For the past several years I've tried to "express my concerns," to use a
bland phrase, about the severe neglect and slow abandonment of a state park
which I've come to know intimately well. Despite my efforts--first as a
volunteer, then as a concerned citizen--the park staff have ignored my concerns
and reacted with sullen hostility, treating me as an enemy to be discredited
rather than a potential ally in the local community.
During most of this year I have tried discussing these concerns at the
state level with the parks director, but he only repeats the misinformation
supplied by local park staff, and makes the vaguest of promises which local
staff are in no hurry to carry out. At this point it seems clear that the
state agency involved has no commitment to accountability and no interest in
ever improving the situation.
There is a small "friends of the park" group, but it's essentially a social
club for local retirees, who occasionally hold meetings at the trail center;
they don't seem to actually walk the trails and they have no real experience of
the park overall. The park staff rarely venture far on the trails and have
virtually no knowledge base for the local wildlife. (One evening an employee
claimed to identify "cricket frogs" calling nearby, when in fact they were
actual crickets.)
At this point I seem to have reached the limit of what I can do as a
private citizen; even my FOIA requests are being delayed or stymied on baseless
technicalities, since park staff know they can get away with it. For a long
while I've been considering setting up a small NGO devoted to advocating for
the park, which might provide more legitimacy to my concerns, and would open up
opportunities for small grants which simply don't exist for an unaffiliated
citizen.
If anyone has personal experience with this sort of thing, especially the
financial ins and outs of establishing a small local NGO, I'd be very grateful
to hear about it. Please contact me off-list, with my thanks in advance.
- J. A.
