in stewardship activities. Obvious ones for New York State include the Adirondack Mountain Club, the 46ers, and the NY-NJ Trail Conference. Elsewhere throughout the northeast you've got organizations like the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, the Green Mountain Club, the Keystone Trails Association, and the Finger lakes Trail Conference. I truly believe that if you were to give to any of these listed organizations, by no means would you be throwing your money away to a less-than-worthy cause.

    One nice thing about getting a membership to any of the hiking clubs is that a lot of them also publish a lot of nice guidebooks, maps, and other hiking related media. Membership in most of these clubs includes a discount on purchases of those items for the duration of the membership. I'm a bit of a hiking bibliophile, so I typically like to join one club a year... and throughout that near I'll go nuts on buying maps and guidebooks published by that particular club.

    I also wouldn't blame you for wanting to keep it local- I can't recommend any specific organizations down your way, but I have no doubt that with some research (googling) you can probably find a few Texas-based organizations that work hard to promote stewardship of public outdoor recreation resources, and would be worth causes to donate to.

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    • #3
      One other thing worth mentioning- any of the above listed organizations are going to have their detractors, as you'll find if you look hard enough. I'd even fully expect some of those detractors to show up in this thread, sooner or later.

      FWIW, though- I don't fully agree either with each and every decision that each of these organizations has made of over the course of the decades they've been in existence. But I also don't think you need to find value in every specific action an organization has ever made to still be able to see value in that same organization generally. I do believe that existence (and continued funding) of these organizations constitutes a net win for society in terms of the gains they are able to facilitate regarding stewardship.

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      • #4
        Is the A.T.I.S. still functioning?

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Woodly View Post
          Is the A.T.I.S. still functioning?
          Yes. Their website includes a donation link: https://www.atistrail.org/

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          • #6
            Thanks DS

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            • #7
              Good input, DS. Thanks.

              I'm not a detractor of any of those groups. But Dayjon and Woodly, I would urge you to make SURE that your contribution is actually going to be used ON THE GROUND to make some kind of improvement.

              Too many groups use the money for "administrative" costs or to hire lawyers and lobbyists to work in the Capitol. Before you donate, hold their feet to the fire, and demand to know that your contribution is going to make a difference IN THE WOODS.

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