by wyandottecaver » Feb 19, 2010 6:59 pm
then it sounds like some things need delegated or priorities re-arranged.
Here, WNS grew from a single post, to a 40 page thread, to its own subforum. Maybe its time the NSS WNS structure grew as well.
In the world of media, if you comment on yesterdays news you effectively never commented at all. We could have immediately (or even within a week) responded to the CBD Petition with a general release to the effect that:
" The NSS welcomes all who seek to conserve bats and the places they inhabit, but feels that aspects of the CBD Petitions would in fact create negative impacts and incentives for conservation that might in fact, adversely affect those ecosystems threatned by WNS. The NSS and its partners have been studying, conserving, and educating others about bats, caves, and the ecosystems dependent on them for nearly a century. Using the combined skills and experiance of our members we are preparing a detailed response to the Petitions filed by CBD so that in cooperation with the USFWS, CBD, and other stakeholders we can develop detailed approaches that most effectively address the threat of WNS within the context of the broader ecological and social systems in which bats and caves exist."
A more detailed rebuttal could come later, and is really only critical for the Agencies, Congress, and lawyers. But getting a bottom line statement out to the public (and showing our Members we arent asleep at the wheel) in a timely manner is essential just to show that the CBD view, or USFWS view, isnt the ONLY view..... Is that really so hard?
One man can only do so much..thats why he, the Board, and the President need to recognize when there are bottlenecks affecting critical projects and fix them. I have already offered assistance and I'm sure there are others who would be willing to take at least small parts of the load if help was requested
I and many others recognize the work Peter has, is, and continues to do. But a major bone of contention for MANY members since the very first WNS BOG release was its weak stance regarding cavers as culprits and cave access. Both issues have become even more critical since and those issues are almost a year old. We simply MUST find a way to address issues in a timely manner even if they are simply "placeholders" until a more detailed response is issued.
We do have a Board and even a PR Committee, and they are expected to act on issues affecting the Society. While they may not be "up on the issues" they could and perhaps should be able to use a talking points guide developed by Peter (or others and blessed by him) to do the grunt work of responding to poorly written media pieces, non-caver releases, and basic "we're alive" type statements that can set the Societies general position while more formal policy statements are being worked on.
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)