Mike writes:
>There are a ton of smaller
> community groups and individuals (like me for instance) that are
> pretty much ignored by the large groups and don't have even a
> small chance of getting funded to the point where one could
> actually live a decent healthy lifestyle.
This is so true. Some of my peers in the conservation community have left
good paying jobs as teachers and so on to work full time on environmental
issues. These people use space at home, become absentee spouses for weeks at
a time, and put in long hours on the telephone and in meetings. It is
incredible how much time gets wasted just commuting. In our last round of
planning meetings all the industrial sectors in the timber industry were
being paid, but not one environmentalist or conservationist was being paid.
The only funding we received was for gas and mileage or $0.35 per kilometer.
I lost between $10-15 thousand in potential income from one four year
planning session. If I calculated all the lost income over my life time, for
me it would be enormous, perhaps $40-50 thousands.
It was worth it though....although lately I have quite going to most
meetings, and in fact now ask to be paid for my environmental work. This
means that now I am getting a salary. My office is now closed though until
I get some more firewood to heat it with, and for the mean time I am working
on the kitchen table with my notebook. At least I can look out over my
secluded lake here ringed with snow covered paper birch and look out onto
the wilderness area I created....well created as a legal entity.
spater
john foster
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